The Outstanding “Coco”
2017 was a year that gave us a lot of interesting movies—just like any other year, really. A recent (not really) movie that piqued my interest is the latest movie from Pixar Animation Studios, “Coco.”
Coco is set somewhere in Mexico. The movie is about Miguel, who is from a prominent shoemaking family. The family hates anything that is related to music because of a past incident involving Miguel’s great grandfather abandoning his family for music. When it is time for Dia de los Muertos, Miguel decides to pursue his ambition in music when he notices that de la Cruz, a famous musician, is his great grandfather.
What is interesting about this movie is the introduction of cultural traditions during Dia de los Muertos celebrated by Mexicans. It cultivates them to pray and remember friends and family members who have died. I am pretty sure that other cultures have their own versions of remembering the dead. However, this particular culture (based on the movie) is very festive, colourful and fun, which is ironic due to the fact that normally we mourn the dead; nevertheless, it is still unique.
This movie is eye-opening for me as it raises the question: other than our family, who will remember us after we have passed, considering that our family remembers us for our good deeds and behaviours. Typically, in the Malay culture we remember our deceased ancestors during the celebration of Eid after fasting for a month. What is funny about it is that Eid is to celebrate our strenuous efforts in fasting and not specifically remembering the dead. My point here is that it is important to keep the dead alive by telling our children and relatives stories of our ancestors, and it doesn’t hurt to exaggerate a bit to make them look heroic and good.
As human beings, we must try our best to leave this world with good memories to the people living so that their memories of us will become inspiration to others. This means that if we have suicidal inclination, we should seek help so that our loved ones will not be in despair when they find out how we left this world. Be good, do good and spread good deeds. That’s how we want to be remembered.
Islam also underlines its own way of being remembered as a good person. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) explains how a Muslim can be remembered and awarded for being good. It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah said: “When a man dies, all his good deeds come to an end except three: Ongoing charity (sadaqah jariyah), beneficial knowledge, and a righteous son who prays for him.” From this, I conclude that before I die, I want to be a beneficial individual who gives back to society, no matter how bad or how good the society has treated me because I do not want others to suffer what I am suffering. Conversely, I want others to enjoy the privilege that is brought to them.
The movie stresses the importance of culture, familial bonds and forgiveness for an unforgivable sin. These three themes touch me the most; I cried three times while watching the movie. It has an unexpected plot twist in my opinion (don’t trust me, I am easily entertained) and is very colourful throughout. The tracks in the movie are wonderful. My personal favourites are La Llorona and Remember Me, a song that makes me teary every time I listen to it. This could be an overwhelming statement but I believe “Coco” is the best movie from Pixar so far. I have high hopes and expectations in the upcoming movie “The Incredibles 2.”