Liv Writes Words Again

  I'm a highly emotive person; I'm aware that the potential for me to be emotionally manipulated is high and so I try to afford some caution with mainstay Disney and Pixar works; I want to feel what I feel sincerely and from a place of understanding. So Encanto surprised me in what it did; giving me a plot that manages to capture me while slightly dancing around certain tropic plot points that would've brought it down and disappointed me.   Focusing on someone who gives their all to their family and feels undervalued in compared to their own strengths, abandoned in some ways by expectation, it’s a story told about Mirabel, the girl with now abilities in a family full of them. At its best, Encanto is a film about empathy; the understanding of others situations and lived experiences and using that connection to allow us to bridge the gaps between us. The film does take and focus on the personal ostracization of Mirabel, especially by her Abuela, Alma. The film doe...

  CW: Mysoginy, Fridging War is hell is a message that is not only eternally paramount for us as observers' to take in but is a story that sadly has necessitated a retelling of that story through so many mediums and fictions. The cruel reality of war and reflecting that reality in its complexity has been an ever ongoing story throughout our history and telling it in a profound and connective way remains ever important.   So it's a shame that one of the earliest examples in anime and particularly mecha fiction, the proponent of the 'real' robot genre, focusing on realism over superhero like grandeur, Mobile Suit Gundam is at its core, disappointing in this regard. For its age, for its pacing, for in general a sincerely patronizing tone with a mild interest in talking from a position of understanding on issues or experiences that are dated at the most mild of criticisms.   Having watched this series over a period of many months with a family member, I...