Pixar's Turning Red and "Controversy"

[muichimotsu]

There's honestly more praise than any major negative criticism, but it feels like most of the distaste is from a group one could call "Christian", some more infamous than others in what they're criticizing.

Honestly, I'm more interested in hearing responses, though I haven't perused all the reviews that you can find via Youtube and such, I've written a draft myself that needs significant trimming, but feels more thorough after a second viewing.

 

[Eloy Craft]

Hello, what is the subject you would like responded to?

 

[muichimotsu]

Hello, what is the subject you would like responded to?

There's plenty, but we could start with the claim from some that the film is encouraging children to rebel against their parents when that's vastly oversimplifying the story

 

[Eloy Craft]

Turning red is the subject then. I'm sorry for being dumb and nosy. I haven't seen it so....
I'm going to Google it find out more. My apologies.

 

[readywriter]

There's plenty, but we could start with the claim from some that the film is encouraging children to rebel against their parents when that's vastly oversimplifying the story.

@muichimotsu,

Having seen this film only yesterday, at my daughter's house. I can say that though I agree that it is oversimplifying the story to say that it encourages children to rebel against their parents: yet that is the feeling I came away with.

The animation was brilliant, the characterisations amazing, and the characters had many endearing qualities, yet it made me uneasy right from the beginning, because of the religious basis, and the location of the scenes associated with it.

 

[muichimotsu]

@muichimotsu,

Having seen this film only yesterday, at my daughter's house. I can say that though I agree that it is oversimplifying the story to say that it encourages children to rebel against their parents: yet that is the feeling I came away with.

The animation was brilliant, the characterisations amazing, and the characters had many endearing qualities, yet it made me uneasy right from the beginning, because of the religious basis, and the location of the scenes associated with it.

The question remains why you feel that way. There's such a thing as your own bias coloring your perspective in a way that should be confronted. Mei isn't rebelling in an unhealthy way or excessively and they acknowledge this throughout in subtle ways

Mei knows she can't just do what she wants, she says as much a handful of times to her friends. And even in the end, she's not cutting her mother out of her life at all and arguably has grown closer because they understand each other better

And the temple is a cultural aspect, that's like complaining that we see a Sikh or a woman in a niqab in the movie, among other things that aren't something a "majority" culture is as familiar with.

 

[readywriter]

The question remains why you feel that way. There's such a thing as your own bias coloring your perspective in a way that should be confronted. Mei isn't rebelling in an unhealthy way or excessively and they acknowledge this throughout in subtle ways

Mei knows she can't just do what she wants, she says as much a handful of times to her friends. And even in the end, she's not cutting her mother out of her life at all and arguably has grown closer because they understand each other better

And the temple is a cultural aspect, that's like complaining that we see a Sikh or a woman in a niqab in the movie, among other things that aren't something a "majority" culture is as familiar with.

Hello @muichimotsu,

Yes, there are a whole nest of prejudices within me, which have formulated my response to the scenes within the Hindu temple, and the whole concept of 'worship' portrayed, which made me uneasy and watchful throughout the film.

Thank you
In Christ Jesus
Chris

 

[muichimotsu]

Hello @muichimotsu,

Yes, there are a whole nest of prejudices within me, which have formulated my response to the scenes within the Hindu temple, and the whole concept of 'worship' portrayed, which made me uneasy and watchful throughout the film.

Thank you
In Christ Jesus
Chris

*sigh* It's not a Hindu temple and the worship aspect is within the story, it's no more encouraging kids to engage in the occult than Harry Potter. And it barely factors in, you see temple related stuff a handful of times, and the ritual only factors in at the end. The opening stuff is as much about Mei and Ming cleaning the temple as the maybe minute or so scene of paying tribute to Sun Yee.

 

[readywriter]

*sigh* It's not a Hindu temple and the worship aspect is within the story, it's no more encouraging kids to engage in the occult than Harry Potter. And it barely factors in, you see temple related stuff a handful of times, and the ritual only factors in at the end. The opening stuff is as much about Mei and Ming cleaning the temple as the maybe minute or so scene of paying tribute to Sun Yee.

Hello @muichimotsu,

Forgive my ignorance.

Thank you
In Christ Jesus
Chris

 

[DragonFox91]

Rebellion (against parents, tradition, culture, etc.) is a common theme in cinema. Many times it's packaged as 'follow your dreams' or 'be you.' In an individual movie, it's not a big deal & can be a good message from time to time. But it's obvious Hollywood wants a culture change when it tends to be the only message they focus on, & they've been doing it very subtlely, & so over time they've been getting what they want. I haven't seen Turning Red but the outrage probably stems from people waking up to this.

 

[muichimotsu]

Rebellion (against parents, tradition, culture, etc.) is a common theme in cinema. Many times it's packaged as 'follow your dreams' or 'be you.' In an individual movie, it's not a big deal & can be a good message from time to time. But it's obvious Hollywood wants a culture change when it tends to be the only message they focus on, & they've been doing it very subtlely, & so over time they've been getting what they want. I haven't seen Turning Red but the outrage probably stems from people waking up to this.

Being yourself and respecting authority are not mutually exclusive and the film doesn't do anything that different in regards to the idea of balancing the two.

Acting like a child rebelling is an indication of failure is hyperbole. If anything, it's just what happens, the "failure" is repressing them to the point they internalize and move to a self hating attitude or worse situations.

There's such a thing as an extreme on EITHER swing of the pendulum: being too wrapped up in getting parent's approval is damaging, especially when you're a grown adult with your own life, but the opposite extreme is not remotely what's advocated. Baby birds have to leave the nest, why is it suddenly different for children to learn appropriate independence?

 

[mama2one]

husband, teen, and I liked the movie
we like red pandas so it was bonus with pandas

it's a movie about girl's puberty

"Beyond periods, “Turning Red” explores puberty in all its uncomfortable glory – through the eyes of a confident, goofy Chinese Canadian girl. In the words of Shi, it’s an “ Asian tween fever dream."

 

[mama2one]

.

 

[muichimotsu]

husband, teen, and I liked the movie
we like red pandas so it was bonus with pandas

it's a movie about girl's puberty

"Beyond periods, “Turning Red” explores puberty in all its uncomfortable glory – through the eyes of a confident, goofy Chinese Canadian girl. In the words of Shi, it’s an “ Asian tween fever dream."

Con I go to has red panda as their mascot, so it's probably going to show up in some way then

 

[LeafByNiggle]

husband, teen, and I liked the movie
we like red pandas so it was bonus with pandas

it's a movie about girl's puberty

"Beyond periods, “Turning Red” explores puberty in all its uncomfortable glory – through the eyes of a confident, goofy Chinese Canadian girl. In the words of Shi, it’s an “ Asian tween fever dream."

Puberty certainly plays a big role in the movie, but I think the movie was about something more general than puberty. It was a near autobiographical tale of Domee Shi's childhood (minus the part about actually turning into a giant red panda). It explores the larger personality growth story where Mei learns to develop her own sense of identity, separate from that of her mother. It is not all about rebellion either. After Mei's secret plan to use her Panda to raise money to see 4Town is exposed, Mei submits to the red moon ceremony. She stops rebelling for a time and appears to be willing to go through with whatever is asked of her. It is interesting that in the conversation she has with her father just before the ceremony, he tells her that her Panda side is not to be feared and that it made him laugh. One might imagine that without this talk from her father, she might have chosen to continue pressing through the mirror until her Panda was locked up, instead of turning back and keeping the Panda at the very end. She did not come to that decision easily. Without her father's words, she might have decided differently. So rather than rebelling, her decision at the end was actually an act of listening to her parent, but the other parent. Also the movie was about the mother's acknowledgement and affirmation of Mei's choice. The mother has a character arc too. Mei is no longer rebelling at the end. She is using her Panda together with her mother in the public tours of the temple (and also to raise money to pay for the damages the mother caused at the concert.)

 

[mama2one]

It explores the larger personality growth story where Mei learns to develop her own sense of identity, separate from that of her mother. conversation she has with her father just before the ceremony, he tells her that her Panda side is not to be feared )

^ ALL part of puberty:


Psychological changes during puberty:
1. Early puberty:
During the early stages of puberty, concrete thinking still dominates, but early moral concepts begin to appear. Sexual orientation may also develop at this stage.

2. Mid puberty:

Mid-puberty, abstract thinking begins to feature more prominently. Many young people at this stage still have a sense of “invincibility” akin to that during childhood. The law is still generally identified as a guide to what is right, and its morality is not questioned. Fervent ideology may also start to develop, for example in the form of religious or political views.

3. Late puberty:

Late in puberty, there is the development of complex abstract thinking and the identification of differences between law and morality, leading to questioning of the law and authoritative figures. Personal identity is also further developed.

 

[mama2one]

"The moral of Turning Red is, of course, that Mei—and her mother—learns to embrace her panda. Rather than feeling ashamed or guilty of her messier edges, Mei accepts them as part of herself. A look at the audience reviews on the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes page shows that some people feel the subject of puberty isn’t suitable for a kids’ movie. I couldn’t disagree more. Turning Red shows kids that puberty is normal—a confusing, sometimes torturous, totally normal mess. More than that, Turning Red asserts that these emotions, while overwhelming, are ultimately what make you you. And that’s beautiful."

 

[muichimotsu]

"The moral of Turning Red is, of course, that Mei—and her mother—learns to embrace her panda. Rather than feeling ashamed or guilty of her messier edges, Mei accepts them as part of herself. A look at the audience reviews on the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes page shows that some people feel the subject of puberty isn’t suitable for a kids’ movie. I couldn’t disagree more. Turning Red shows kids that puberty is normal—a confusing, sometimes torturous, totally normal mess. More than that, Turning Red asserts that these emotions, while overwhelming, are ultimately what make you you. And that’s beautiful."

When society treats women like they have to be seen and not heard (if even that sometimes), then yeah, it's no wonder men, myself included, don't know about things like how the hymen is not some barrier, that periods affect women differently and so much more in terms of the experience of being a woman in a society that still puts men in a position where we fail upward

 

[LeafByNiggle]

When society treats women like they have to be seen and not heard (if even that sometimes), then yeah, it's no wonder men, myself included, don't know about things like how the hymen is not some barrier, that periods affect women differently and so much more in terms of the experience of being a woman in a society that still puts men in a position where we fail upward

Other than the one misunderstanding Mei's mother had, prompting her to question "Did the red peony bloom?", the movie Turning Red had nothing to do with the menstrual aspect of puberty. It was all about the psychological, hormonal, cultural, and personality aspects of that phase of life for a young girl.

 

[muichimotsu]

Other than the one misunderstanding Mei's mother had, prompting her to question "Did the red peony bloom?", the movie Turning Red had nothing to do with the menstrual aspect of puberty. It was all about the psychological, hormonal, cultural, and personality aspects of that phase of life for a young girl.

The mention of pads later would also connect, but the issues overlap in terms of how people seem to just think women can "tough out" a period and that adolescence doesn't have lasting effects psychologically if handled poorly