artistefish:

One of my fave things about the Hector/Imelda relationship is that like… it’s honestly so unexpected at first that the audience easily believes Imelda was actually married to Ernesto!

I mean here’s Ernesto de la Cruz, this charismatic, go-getter type of person, all smiles and charm and someone we’re told to like from the beginning, and when we meet Imelda she’s strong-willed and has this air of sophistication and class about her, a true matriarch of the family, and it’s like ‘oh yeah, I can see how these two personalities would’ve come together but then had a falling out.’ He’s the type who would leave for his dreams, and she’s the type who would never forgive him.

But then you realize she’s married to HECTOR: this strong, lovely, no-nonsense woman was the wife of this kooky tattered scarecrow of a man who was almost as thin in life as he is in death, and it’s just like ‘… them? Really??’

And then they start interacting and you find out how these misunderstandings have harmed their relationship, but underneath it all they still love each other so so much and turns out the two of them together are nothing short of adorable and it’s like ‘how could I have ever thought differently??’

Also it’s great to see how Imelda reacts to the man we and Miguel *thought* she was married to: repeatedly bashing him with her boot.

There’s this great line in the novelization where she remarks disgustedly that De La Cruz has no respect for women, and I think that’s part of why she and Hector work so well together- even when she’s been holding a grudge against him for years, he is nothing but respect and love for her.