Why Elemental is better than Encunto (& more)

Encunto vs Elemental part 1

1: Why was it made? 

- Encunto was made just for a paycheck. That's it. No one in the studio was like "I have a large family and I feel different from all of them. Let's make a movie about that!" NO. Encunto only happened to get checkmarks on a diversity board.

- Elemental is Peter Sohn's passion project (not exactly his autobiography, he himself said it wasn't); immigrant parents, a family business, his childhood love for the periodic table, marrying a woman who wasn't his background. While it did take from other sources (cough Lady and the Tramp cough), you can see Peter Sohn literally put HIS LIFE into the project!

2: The story

- "I love Encunto's story" What story? There is no story! Everything happens at lightning speed with no build up, no resolution, it just makes your brain explode in confusion (presuming you still have a brain after deciding to torture yourself with this sorry excuse for a "movie"). THE ENTIRETY of Encunto could've been resolved in A SINGLE CONVERSATION. Moronbel would be like "I don't feel special" and the family is like "But sweetie you are!" THAT'S ALL THEY HAD TO DO. 

- Elemental has a PHENOMENALLY told story. Everything comes together. Everything matters. Each character is one person at the beginning, and a completely different person at the end. A few words for a bullet point list do not do it justice.

3: Protagonist flaws

- Boo-hoo, Moronbel doesn't have powers. SO WHAT? Neither does the grandma! And the superpower thing is TWO generations old. TWO. If they came from centuries of people with superpowers and Moronbel was the first to break the tradition (like with MY stories), maybe it would be a problem. But it's not. Moronbel has no powers. THAT'S IT. THERE'S NOTHING ELSE ABOUT HER. I know nothing about this bimbo except she's not a superhero like her gorilla sister.

- Ember has very realistic and relatable problems. She suffers from frequent anger attacks, and she is ashamed of it. She wants badly to find something (read: Wade) that can help her cope with the attacks. She was DENIED ACCESS from something simply because of WHAT SHE WAS, and is cruelly treated by water, air and earth at every turn. The city is a traumatic memory for her. This was the case for people in real life. Ember is relatable and realistic, Moronbel is not.

4: The prized possession

- There is NO EXPLANATION for why the candle saw Moronbel and said "Nah, fuck her". And besides, the Encunto candle was just a thing that the grandma found. 

- Whereas the Blue Flame goes back THOUSANDS OF YEARS which is why it's very valuable to Bernie and Cinder! Otherwise they have NO CONNECTON to their ancestry!

5: The music

- For the music, what does Encunto have? The Hamilton guy? Fuck him! 

- What does Elemental have? THOMAS NEWMAN. I'm talking Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, Finding Nemo, WALL-E, 1917 (one of the very few good movies of 2019) Thomas Newman. And Newman's music for Elemental is LITERAL FIRE.

By the way, for those who defend the Hamilton guy, talk to me when he's involved in a movie that gets a 9.3 on IMDb (Shawshank's rating).

6: The songs

- The songs in Encunto are EXHAUSTINGLY try-hard. It is impossible to (try to) listen to the songs and not get a fucking migraine trying to understand it.

- Elemental has ONE song, ONE: Steal the Show. It has simple lyrics, and it's sung by a teenager I never heard of, but the song playing as Ember and Wade realize they're in love has more emotion and impact than ANYTHING the Encunto soundtrack tried.

7: The grandma vs Bernie

- The Encunto grandma is abusive and it's GLORIFIED. As someone who was abused by female school teachers, I can tell you, if a woman is an abuser it's still not okay. Imagine if Bernie was abusive to his daughter. But because he's a man, HE gets in trouble and not the cunt grandma!

- Speaking of which, Bernie is a loving father. He reminds me of my dad; we would do almost everything together. Bernie doesn't care if Ember is Bernie 2.0, as long as she is his daughter, he's happy. Moronbel would have to kill a dinosaur for the grandma to even SLIGHTLY be proud.

8: The male characters

- ALL of the male characters in Encunto are abysmally written. Every single one of them. I'm convinced these writers are misandrist because every male character in Encunto is more of an airhead than the Windbreakers. But if you wrote a movie where women were useless, it would get ransacked. Do you see the hypocrisy?!

- Wade alone is perfect male representation (so is Bernie but I already went over him). Wade is very sweet, caring, loving and smart, and that is what an actual real life man is like. Disney take notes. He is Ember's protector and rescuer, not the other way around, and a man like that is a great one.

9: Character relationships

- ALL of the relationships in Encunto are toxic, and they are GLORIFIED. Everyone just has this hatred for each other. Not a single time is there ever a hint of kindness in ANYONE, and even if there is, it's not genuine and instead for their own personal benefit.

- Ember and Wade are very healthy and ideal. They discover they have more in common than they thought. They discuss their problems and insecurities. They discuss their past, their future, in Cinder's words, "They are perfect couple! 10 out of 10!" Amazing how these TWO characters have a better relationship than literally EVERYONE in Encunto.

10: The messages

- Encunto sends terrible messages; "mental health is not a problem", "it's okay for families to be abusive", "no one will love you if you're not what they want you to be", you get the idea.

- Elemental sends BEAUTIFUL messages; "never leave someone out because of what they are", "you can find love in the most unexpected places", "don't let others manipulate you, no matter how much you love them", and has the best messages of a romantic relationship, which in cinema there is far too few of.

11: The emotion

- I felt NO EMOTION the entirety of Encunto. The most I felt was anger because I could've spent my precious time doing literally anything else.

- Holy shit was Elemental the most insane emotion rollercoaster. I have not shipped a couple so  hard since Luna and Sam.

12: The beginning and end

- The only thing that changed between the beginning and end of Encunto was Moronbel and knockoff Teen Titans Raven (oh I'm sorry, BRUNO) getting to be in the family photo.

- Elemental opens with Bernie and Cinder arriving at the city port, ready to start their new life. It closes with Ember and Wade leaving the same port, ready to start their new life. A perfect bookend. It took two hours of real time and decades in the movie's time of change and evolution.

13: Legacy

- The world has already forgotten Encunto. I have nothing to add because I myself forgot it.

- Elemental will live on; it will be hailed as one of cinema's greatest love stories, kids from future generations will be just as wonderstruck as today's kids, and it will be remembered as a work of art. Thank you Peter Sohn.