Coco & the Journey to Forgiveness

Tonic Pop

The 2017 Pixar animation Coco tells a tale that unfolds in an non-specific Mexican town on the evening of El Día de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead). This is a yearly event where the living honour their departed loved ones.

Coco is the first-ever motion picture with a nine-figure budget to feature an all-Latino cast, with a cost of $175–200 million.

The exception was John Ratzenberger who is perhaps a muse or lucky charm for Pixar and has been a voice in every single Pixar film. Director Lee Unkrich stated that it was a struggle to find a role in the film for John, who is not Latino. As Unkrich did not want to break Pixar's tradition, Ratzenberger was given a minor role with one word “Gracias’ making it Ratzenberger's shortest Pixar role.

young Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol Ernesto de la Cruz. The problem is that pursuing this dream would have to come at the cost of rebelling against his his family's generations-old ban on music, which he initially does in secret where he practises in an attic above his home. Miguel believes that if he can just prove his musicianship he’ll bring his family around and he’ll be off on a path to becoming a renowned musician. This urgency leads him to becoming trapped in the Land of the Dead – a gloriously prismatic, vibrant place which spins in a different direction the evolved idea of bright white heaven vs fire and brimstone hell.
Miguel meets up and teams up with the mischievous yet amiable and warm hearted Héctor,
the film becomes a buddy film from this point and while the goal is to return Miguel to the land of the living, it becomes just as much an adventure story about a journey to unlock the secrets behind Miguel's genealogy.
There are so many themes that could be unpacked and discussed and the main theme is best described by actor The character Mama Imelda's voice was provided by Alanna Ubach. Ubach felt that the film "is [giving] respect to one quality that all Latin families across the universe do have in common, and that is giving respect and prioritizing the importance of family".
A sub theme that I want to draw out from the film and talk about in greater depth, is the power of forgiveness. The film has been out a while but not so long that I expect everyone has seen it so I want to avoid spoilers. Suffice to say that forgiveness is crucial to resolution. If forgiveness was personified it would be the ultimate hero of this film.

Forgiveness is not something that can be forced upon us. It is a voluntary action. And it is an action. It does require active effort. Forgiveness can be a journey that is taxing, wearing and painful. It requires a lot more energy than flicking the off switch to an emotion.
It is releasing someone from bondage – that person being you. Forgiveness can be accepted by the person who committed the wrong but really, that person may not ever have asked for it, wanted it or even considered that they needed it. Often, the person who can most benefit, is the one who carries the burden of unforgiveness and all of the associated feelings – resentment, hate, envy, bitterness…

I like a good revenge film as much as the next person but in reality, the peace that and eye for an eye brings is more of a fantasy than a truth.

Reading from CBC.ca – “When Kim Phuc was just nine years old, she experienced emotional and physical trauma as a result of the war in Vietnam. In 1972, the U.S. military dropped four bombs surrounding Kim’s village. In an interview with NPR, Kim recounts her experience. “I saw an airplane getting lower and then four bombs falling down,” she says. “I saw fire everywhere around me. Then I saw the fire over my body, especially on my left arm. My clothes had been burned off by fire.” The attack killed her family, and while she survived, her severe burns led to 17 operations.

Kim says at one point, she wanted to take her own life. “The anger inside me was like a hatred as high as a mountain,” says Kim. “I hated my life. I hated all people who were normal because I was not normal. I really wanted to die many times.” But, it was the power of forgiveness that allowed her to be set free. “Forgiveness made me free from hatred. I still have many scars on my body and severe pain most days but my heart is cleansed.”

Today, Kim is an inspirational speaker travelling the world to share her story of love, peace and forgiveness. She also has formed a foundation, Kim Foundation International, to help other child victims of war.

To forgive takes more strength to than revenge. It takes a lot of hard work especially mentally and emotionally.

Mahatma Ghandi said “Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

Perhaps its not hatred or thirst for revenge that holds back our willingness to forgive. Perhaps we are justifiably concerned that forgiveness releases a perpetrator from their need to compensate for their actions or releases them from responsibility. It doesn’t.

Pastor TD Jakes said I think the first step is to understand that forgiveness does not exonerate the perpetrator. Forgiveness liberates the victim. It’s a gift you give yourself.

The perpetrator still has their own path to follow to find release and peace but if they choose to accept your forgiveness, it can help motivate them to becoming a better person and avoiding making the same mistakes that led to the conflict that caused so much pain for you, the victim.
If they choose not to accept it or never considered needing it in the first place that still remains their issue but you are now released from being tangled up in their past.

Let us forgive with generosity those who cannot love us. — Pablo Neruda

With that said, it is rarely an action that heals only one.
In the case of 2 of the Coco characters – deuteragonists if you like, the forgiveness was a reciprocal action that needed to occur in order to heal generations of hurt. In the case of the Coco story, forgiveness brought about a restoration.

Here are 8 steps – that I am paraphrasing from a blog post by Wayne Dyer – to lead you to forgiveness. “Even when Forgiveness Feels Impossible.” He actually lists 15 steps so if you want to read more go to waynedyer.com

Step 1: Move On to the Next Act

Your past history and all of your hurts are no longer here in your physical reality. Don’t allow them to be here in your mind, muddying your present moments. Your life is like a play with several acts. Some of the characters who enter have short roles to play, others, much larger. Some are villains and others are good guys. But all of them are necessary, otherwise they wouldn’t be in the play. Embrace them all, and move on to the next act.
end quote
Imagine keeping every villainous, deceptive, hurtful, back-stabbing, wrong-doing person and act in your daily diary entry with updates on where they are in your life. How overwhelming is that?

Step 2: Don’t Go to Sleep Angry

Each night as I drift off to sleep, I adamantly refuse to use this precious time to review anything that I do not want to be reinforced in the hours of being immersed in my subconscious mind. I choose to impress upon my subconscious mind my conception of myself as a Divine creator in alignment with the one mind. I reiter...