Why Panchito is the last one in accepting that he lied?: good life vs broken dreams
I have been thinking about how Ducktales portrayed Adulthood, Expectations, and the way we measure our worthiness in the Three Caballeros episode. And this particular question about Panchito came up to me. I think I have the answer. I could be wrong, of course. This is just my opinion but letâs see.
Donald is the first one to accept that he lied, in part because he realized that lying wasnât worth they getting eaten by a giant carnivorous flower; in part because Panchito and JosĂ© though he didn't need love them anymore because he was successful, and in part because he knows his friends thinking he isnât as cool as they thought and putting down all their dreams will worth it if it means protecting them, even if it means losing their love.
When Donald tells his truth. JosĂ© is the first one to realize that Donald was the only one with the guts to break the façade even if it meant breaking their dreams and losing their love, JosĂ© immediately sees he had fuck up, and worthiness changes its meaning with this. Donald is brave and honest in this, how could I be keeping this lie? He tells the truth immediately. Panchito doesnât relent that easy and I kind of understand why. Itâs because their circumstances are different, have they lied or not.Â
Why is this? Why Panchito is the most stubborn in the lie?Â
Let's start with a little insight on how okay were they with their lives and jobs from what we see in the episode.
Donald was actually okay with his life, he didnât really measure his worthiness with what Scrooge could say since their fallout with the Spear of Selene, what Scrooge thought didnât matter that much in those regards. Donald was used to being a failure in his eyes, he didnât really care that much anymore since it has always been like that. But he stills has love, a lot of love, he could change of jobs every damn time but he still has support form his three kids, he was a failure in a way but incredibly successful in another, like Huey said. He has a broken dream but his family is 1000 times more important for him, and theyâre fine and loved so itâs okay. But he does care about not being a failure in his friendsâ eyes that think so highly of him, he still loves them and their expectations are important to him. And he knows he doesnât meet them, especially right after he gets to know they were so âsuccessfulâ and expected him to be even more than them. So, he lies to keep their love and impress them. He wants them to be as proud of him as he is of them. Thatâs why he lies.
JosĂ© probably has some kind of good life too, after all, being an attendant gives you some actual ground to visit other places and do some interesting things. He was probably okay with his life too, in the comics he had always been kind of calm in those regards, lazy and mischievous. Life is just life. He has a broken dream but you know, meh, his life is actually okay right now so what does it matter? But at the moment that he knew he was going to meet Donald and Panchito? Oh Boy. NOPE. JUST NO. I canât have that, I canât let them see that. This soâŠ.not completely impressive life. So, he goes and dolls up the ups of his job, he takes one of his jobâs perks and changes it to something better. He wants to be worthy of their friends and worthy of Donaldâs morals. Thatâs why he is the first one to relent when Donald says the truth too.
But Panchito didnât have any of that, he wasnât okay with his life even before the meeting like Donald and he didnât have perks to his job like JosĂ©. He had to lie from the ground of his life. He had been in despair longer than those two, probably. Because for what we saw, Panchito was the only one between the three that actually tried to follow their old dream of being famous musicians. He has a dream, a dream that he followed but got broken in the way and now has a definitely not okay life. But then the opportunity presented of succeeding in that dream, and not alone, with his best friends. He truly believed they could succeed in that now that they all were âgreat adultsâ. His could have his dream and with his best friends in it again. Apart from the expectations from his friends that he wanted to meet, Panchito was in despair for not being the adult that he wanted to be more than anything, and he thought he had a chance again with his friends. He does feel betrayed, for their dreams. Itâs hard to accept that it is a broken dream after all.
Panchito is scared, completely terrified of his life. When Donald went back home even if he lied, he would still have his family, his uncle was going to still be a billionaire, he would still have three sons that loved him so much and he loved them in return. When JosĂ© would go back to his life even if he lied, he would go back to his okay job, itâs not a fantastic job but itâs good and stable and he has some freedom in it, he would still be fine with his life, he would still visiting places and meeting new people.
But Panchito? He would go back to an unstable life, singing in childrenâs parties, not knowing if he was going to be hired again, with his dreams broken and with the guilt of having been lying. And alone, without his friends. Of course, he is the last one to accept the lie. He is scared of going back to that life if they couldnât do this again. He did need that tour to regain some sense of worth on himself.
He is the last one accepting they canât really follow their old dream again with all those ups that their âsuccessfulâ life could have given them. When Panchito refuses to believe that they canât do that, what he really is refusing is having to come back to that life he has, that he probably despise. It must have taken a lot of courage to accept that he maybe was going to have to come back to that life again.
Thatâs why he is the last one to accept the truth. He is a scared adult, full of anxiety and broken dreams, and having to come back to that is understandable fear of his. None of this makes him lying okay, none of them lying was okay. But I do love lovably flawed characters. And Panchito is one of them. I love understanding why he acted like he acted. This is just an opinion, I could be wrong, of course.
