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Coco
Movie

Coco

2017 • Animation, Adventure, Drama

Woke Score
1.4
out of 10

Plot

Despite his family's baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets charming trickster Hector, and together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.

Overall Series Review

Coco is a vibrant celebration of Mexican culture, tradition, and the enduring strength of the multi-generational family unit. The narrative centers on a young boy's journey to reconnect his family with its past and reconcile the value of personal passion with familial responsibility. The film explicitly honors heritage, respects ancestors, and uses the cultural context of Día de los Muertos to drive its entire plot. While the Rivera family is an effective matriarchy that subverts traditional gender roles, this is framed as an act of familial protection and business success rather than an anti-natalist or 'girl boss' lecture. The story resolves with a message of forgiveness, reconciliation, and the transcendent power of memory and family bonds, making it fundamentally rooted in traditional moral structures.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics2/10

The movie centers entirely on Mexican culture and an all-Mexican/Latino cast, aiming to authentically represent an underrepresented group. This is a focus on cultural identity and representation, not a critique of 'whiteness' or a lecture on privilege or systemic oppression. Character value is judged by personal integrity and merit (like Hector's true character and Miguel's talent), which drives the plot, not an intersectional hierarchy.

Oikophobia1/10

The film functions as a heartfelt tribute to Mexican heritage, customs, and the multi-generational family. The entire plot is predicated on the celebration of the traditional holiday Día de los Muertos, which explicitly honors and respects ancestors. The conflict is internal—a family rule that needs fixing—not a framing of the home culture as fundamentally corrupt or inferior to an outside ideology.

Feminism3/10

The Rivera family is an established matriarchy, with the great-great-grandmother, Mamá Imelda, taking charge after her husband leaves, successfully building a shoe business and enforcing the music ban to protect her family. This breaks traditional gender roles by placing a woman at the head of a successful business and family. However, this authority is dedicated to the preservation and security of the extended family unit, not a rejection of family life for an individualist career, giving it a moderate score.

LGBTQ+1/10

The narrative focus is exclusively on the extended, heterosexual, multi-generational nuclear family structure and its bonds across time. The movie contains no explicit LGBTQ+ themes, characters, or ideological messaging concerning gender theory or the deconstruction of the nuclear family.

Anti-Theism1/10

The core of the movie's story and setting is the spiritual worldview of Día de los Muertos, which assumes an afterlife and celebrates the spiritual connection between the living and the dead. The film treats the spiritual realm and the concept of a transcendent moral law (the importance of memory, truth, and forgiveness) as factual within the story's universe. It is steeped in a cultural/folk Catholic spiritual tradition, not hostile to faith.