Faith Works 10-27-23

Faith Works 10-27-23
Jeff Gill

Remembering the dead in the land of the living
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"Coco" is an animated film, not a theology text.

The Disney Pixar production back in 2017 is a story woven around the Mexican traditions of the "Day of the Dead," and cultural practices to honor deceased relatives from marigolds and music to shrines with pictures and even favorite foods, all meant to help keep alive the memory of those who have died.

In the larger Christian tradition, it connects to Nov. 1 being "All Saints Day," and the lesser feast of "All Souls" on the 2nd. In our neck of the woods, more people may be aware of the evening before honoring all the saints, or "All Hallows," which has become Hallowe'en.

All Souls, or "Día de los Muertos" is an expansive celebration however you look at it, including all those who have gone on before. In "Coco," the traditional practices and communal beliefs are given some twists with a visit to a not-quite-Purgatory, a "Land of the Dead" which is explained, at one point, as being itself a stage along the way to a deeper mystery, a more lasting eternity. It's a-theological, while dealing very directly with last things.

Most compelling in the narrative is the idea that you vanish from that stage of afterlife once there is no one left who remembers you in life. Again, it isn't a theology text; some might argue it's not even all that Christian. The movie has trouble with the idea of whether or not it's good to move on, or not; to be forgotten and vanish from this post-death phase is most often presented as a tragedy, while it would seem to make more sense for the tragedy to be staying in that in-between state forever, or at least for too long.

Still, the story if you haven't seen it is a truly moving meditation on memory. The recurring theme is in a song, central to the plot in all the many ways it ends up being sung, by different people, to whom, and why. "Remember Me," written Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, is truly the heart of "Coco."

"Remember me/Though I have to say goodbye/Remember me/Don't let it make you cry."

There are aging family members losing their own memories in life; in death, there are memories the living seek to forget, or even erase. There is time, and distance, and pain, and hope, and the desire to be remembered which itself can take many forms.

"For even if I'm far away I hold you in my heart/I sing a secret song to you each night we are apart."

Being an animated movie, there is final plot twist, a flash of the right memory at the right time, redeeming a past almost forgotten.

"Know that I'm with you the only way that I can be…"

In an imperfect, one might even say broken world, there is hope for healing and restoration, a happy ending even when death is very near. I honor the movie, the intention behind a joyful and sometimes laughing Day of the Dead commemoration. And whether it's a Disney production or a Hallmark Christmas romance, who doesn't love a happy ending?

"Remember me." The tears that come for many watching "Coco," and with that song, is that memories don't always heal. Some memories have to be redeemed, and transformed, and occasionally just given over to a deeper mystery, a more lasting everlastingness where we can trust the Keeper of eternity with finding the solutions we do not have, who can tell us just what it is we can safely forget, and cast aside.


Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he likes to laugh with the kids in costumes at death and decay. Tell him how you mark this season of memory at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack77 on Threads.