Intergenerational Trauma in Immigrant Families

Co-authored by Priscilla Li, BA and Eunice Y. Yuen, MD, PhD

In this contentious election year, immigration is the most concerning issue, according to Gallup 2024 monthly surveys. The number of asylum seekers reached a historical record high at the U.S.-Mexico border in December 2023 and challenged the humanitarian grounds of the U.S. immigration policy. This trend created turmoil and depleted resources along the border and across multiple cities. Unfortunately, it also undermined the benefits of immigration. Immigrants keep the U.S. population young and increase the workforce for the next decade, helping the U.S. to avoid the aging workforce crises happening in China and Japan.

Though the public is concerned with these issues surrounding immigration, we rarely ask: Do we know what it feels like to be an immigrant? Is there a difference between the first, 1.5 and second generation immigrants? It is well known that acculturative stress that stems from seemingly insurmountable economical, cultural, and social challenges can create mental health issues that are often not properly addressed or recognized by immigrant communities. This can be driven by factors like stigma. One unique issue is intergenerational trauma, which is defined as the “transmission of trauma or its legacy, in the form of a psychological consequence of an injury or attack, poverty, and so forth, from the generation experiencing the trauma to subsequent generations.”

Recent Disney and Pixar movies have depicted the immigrant experience. Directed by Bryon Howard and Jared Bush and co-directed by Charise Castro Smith, Encanto (2021) follows 15-year-old Mirabel’s journey of revealing the cracks in her family’s magic and home. Directed by Domee Shi, Turning Red (2022) is a coming-of-age story about 13-year-old Meilin, who navigates self-identity and puberty. Directed by Peter Sohn, Elemental (2023) depicts a love story between two opposite elements: 22-year-old fire element Ember and water element Wade. Each movie involves an immigrant family and touches on intergenerational trauma from the perspective of the immigrants’ descendants.

Themes of Intergenerational Trauma

Across these movies, there is a parental figure whose expectations are at odds with the interests of the young protagonist. These parental figures are: Abuela — the stoic, hardened grandmother in Encanto; Ming — the unrelenting "tiger mom" of Turning Red; and Bernie — the proud, hardworking father in Elemental. All of them share a past repressed experience of migrating from their homeland, exhibited in the form of intense expectations for the young protagonists: Mirabel in Encanto, Meilin in Turning Red, and Ember in Elemental. By exploring the ways Mirabel, Meilin and Ember navigate their own identities, these movies illustrate intergenerational trauma through Abuela’s, Ming’s, and Bernie’s unspoken trauma, familial expectations, and parenting styles.

Unspoken Trauma

Each movie slowly reveals the parental figures’ difficult past of loss, fear, and sacrifice that are often intertwined with the immigrant experience. For Abuela, it was the loss of her husband after fleeing their hometown. For Ming, it was carrying the fear of hurting her mother and straining their mother-daughter relationship. For Bernie, it was sacrificing his past life and subsequently facing discrimination as an immigrant in a new country. The young protagonists have an implied understanding of their caregivers’ general sacrifices, yet these past memories are never verbalized and processed until the characters reconcile and face the intergenerational trauma together. The difficulty of talking about the past is portrayed in the song, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”, where any sense of negativity or weakness is repressed.

Familial Expectations

Passed down expectations take the form of magical gifts in Encanto, the red panda transformation in Turning Red, and the Fireplace convenience store in Elemental. The young protagonists exhibit inner turmoil when these expectations are at odds with their own interests during a period when they are exploring their own identities and purposes in life. Yet, they also yearn to pay back their caregivers by fulfilling those expectations. When Wade in Elemental encourages Ember to follow her dreams, she says “You don’t know what it’s like to have parents who gave everything up for you. I’m FIRE, Wade! I can’t be anything more than that, it’s what I am and what my family is, It’s our way of life!” Likewise, Mirabel in Encanto sings, “But work and dedication will keep the miracle burning. And each new generation must keep the miracle burning.” While children are often asked what they want, these movies challenge that notion for second or third generation immigrants who heavily consider their family’s expectations. Meilin in Turning Red concludes that “Honoring your parents sounds great, but if you take it too far, well, you might forget to honor yourself.”

Parenting Styles

Intergenerational trauma can be manifested as maladaptive parenting styles. The feeling of Ming in Turning Red expresses “I’m never going to be good enough for her…or anyone” and her strained relationship with her mother is translated into being an overprotective mother to Meilin by trying to dictate who she should befriend and watching her at school. Along the same lines of being protective, Bernie’s past experiences in Elemental facing discrimination from water elements causes him to pass on that dislike of water to Ember. This causes her to reject her love interest in order to align with her father’s wishes and take over his shop. Inadvertently, these parenting styles complicate the young protagonists’ journey until the parents acknowledge: “You don’t have to apologize. I’m your mother” in Turning Red, and “The shop was never the dream. You were the dream” In Elemental.

Ultimately, Mirabel, Meilin and Ember, all help their loved ones face their repressed trauma in order to resolve their conflicts and pursue their interests.

Approaching Intergenerational Trauma

The Disney and Pixar films have happy endings with quick and efficient resolutions. Addressing intergenerational trauma in reality does not occur so easily. Past histories of oppression, discrimination, and violence are difficult to talk about and can serve as uncomfortable and triggering reminders. At the individual level, conversations with mental health providers can help people articulate how intergenerational trauma has affected their upbringing and mental health. At the family level, family therapy can explore the interpersonal dynamics that have formed from the result of intergenerational trauma. Other methods of exploring intergenerational trauma include using theater skits, films, TV shows and graphic novels. By talking about intergenerational trauma in the context of art and outside of personal examples, resistance to discussing these difficult topics can be mitigated.

While it is not conventional treatment for addressing trauma and/or post-traumatic stress disorder, these films not only empower future generations to recognize intergenerational trauma, but also provide a medium for those experiencing trauma to relate to the characters and speak about it.

Depending on the children’s developmental stage, families can share compassionate activities together after watching the films. Parents can:

• Engage their children by discussing the themes inside the films and by asking how characters overcame challenges
• Review picture albums or objects that remind them of someone special in the family
• Discuss family stories from generation to generation
• Talk about moments of family resilience that are worth celebrating
• Talk about adverse experiences that families have overcome
• Talk about what the family is grateful for
• Talk about shared goals going forward as a family

Disney’s and Pixar’s inclusion of the diverse immigrant experience in their movies offers an opportunity for families to engage in compassionate conversations and begin to break the cycle of intergenerational trauma. With the growing immigrant population in the U.S., acknowledging and addressing intergenerational trauma is important and children’s movies have begun to pay homage to glimpses of these lived experiences.

Priscilla Li, B.A., is a 4th year medical student at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). She is president and a founding member of the Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association chapter at MUSC.