Stephen Halili

Mr. Nacita

HZT4U1-03

10 May 2023

Coco: A Connection to Empiricism

In the 2017 Disney film Coco, Miguel, a young boy, is banned by his family from

pursuing his dream of becoming a musician. Miguel unintentionally travels to the Land of the

Dead on Día de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead), where he encounters his deceased ancestors

and sets out on a mission to learn the truth about his family's past and their generational hatred

for music. In his journey, he meets Hector, someone from the Land of the Dead, who helps

Miguel find a famous musician, who also turns out to be his deceased great-great-grandfather.

For Miguel to return to the Land of the Living, he needs his great-great-grandfather’s blessing.

Through his journey in the Land of the Dead, he appreciates the value of keeping memories and

the relationship with his family, as well as the bond between the living and the dead. Moreover,

this concept aligns with Empiricism as it is seen throughout the movie that Miguel gains

knowledge about his family’s history through his experiences in his journey in the Land of the

Dead. The connection between the movie and Empiricism is visible by examining how the

theories of philosophers John Locke and George Berkeley may be applied to this film. 

Philosopher John Locke is an empiricist who believed that knowledge is not innate to

mind. Locke introduces a theory called “Tabula Rasa”, which suggests that the human mind is a

blank slate that can only be filled in through sensory experiences. In Coco, everyone’s

knowledge is gained through their experiences. For instance, the protagonist Miguel begins with

a blank slate and is unaware of anything about the history of his family. However, by interacting
with his ancestors in the Land of the Dead, he obtains knowledge about the past and traditions of

his family. Miguel’s passion for music also ties to this theory. Miguel's family first forbids him

from engaging in any musical endeavour, but through the experiences he has in both the world of

the living and the dead, he can find his love of music and learn how to play the guitar. In the

following scene, Miguel expresses his love for music and admits that he is inspired by watching

and hearing musicians play: “I know I’m not supposed to love music. But it’s not my fault! It’s

his! Ernesto De la Cruz.” His love of music is a result of his experiences with the world; thus, it

is not innate. Additionally, Knowledge is also subjective, according to Locke. Knowledge is

really about the ideas that people have on things. Similarly in the movie, the knowledge that

Miguel’s family have about music is subjective. They strongly believe that music is a curse and

therefore should not be played, but this is just their subjective knowledge since other people, like

Miguel, have a strong passion for music and perceive it differently. Fundamentally, Locke would

agree that Miguel’s knowledge is all from experiences and not innate as Miguel’s mind starts off

with a blank slate and later filled with experience. Innate knowledge are ideas held in the mind

prior to existence, which John Locke heavily disagrees to. 

George Berkeley, a philosopher best known for his belief in the phrase “Esse est percipi”,

or in other words, “To be is to be perceived”. He continues by stating that all that is real is a

perception of the mind's conscious awareness and without a perceiver, an entity cannot exist. He

believes that objects only exist temporarily if the person is aware of them. In Coco, this notion

holds true in the sense that the dead cannot continue to exist in the Land of the Dead if people

who they have made memories within the living world do not remember them. For instance,

Miguel has witnessed the disappearance of a deceased, Chicharrón, from the afterlife, because he

is forgotten completely by those who hold memories of him. Chicharrón has been able to exist in
the afterlife due to the memories of him being kept alive in the living world, but by the time that

he is forgotten, he also ceases to exist. Moreover, Hector explains to Miguel: “He’s been

forgotten, when no one left from the living world remembers you, you disappear from this world.

We call it final death.” This scene proves the relation between the perception and existence of an

entity. “Our memories, they must be passed down by those who knew us in life in the stories

they tell about us. But there’s no one left alive to pass down Cheech’s stories”, Hector relays. 

Although they are already dead, they can still exist in the afterlife through remembrance and

memories. Therefore, Berkeley’s theory stays true to this movie as it is evident that the dead can

only continue to exist when they are being remembered, if being perceived by someone’s mind.

When someone from the living remembers one, only then do they exist in the afterlife. Those

from the afterlife stop existing as soon as the memory of them fades. They are only able to exist

because individuals in the living world have memories of them. Ultimately, Berkeley would

agree to the connection of his theory in the movie, especially in his belief that “to be is to be

perceived.”

Finally, by examining the beliefs of John Locke and George Berkeley, the movie Coco

provides a vivid illustration of empiricism concepts. Coco, through the life of Miguel, accurately

demonstrates the importance of gaining knowledge through experiences and the subjectivity of

it, as well as the concept that all that is real is a perception of the mind's conscious awareness.

Works Cited

Coco. 2017. [film] Directed by L. Unkrich. California: Pixar Animation Studios.

Velasquez, Manuel G. Philosophy: A Text with Readings. Thomson/Wadsworth, 2005.