Encanto Star Comments On Mirabel Bisexual Theories

Encanto star Stephanie Beatriz shares her thoughts on the fan theories that suggest Mirabel is bisexual. Released in theaters last November, Disney’s Encanto has become the animated breakout sensation of 2021 – and early 2022, for that matter. The movie is currently up for 3 Academy Awards, including best animated feature, and it has boosted itself to $227.4 million worldwide amid glowing reviews. Encanto is also backed by a soundtrack from Lin-Manuel Miranda that has swiftly produced some of Disney’s biggest songs in decades. As a result, the Mouse House has indicated it wants to turn the film into a proper franchise.

Encanto is anchored by one of Disney’s most unique heroines yet. Beatriz’s Mirabel is a bespectacled teen who stands apart from the rest of her family because she doesn’t have a special gift. While her siblings and cousins have all been honored by their family home, Mirabel was left in the cold, making her an outsider. That theme of being seen as an “other,” as well as the colors of Mirabel’s clothes, have led some fans to speculate that she could be bisexual. Beatriz herself is openly bi, and her Brooklyn Nine-Nine character Rosa Diaz famously came out in season 5 of the workplace comedy.

The theories about Mirabel’s potential queerness were brought to Beatriz’s attention recently, and she shared her thoughts on them with Vulture. According to the actress, she was more focused on other elements of Mirabel’s arc, though she did acknowledge how those elements can be viewed through a queer lens. Nevertheless, she stopped short of outright agreeing to the idea. Beatriz said:

“For Mirabel’s journey, I was much more focused on how she felt like an outsider in her family. But I think for Mirabel, the main thing happening is this feeling and desire to be accepted by her family and to be loved for who she is. That is the kind of feeling that can definitely be something that queer kids have, but for Mirabel it was for something different.”

Encanto‘s Mirabel is far from the first Disney character that fans have believed to be queer. Fans have long lobbied for Frozen‘s Elsa to get a girlfriend, or to at least be canonically declared queer. Just last year, Pixar’s Luca stirred up debate over whether it was a queer story. In fact, Encanto fans have also theorized that Mirabel’s sister Isabela is a lesbian. These things are aided by the fact that Disney characters are frequently grappling with questions of identity and the feeling of being ostracized by others. Their songs also tend to have lyrics that could easily be applied to a queer person.

Though Beatriz didn’t seem to agree with fans’ assessment that Mirabel could be bisexual, that doesn’t discredit those theories and hopes. As Beatriz pointed out, there are parts of Mirabel’s arc that really can be felt by queer kids, even if she didn’t think of them that way herself. At a time when Disney is under fire for its poor response to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, it’s more important than ever that studios show their support for the queer community by upping their onscreen representation. And until Disney actually does spotlight LGBTQ+ characters, fans are just going to make their own. Mirabel from Encanto could be bisexual – and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Source: Vulture

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Rachel Labonte
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Rachel LaBonte is a news, feature, and movie review writer for Screen Rant with a deep passion for film and television. A graduate of Emerson College, she majored in Media Arts Production while specializing in screenwriting. She’s been a writer ever since high school when she realized she was rather good at it and joined as many entertainment news clubs as she could while in school. Most notably, she wrote for Emerson’s website Emertainment Monthly, and one of her film reviews won an Evvy (Emerson’s student awards) for Best Review. Her deep love of movies led to her working at a movie theater for five years, which she loved despite the angry customers. An avid reader who constantly buys books before reading the ones she already owns, Rachel is a huge fan of superheroes (especially of the Marvel variety) and wizards and will likely never be able to catch up on all the movies/TV shows she longs to watch.

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