Review of the Day of the Dead aspects

Rating: 9/10 (23 April 2018)

The movie Coco follows a little boy through his journey on Dia De Los Muertos otherwise known as the Day of the Dead. I believe that the producers of the movie Coco were able to create a accurate representation of the Mexican culture surrounding Dia De Los Muertos. As shown in the film, the idea of Dia De Los Muertos is to remember and be with the family that have passed away. In an article that Rosales, F. Arturo he stated, "Days of the Dead, a religious observance celebrated throughout Mexico on November 2, honors the memories of departed family members" (204-206). This idea was shown all throughout the movie considering that it is what the whole movie Coco was based off of. This is celebrated in many cultures around the world, but mostly in spanish cultures located in Mexico. This is actually shown in the film as Miguel and his family live in Mexico. When it comes to specific facts that comes with celebrating Dia De Los Muertos, the movie was very specific with most details. In an article that Hugo G. Nutini wrote he stated that, "food offerings were made to the dead in the cemeteries. Special food offerings, consisting of a dish or drink that he or she had particularly liked, were made to prominent departed members of the household" (2227-2231). This was accurately represented in the film as Miguel and his family left food for their family that had past away on their altar which is otherwise known as a "ofrendas". They placed special foods next to the pictures of the deceased family members. It was also shown in the film that other people were gathered by a deceased's gravestone with food offerings and other gifts. One aspect that the producers and writers of Coco did not include was that there are often two days celebrated when it comes to Day of the Dead; one for the deceased children under the age of 18 and then one for everyone over the age of 18. In an article that Pilcher, Jeffrey M. Pilcher wrote, "The angelitos (deceased children) return on the evening of October 31 and the adults on the following night, although the dates in local celebrations vary all the way from October 28 to November 4" (505-506). Although the film did show people of all ages visiting their families during one night, I think they could have added a little more context to the culture behind the two days. All things considered, I believe they were able to capture most parts of the Day of the Dead aspect of the Mexican culture and I would argue that this was a great movie.