Lilo & Stitch is a widely beloved Disney animated movie about family. In exploring the difficulties and tribulations faced by those in irregular familial situations, the film portrays a teenage girl trying her best to take care of her little sister.
Something particularly notable about Lilo & Stitch is its direct portrayal of an irregular family dynamic: Lilo and Nani’s parents are both dead, so Nani (19 years old) has to step up for her sister, while juggling a job. Lilo is a free-spirited little girl who struggles to befriend children her age. She doesn’t care or understand why her sister is so stressed about the social worker, who is supposed to grant Nani custody of her.
The beginning of Lilo & Stitch juxtaposes Nani’s stress with the social worker, with Lilo being socially rejected. Neither of them can understand the other because both are entrenched in their own issues.
Though they are vastly different problems, one directly affects the other and vice versa. Nani, being overworked between her job and her sister, doesn’t have the mind to assess Lilo’s behavior, reducing her to a nuisance. Lilo acts out because she is lonely. She finds a companion in Stitch, her “dog,” because she is lonely at home and cannot find friends among the girls in her hula class.
Nani, with no parental experience, doesn’t know how to navigate raising Lilo, leaving their interactions tense and difficult. Lilo feels unwanted, misunderstanding Nani’s extreme efforts to get custody of her. Still, Nani’s inability to understand her sister’s needs only reinforces that issue further. So far, the movie has set up its portrayal of a teenage caretaker: inexperienced, but trying.
As Nani and Lilo’s relationship unfolds, their motivations shift, they open up to each other, and they begin working for each other instead of against each other. Nani understands Lilo’s outbursts as a product of the social rejection she faces from the girls her age, and Lilo grows to learn about Nani’s responsibilities as a caregiver and worker.
Parentified children are stacked with responsibilities. Education and work conflate with responsibilities at home and often give them no time to rest. This is shown in the film, as Nani has a job and sometimes has to bring Lilo to work to keep an eye on her. Then at home, she has to keep her sister out of trouble.
It’s impossible to encompass the struggles of an entire group of people through the lens of one character, but aside from aspects of the movie that were exaggerated for entertainment, Nani is a fairly accurate teenage caregiver.
