Dia De Los Muertos: Day Of The Dead

What it shows?

Coco is a fun, animated movie that tells a deeply touching story of a 12-year-old boy dreaming of becoming a musician and who happens to talk to skeletons in the Land of the Dead. The Pixar film is also an educational movie which provides a Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) theme to enlighten people on the importance of the holiday to the people of Mexico. Even though many may think Day of the Dead and Halloween are the same holiday, they are not. For this reason, it is important to educate young people on the importance of Día de Los Muertos to avoid misconceptions on Day of the Dead being a Mexican Halloween, when to the people of Mexico, it means so much more.

The origins of Day of the Dead and its traditions

The historical

The holiday is holy obligation, a time set aside in the year so families and friends can pray and honor the souls of their deceased relatives (Castro). During this time, the deceased family and friends are also given consent to reunite with the living and enjoy the pleasures of life again. In the Mexican culture, death is not something that should be feared but should be embraced and viewed as a part of life as life itself. In other words, Day of the Dead has become such an important holiday to Mexican culture because is not only about honoring death, nor for it be a scary holiday but it is about celebrating the lives of the deceased and reminiscing on those memories that once were shared. Often people have misconstrued Halloween with Day of the Dead as being the same when they are not. Paul del Castillo, who partakes in the celebration of Day of the Dead stated that he likes “Halloween” but also likes the “Mexican culture” all while believing the” Mexican traditions [are] better,” (Argen). Him along with other Mexicans believe that Day of the Dead seems to be overshadowed by Halloween. To revive Mexican cultural traditions, Mexican people are acting by creating Mexican festivals to cities like Hollywood and New York as well as making movies like Coco by using a Día de Los Muertos theme to inform them the subject. What was once held in private has been moved out from the graveyards and people’s homes

It reintroduces to children, with those of Mexican heritage, community ties, and those without European heritage about Mexico’s traditions. According to Nathaniel Parish Flannery, a Forbes contributor, states, “The movie Coco is part of a larger trend of marketing efforts that celebrate Mexico’s traditions but also reintroduce them to a younger generation of globally attuned urban Mexicans who might not have grown up honoring the Day of the Dead in the same way that people in many small towns in southwestern part of the country still do,”. In addition, it is also to educate those who are not culturally aware of what Día de Los Muertos is truly