Tag: HOLY SHIT

cheeseanonioncrisps:

So we know that Héctor’s songs are often about people he cares about. The most notable examples being ‘Remember Me’ (about Coco) and ‘Poco Loco’ (about Imelda).

So just saying, what if ‘The World Es Ma Familia’ was actually written for Ernesto?

For one thing, it’s the opposite of ‘Remember Me’, which was written to be sung to only one specific person, in that the song only really works when it’s being sung to an audience. Because unlike Héctor, Ernesto would never sing just for himself or a loved one. From his perspective, music is just a means to an end.

And, though obviously this wouldn’t affect how Héctor would have written it (although the film does seem to have quite a rich lore, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the filmmakers hadn’t come up with this themselves) it’s the only song Miguel ever sings for Ernesto.

Also, there’s the significance of the line, “the world es mi familia"— the world is my family. It’s kind of similar to Ernesto’s own “seize your moment” catchphrase in that it can sound pretty inspirational when you first hear it but actually has the potential to be quite disturbing in the right context. Unlike Héctor, Ernesto doesn’t feel tied to his family (though we know he must have had one, because he doesn’t deny it when Miguel asks him if it was hard to leave them— probably he had parents or siblings or something), or to his friends.

Look at how easily he turns from loving Miguel to trying to kill him— despite the fact that he never actually finds out that Miguel isn’t related to him (his response to finding out that Imelda is Miguel’s grandmother isn’t “I’m not your great-great grandfather after all?!” it’s “you’re related to Héctor?!”, which to me suggests that he’s wondering if he somehow hooked up with Héctor’s daughter or cousin or something).

Why wouldn’t he? Ernesto doesn’t need a family. The world is his family. He is on so many strangers’ offrendas that he doesn’t know what to do with all the offerings he gets— what does it matter if he has to bump off one friend to get to the top?

Apart from that, however, there’s very little meaning to the song. Admittedly it’s cut off halfway through, but the lyrics seem to just be the singer greeting the audience for an evening performance, telling them what a pleasure it is to play for them and then repeatedly telling them how much he enjoys music in general (because it allows him to communicate with people and bring them closer to him).

Even ‘Juanita’ which, since Héctor didn’t expect Miguel to have heard it, we can assume was written post mortem (head canon that it was written specifically to entertain Chicharrón— possibly as an apology for the whole femur incident) and just for fun, has more detailed lyrics than this. But it fits Ernesto, who doesn’t seem to care what he’s singing as long as the audience enjoys it.

The Coco Novelization

oni-queen:

Here are a few of my favourite parts from the Coco Novel that extends or adds to the story. There will be spoilers for the novel and movie here, and if you don’t want to be spoiled they should skip this post. Or if you don’t care I still highly recommend people to read the novel anyway.

~SPOILERS IN THIS POST! One last warning!

Okay here we go:

  • The Riveras used to make dance shoes, but when Imelda caught a teenaged Coco dancing with a pair of them she banned the production of them. The dancers of Santa Cecilia had to travel way out of town to get their shoes made.
  • Coco used to sneak off to Mariachi plaza to dance, and actually met her husband Julio because of dancing. But when Imelda caught them together she had Julio agree to no longer dance or play music, which he agreed to because he wanted to marry Coco. Julio’s family apparently made furniture and his upholstery skills came in handy in the shoe workshop. 
  • In contrast to her mother meeting her husband through music, Elena met her husband Franco because of shoes. As the Rivera’s are know to make the best cowboy boots that do not give blisters.
  • Coco used to sneak off at home, possibly to the same place as Miguel does in the future, to secretly dance. But one day she hurt herself while dancing by falling awkwardly. Victoria and Elena witnessed this happen and became distraught when they saw her hurt. This is possibly why Elena believes music is a curse as all sorts of coincidental mishaps happen whenever the family involves themselves in music.
  • After passing into the land of the Dead, Imelda immediately began her shoemaking company again. She takes pride in the fact that her family makes the best shoes in both the land of the living and in the land of the dead.
  • Felipe and Oscar had an inventive streak and loved to experiment with new ideas for shoes. After Miguel is cursed what they really want to ask him about the Land of the Living is what is up with this new hip thing the kids are wearing on their shoes called Velcro? 
  • Coco “I’m-gonna-sing-to-baby-Miguel-and-no-one-is-going-stop-me” Rivera. 
  • Coco secretly singing to Miguel as a baby takes new meaning when we learn that as Miguel grows up he secretly sang to Coco too sometimes.
  • Miguel thinks that Hector is falling apart both physically and emotionally.
  • Hector teaches Miguel and gives him tips for playing the guitar. When Miguel begins to wonder if his ‘Great-great-Grandpa del la Cruz’ would teach him as well Hector answers, “That’s what Great-Great-Grandpas do.” (I’m not crying you’re crying)
  • Imelda being baffled by how stubborn Miguel is and wonders where he gets it from, while her family stands around knowing perfectly well that he gets it from her.
  • Hector actually left home in hopes to gain more inspiration for his music. The only thing he wanted was the experience to help him make a living while doing something he loved. He never wanted to tour around different towns and cities every day for fame like Ernesto. The realization that he probably could have gained the same kind of musical inspiration at home hit him too late…
  • Hector and Ernesto grew up together as children. With Hector not remembering a time without Ernesto by his side, and thought of Ernesto as family. 
  • Hector died in Mexico City.

Thats it, I want to add a bit more but I also don’t wanna spoil too much, because I wanna promote literacy on you folks.

salve-sis:

Yeaahhhh, I just got back from Twitter and as it turns out, Hector never wanted to be a famous musician. He just wanted to perform. And he always, ALWAYS intended to go back to Santa Cecilia. He left with the intent of coming back. 

*slams head against the wall*