Culturally Accurate

Rating: 8/10 (23 April 2018)

The accurate and well depicted movie Coco is historically correct in their way of showing Dia de los Muertos. It shows how certain factors are portrayed in real life and in the film remain the same in every family like having ofrendas.What is included on the ofrendas is the part that changes from family to family.
Coco had a good representation of the ofrendas because of how they used the yellow marigold flowers leading their loved ones from their graves back to their home. They also had some of the dead relatives favorite things like favorite food, drink, and even piece of clothing, are put on these altars. Other families eat the favorite food instead of placing it on the altars for the dead. In the movie, Dante eats food off of the ofrenda and Miguel yells at him saying it is for their ancestors not him. According to Lara Medina, "The cempasúchil (marigold flower), with its bright color and strong sent, leads the dead to the altars. Candies, incense, photos, food and drink that the dead enjoyed while living enhance the offering" (176-177). This quote helps show the historical value or the relationship between what happens during Dia de los Muertos and how it is almost the same as it is in Coco. The quote explains how they use specific items in their lives to help make the home or the altar feel more like a family display of memories. In the movie, they have the skull candy heads on the altars, they have the marigold flowers leading from the graves back to their home, and they have pictures of every dead ancestor represented on the ofrenda.
Another example from Coco is how Miguel's grandmother, Coco's daughter, makes a huge deal about how the ofrenda has to look and be presented. She feels this way because it is the first thing the family sees when walking into the room because it is so extravagant with so many colors, and items on display. It is also again, how their past family is remembered and what was important to them in life to show their support and their gratitude for them being apart of their family. The ofrenda also helps remember what generations passed down through the family. In Miguel's family, it is the shoe business. His family is very driven to make sure he doesn't become a musician, and by doing that they pressure him or show him he is a shoemaker at heart. Medina writes, "For the Mexica, during the last three days of the tenth month, the dead came back to interact symbolically with their families" (176-177). This quote helps support the idea of family heritage represented on the ofrenda in Coco because if Miguel's ancestors came back and saw a guitar on the ofrenda instead of shoes, there would be trouble and no one in the family would be happy for the change in tradition. It also helps explain how the dead watches over the living through the ofrenda, through their pictures, through the memories of their families.
Incorporating the aspect of the dead and the living joining together during this festive holiday is shown throughout the film, but is shown the most at the end. When Miguel can finally play the guitar in front of his family and all of his ancestors are dancing around him and enjoying their presence. A piece of evidence edited by J. Gordon Melton states, "In Mexican culture it includes a belief in the unity of death and life" (382). This evidence is shown in the film because it talks about the belief of death and life coming together to celebrate this holiday as one. In Coco when the dead travels over the marigold bridge to see their family, they can only pass if their family has something of theirs presented on the ofrenda. If not, they cannot visit. This relates to the quote because the dead want to be able to visit their family and be united with them for one day but, the family has to want them to visit in return. Like Hector and how the family did not want him to be able to come see his family and to see Coco again.
Overall, in regards to Dia de los Muertos and Coco, the movie was very descriptive and historically accurate. It gave or showed in depth thought to how they represented the ofrendas and how it is important to the basis of the holiday. It shows how the ofrenda is where the holiday's heart or core is because without the ofrenda, the family members cannot visit or come back to see family.