I finally gave in and watched Encanto. I found Bruno extremely adorable, but I don’t understand the things he does like the “knock on wood” thing, throwing some salt and/or sugar, holding his breath, and more I probably didn’t catch. What do those mean? Why is he doing those?
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Things Bruno do:
Knocking on wood (sometimes his head)
Going through doorways backward while holding his breath and crossing his fingers
Avoiding stepping on cracks
Tossing salt over his shoulder (sometimes sugar)
These are all superstitious actions to ward off bad luck. These superstitious actions are known in several cultures.
I think he does all of these because of the nature of his “gift” or power. He sees the future, so, understandably, he worries about it more than us normal people. He may also think he’s making bad things happen because of his prophecies – which is not true but, he is used as a scapegoat by the village people whose negative prophecies came true. He only reads the future, he doesn’t make them happen.
He just basically wishes the future will be good, so he does as much warding off bad luck actions as possible (sad but adorable).