Accuracy of Latino Culture in Coco

Rating: 8/10 (23 April 2018)

Disney's Coco illustrates an overall accurate view of Mexican culture. Obviously, it's not one hundred percent spot-on and it has some misleading aspects, but the film overall is accurate in portraying Latino culture. More specifically, the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos. An example from CultureGrams.com states, "During Día de los Muertos, families gather to celebrate life while they honor the dead, sweep graves, build special altars to honor the newly dead, and place items such as flowers, cakes, and soda next to photos of loved ones in their homes. Graveyards become the place for large parties with fruit punch and concerts." ("Mexico: Holidays"). This is clearly shown in the film. Many aspects of this quote are directly related to the film. For example, the main character, Miguel, and his family setup altars and photos of dead loved ones in their home. These altars, referred to in the movie as "ofrendas", represent many similarities to those made today in Latino culture. These include candles, flowers and foods. Another example from the quote that directly relates to the film are families going to visit graveyards. In the film, families visit the spirits of their dead loved ones in graveyards. These spirits cross over from the Land of the Dead. This portion of the movie creates fun, entertaining characters while emphasizing the importance of connecting with dead loved ones. Obviously, there is a much brighter, colorful, Disney interpretation of this, but it shows a culturally accurate part of the holiday. Overall, Coco had a very accurate, fun and exciting portrayal of Day of the Dead, however, as an audience I was personally left with some minor confusion. This quote from Ricardo Sandoval claims, "On Nov. 1 and 2, entire families continue the centuries-old tradition of laying out the welcome mat for departed loved ones. The first day is for departed children, and the second for adult relatives. Mexicans tidy up and decorate gravesites of relatives. Many even sleep next to graves, knowing that sometime during the night they'll commune with the spirits. And if Mexicans can't make it out to graveyards, in-home altars guide the spirits home for their annual visit." (Sandoval 1). In the film, there was only one night of celebration shown. This quote goes against that, because in Mexico they celebrate Day of the Dead for three total days. Coco's plot had plenty of interesting twists and turns, but the overall storyline seemed to make a big deal on the timeline of these events. It emphasized a lot of importance on one day, and at sunrise the holiday was over. This led me to some confusion and can be seen as an inaccurate representation of the holiday.