Movie Review: A Relatable Tale of Growing Up, “Turning Red” is Like a Big Warm Hug

"The point isn't to push the bad stuff away. It's to make room for it, live with it."

We all know the classic storyline of a fairytale. While they differ a little in subject matter, it’s always a hero or heroine trying to achieve a goal that seems completely out of reach. They overcome the obstacles in their way and then they live happily ever after.

Not so much in Turning Red. Of course, it’s still got the happy ending because we can’t stray too far from the predictability of Pixar. But it’s real and it’s bold and it talks openly about puberty. Yep, puberty.

Gasp, right?! A children’s animated feature that doesn’t just touch on periods or emotions or all that mess you navigate as a teenager – it’s entirely centred around it.

About time, isn’t it?

And not only that, there’s also the importance of female friendship, embracing change, the frictions of a mother/daughter relationship and a giant red panda thrown in there too.

What's it about?

It’s 2002 and 13-year-old Chinese Canadian teenager, Meilin ‘Mei’ Lee (voiced by Rosalie Chiang), is the perfect daughter – she’s studious, helpful and does anything to win the approval of her loving, but overprotective and very traditional mother (voiced by Sandra Oh).

Mei and her three best friends are unashamedly dorky, confident and passionate, and they are crazy fangirls of the boy band 4*Town (think all the heavy synth and cringe outfits of the Backstreet Boys and every other 2000s boy band).

Then Mei’s hormones kick in and take on a life of their own. Like, literally because she turns into a big fluffy red panda every time her emotions run wild. Talk about puberty hitting different.

Becoming a panda is thanks to a family gene, but it’s mistaken by her parents for Mei getting her first period. As the title of the film hints at, what ensues are awkward but wonderfully open conversations about menstruation and sanitary products.

We won’t give too much else away but there’s also an increased interest in boys, emotional outbursts, secrets, internal conflict and self-discovery, rebellion and fights between both friends and family – all the goodness of growing up.

And Tamagotchis! Remember those?

A milestone film.

Turning Red is Pixar’s first feature film directed by a woman, Domee Shi, who also directed that awesome short flick, Bao, about a dumpling. It’s also only the second film (after Up in 2009) to feature an Asian lead character.

And, of course as we’ve already touched on, it perfectly portrays adolescence in a relatable and embarrassing, but not intimidating, way opening up dinner table conversations about tough teenage years. Which is unique in itself.

The film is currently at 95% on the review site, Rotten Tomatoes, which signifies universal acclaim (and that’s impressive).

But despite that, Turning Red has been wrapped up in online controversies.

The controversies.

It all started with a now-deleted review from CinemaBlend’s Managing Editor, Sean O’Connell. He said the film’s focus on Asian culture and talk of periods meant he couldn’t relate to Mei’s story and the film was therefore “limited in scope”.

He actually said the target audience was “small and incredibly specific” as if not every human on the planet could identify with going through the emotional and hormonal changes of their teenage years.

“A subtle and more nuanced story about puberty’s effects on teenagers might have been preferred,” he went on to say.

But the internet masses were quick to defend the film and O’Connell apologised for the review.

I too prefer more universally relatable heroes such as cars with eyeballs

— Linda Holmes (@lindaholmes) March 8, 2022

Then a bunch of parents took to social media to complain about the storyline they described as too mature for PG audiences. Even though many girls experience their first period around the same age as Mei.

But the overwhelming majority of viewers who loved Turning Red prove that this is a coming-of-age animated hit.

 

 

 

 

 

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If you ask us, Turning Red is an uplifting and moving film that normalises the many unique and terrifying experiences of growing up. It tells a tale of working through your relationships, being unapologetically yourself and cuddling your inner panda. And it’s well worth a watch.

Turning Red is streaming now on Disney+.

Header image: Disney/Pixar.