Going through puberty is cringe! I think every single person who has gone through that awkward but important phase in their lives can agree on that. It’s that stage that is like the equivalent of ripping off a band-ad that been a part of your skin for months or popping a really big zit that has been on the side of your face for weeks. It’s uncomfortable and will probably make you squirm but it’s something you know you have to do and get through at some point in your life. Regardless of what gender you are, there’s always that point in time where you go through that period of time where you not only start to experiencing changes in your body, voice, and hormones but how those changes are going to affect you for the rest of your time on planet Earth. The reason being is because the changes you go through when you hit puberty is also what changes you from underneath and that’s when you start to discover your true purpose in life. You don’t have everything planned out exactly but you discover that first step that you’re wanting to take which will lead to your exact definition of a successful future.
When it comes to recent movies, there hasn’t been one that quite captures the glorious and embarrassing amount of cringe of going through that difficult time period than with Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade. A film which saw Elsie Fisher’s Kayla Day go through all the inevitable phases that a teenager must go through as they work their way through middle school and approach high school. She is everything that you would expect a girl like her to be in the eighth grade. She was quiet and awkward, she suffered with stress and anxiety, she had a hard time interacting with other students, she published video web blogs that only her herself really watch, she had a rather distance relationship with her dad, and overall, she was just a teenager. Admittedly, the movie itself was cringe and honestly hard to watch at times, but that was the point that Bo Burnham was trying to make with that movie. It was cringeworthy and difficult to watch experience because experiencing the eighth grade itself is a cringeworthy and difficult to learn experience. Whether or not that Turning Point comes close to capture that same realistic magic as Eighth Grade is something I can’t quite say but I haven’t seen a children’s movie capture this kind of subject matter as perfectly as it does. (Friendly reminder, that Eight Grade was actually rated R instead of PG-13 which I believe was a bit mistake. Aside from a couple of f-bombs, it’s as PG-13 as it goes)
While this is certainly not the first Pixar movie to tackle themes of growing up and maturing (see the Toy Story sequels), there really hasn’t been one that been as front-and-center with those core themes than with Turning Red. And also while this also isn’t even the first Pixar movie to have a main female lead like some are claiming it is (Did everyone just suddenly forget about Brave, Inside Out, Finding Dory, and even the Elastic Girl lead Incredibles 2?), there hasn’t been one that has captured the inner turmoil of what I imagine a girl has to go through when they turn 13 years old.
I will admit, I’ve never been a 13-year old girl. I’ve been a white, caucasian male my entire life. That right there might make some of you want to click off this review and go find another reviewer that has been through the same growth spout period as you have. And if you do, that’s fine. I certainly think the voices of target demographic which this movie is aimed matters just as much if not more than those outside of that demographic.
But just because I can’t relate to being a 13-year old girl doesn’t mean I can’t relate to Mei or her girl friends in any way, shape, or form along with their early experiences as a teenager. I might not have went through the exact same awkward phase as Mei, Miriam, Abby, and Priya does in the film (and I especially have not been turned into a giant red panda) but I certainly have gone through an awkward phase of some kind when I was the same age as all of these main characters throughout the film. (Heck, I even too had finished in 2nd place in the spelling bee as well! No joke!)
There seems to be a consensus lately that if an audience member can’t relate exactly to what the main character has gone through, then that makes them a bad character or a character that strictly “not for them”. (Which is something I will DEFINITELY bring up in my piece soon about that ONE review of Turning Red which is a prime example of everything wrong with film criticism.) I personally never understood that. While I always love to see a part of myself on the big screen, I’m also equally fascinated to a non-part of myself on the big screen as well. I like see different kinds of people go through different kinds of phrases in their lives compare to mine on the big screen as well. I like to see how they are different from me in terms of personally, development, and growth throughout the motion picture. I like to see them make valid and logical choices that I myself personally would not have made. I like to see someone on the big screen that is different than me but in a incredibly compelling way. Even if I’m not watching a movie with a main character that doesn’t resemble me in any way, shape, or form, I have HUNDREDS of others films that do that I go watch. That’s how I see the characters in this movie and I don’t think it could have worked out for the better.
When looking at it from a surface level, it can be easy to assume Turning Red as a movie strictly for young girls and teenage girls. While it’s totally understandable to assume that and I won’t even tell people who claimed that are wrong, I do feel there is strongly something for anybody to relate to in this movie. Because Turning Red isn’t just about a girl taking her first steps into become a woman, it’s about also taking that leap of faith that might go against everything that the folks who raise you stand for. Even if you don’t go through that same awkward phase that every young girl goes through during her teenage years, you can at least see the main character’s troubled relationship with her mother and her inherited family which is something I know anyone can get an understanding of.
As much as Turning Red is about getting through that next awkward step in your life, it’s also about finding yourself through that teen years and being that version of yourself you can imagine being for the rest of your life. Mei’s mother Ming Lee is about the most strict, overprotective, and emotionally manipulative mother you can possibly imagine. Not only imagine absolute perfection from her daughter but also imagine no other version from Mei than the one that perfectly matches her along with her family and ancestors. Despite how hard Mei might tries to be the perfect daughter that her mother has imagined, there is still a sense of emptiness insider herself that she want’s to be something much different than what her heritage had set in stone for her. It’s with her relationship with her friends, Miriam, Abby, and Priya, that shows that there’s more to her than what her mother wants her to be. Mei is upbeat, full of energy, and wants to be part of the crowd instead of an ancient religion. This is all everything that her mother is not (and as we learn throughout, that’s also something that Mei’s grandmother isn’t either), and that’s what make the Red Panda in this story work perfectly.
The big hook to this movie is that Mei is able to transform into a huge red panda whenever she experiences a strong emotion of any kind. Whether that strong emotion considers of anger, sadness, or excitement, Mei will immediately transform into a giant, fluffy red panda once she fill a big ounce of feel. That makes for a great case of someone being afraid to express their emotions in an extreme way that it gives everyone in public the wrong idea of who you are. Deep down, Mei isn’t a big scary fur bear, she’s just an innocent child who now likes boys, music, and expressing her true self onto other people. While the red panda shows publicly what Mei might be on the outside, that’s not how she truly feels on the inside and hopes that other people don’t get the exact opposite idea of it. Whether or not, the public will like Mei as a red panda, Mei also hopes that people like Mei as Mei as well. Make no mistake, the Red Panda itself does makes for some rather bizarre but interesting lore throughout the film which ties back into Mei’s ancestors of members of her family having to go through that period of rejecting that red panda period so you can be at one with the entire clan. However, the Red Panda also perfectly mirrors that awkward pubescent stage that all of us have went through or will go through once we have reached the teen years. We all have had our “Red Panda” moment.
What also helps greatly is the animation! While it can certainly be described as crazy, weird, over-the-top and just plain “out there”, it perfectly blends with the exact kind of movie that it’s aiming to be. It’s just as stylish, energetic, and even at times cringe as is the story that it’s trying to tell. It’s colorful, beautiful, and upbeat with some of the most expressive characters that I’ve ever seen in animation. Between this and Encanto, it certainly seems nice to see Disney take the next big step into animating their films but not just making the aesthetics and background look more realistic but also with making their characters emote and expresses themselves in that exact same fashion.
As much as Turning Red has smart and mature themes throughout, it’s also just a ton of fun! It’s extremely hilarious with jokes that even if I can’t relate to or even understand, made me laugh quite a bit. It’s sharp and fast-paced throughout with hardly a dull moment to speak of. The vocal performances from the cast, especially Rosaline Chiang and Sandara Oh as Mei and her mother respectively, is strong nailing the sharp and funny dialogue along with the emotional beats and story turns the movie takes until it’s final act. Regardless if you watch it as an cinematic exploration of growing up and believing in who you are or just as an entertaining animated flick, Turning Red is the absolute complete package!
There are definitely some things you can criticize (As likeable as Mei’s father is, I do wish they could have done more with him aside from being just the nice dad who barely speaks and just blindly goes along with whatever his wife wants.), but Turning Red is another Pixar winner and another prime example of how we should all learn to stop doubting them by now. There are definitely Pixar films I’m more attached too and even some I think that are better than this movie, but I can’t recall a Pixar movie that is just so open and honest with itself as this one is. It take risks and tackles subject matter that at least 99% of other animation studios are probably afraid of tackling for a supposed kids film, it has a strong thematical and emotional core that holds the whole thing together near perfectly which nearly everyone that watches it will be able to get some sort of reaction out of, and has animation that at times might be cringe, but serves it’s purpose and executed in all of the intent and purpose imaginable. Turning Red is a wonderfully, lovable movie about an awfully, cringe-able time period that we all have or will have to go through that I can’t recommend enough.
Before watching this movie, I never thought in a million years that I would say to myself, I definitely remember the time when I had my own “Red Panda” moment.
(Seriously, Domee Shi! How in the world did you know that I finished 2nd place in the spelling bee?!)
Adam's Blog 