The Dolores Detail That Has Encanto Fans Scratching Their Heads
"Encanto" offers a fun, Lin-Manuel Maranda-infused experience that takes viewers into the heart of Colombia's most exciting animated family. The action-packed film is full of a variety of innovative twists on the whole "superpower" concept we've been getting ad nauseam out of Hollywood in the last several years. From the ability to grow floral arrangements, to healing someone with a piece of food, to casually moving churches with pure muscle, the Madrigal family is imbued with fantastical powers that work together to create a magical family dynamic. Even the Casa Madrigal gets in on the action. The living structure makes everyday life for its occupants easy and thrilling at the same time.
Of course, some of the Madrigals' powers are a bit more ... interesting, particularly on Tía Pepa's side of the family. Camilo can shapeshift, which has some advantages, but beyond getting a second helping at breakfast and calming a crying child, there just isn't the same utility there. Antonio's ability to talk to animals is freaking awesome, but again, there's no denying that it's off-beat and kinda hard to find uses for. The matron of the branch of the family, Pepa, has the X-men-esque ability to control the weather (hello, Storm!) but the intimate connection that her power shares with her emotional state undermines some of its potency, as well.
And then there's Dolores. At first glance, Dolores' ability to hear practically anything within a very large area around her is uber impressive and has a lot of potential. However, the waffling way that Pepa's daughter uses her ability has some fans talking.
Dolores's extreme ability ... to keep and not keep secrets
Dolores can hear everything. She can overhear a pin dropping. She can listen to an entire chorus of a song from a mile away. And, of course, she can eavesdrop on any and all conversations going on around the fantastical little town that her family leads. This incredible ability has led some fans not to question Dolores' ability, but rather what she chooses to do with the information that she is constantly gleaning from those around her. One Reddit feed, in particular, picks on her apparent ability and inability to keep secrets.
The highly upvoted conversation starts with the comment "Dolores 'I cannot keep my cousin Mirabel's secret for even a minute but if tio Bruno wants to live in the walls for ten years then that is HIS business' Madrigal." And when you break it down, they have a point. First off, there's no way Dolores is unaware of Bruno's existence in the house. She can hear the admittedly loud Mariano discussing his future kid count blocks away. The thought that she couldn't hear Bruno acting out his characters behind the masonry of the walls for ten years is straight-up laughable.
Second, Dolores references Bruno in the smash-hit song "We Don't Talk About Bruno." In her line, she says that she "grew to live in fear of Bruno stuttering or stumbling. I could always hear him sort of muttering and mumbling." There's no way she heard Bruno's mysterious utterances for a decade and didn't connect it with the fact that the goofy uncle was still lurking around the joint.
The problem here isn't that she did or did not hear Bruno. It's that she keeps his presence classified ... but can't keep Mirabel's secret for beans — or in this case, even a magical arepa.
Dolores has a major impact on Encanto in completely different ways
When Dolores hears Bruno, she just ignores him. She keeps his secret without so much as a verbal understanding as far as we know. But when she hears Mirabel? She nearly bursts with the information ... until she shouts it out in front of everyone.
What gives? Why the huge discrepancy in how she handles the secrets that she's privy to? If you want to get even more complicated, Dolores casually passes out information about others throughout the rest of the movie. That means she's selectively super-secret, really relaxed, and out-of-control gossipy at different times.
One of the best answers to the inconsistency comes from the highest-voted comment within the afore-mentioned Reddit feed. It reads "If she told the family about Bruno, it was him who'd pay the consequences. If she had kept Mirabels secret, she would have jeopardized the families safety." It's hard to argue with that explanation. Bruno really is doing what he thinks is best, and why would Dolores feel the need to go out of her way to ruin her uncle's plans? On the flip side, Mirabel's information is time-sensitive and impacts everyone. Still, the way she acts — the whole "I'm going to explode if I don't say this" seems pretty out of character for her normal calm, quiet self.
The real question that we want to see answered, though, is if Dolores is aware of all of Bruno's acting that has been going on behind the scenes all of those years. Is she familiar with his characters? Does she have a favorite Bruno-led production? Maybe we'll get more info on that juicy tidbit if we ever get a sequel.