The viral video of a 2-year-old boy who gets excited to see a Disney movie character look exactly like him sends a powerful message about the importance of representation in the film industry.
The boy, Kenzo Brooks, who lives with his parents in New York,
began to applaud when he saw on the screen
of his home Antonio, a character from the movie
Encanto,
inspired by Colombian families and diversity.
[With 'Encanto', the new Disney movie set in Colombia, some are filled with pride. Others turn their disappointment into memes]
"I really think he thought he was seeing himself," said his mother, Kaheisha, according to ABC.
"He just kept looking at the screen and returned to look at us smiling," he said.
2-year-old Kenzo Brooks poses next to the main character in the new Disney movie, 'Charm.' @ Katchingupwithkenzo
His father, Keith, said the boy had become ecstatic: "He was clapping. He was just so excited," he said.
She added: "He was able to see someone who looks like him; something that when I grew up, it didn't happen often. I think it's amazing that so many
other black and brown-skinned kids
can have the same experience now."
Disney delights Latinos with a preview of 'Encanto', a film set in Colombia
Dec. 11, 202000: 59
The photo in which Antonio is seen together with Kenzo went viral on the social network Twitter with the hashtag #Representationmatters (Representation is important).
Many users shared and commented on the photo.
One of them wrote: “This is why representation is important.
It's good to see us on screen
in a good light. "
Another user said that, finally, she could also dress up as a character: Mirabel, one of the protagonists of the animated film.
Kenzo's father, who is a seventh grade teacher in the New York borough of the Bronx, said he has always taught his students
the importance of positive representation
in the media.
['Encanto': the music, the joy and the superpower of the different generations of a Latino family]
For them, as a family, it was a great moment, but for the child's mother the most important thing is that "this becomes normal."
"
It will be nice to tell him
and show him everything that happened," added the father.
