Chinese Canadian Critic Reviews Turning Red | Video Essay 

Yeah, this is not my best video. To elaborate, I do find the film relateable. At least for the first half, I was able to feel how overwhelming it is for a teenager girl to go through that period of life. Obviously, I can only relate to that on an emotional level, but not from personal experience. I also cannot and should not be the one to talk about the female experience, which is why this review focused on merely the nitpicky details and story executions. In other words, the story's foundation is very strong, which is why many viewers find it so relatable. I have my issues with the execution of it, but what bothers me doesn't always bother everyone. As for the "controversies" surrounding this film, I elected not to give them any attention they do not deserve. Of course, I should not be the one to address them. But those so-called controversies are such non-sense, I don't want to give them any form of legitimacy through debate or discussion anyway.

Turning Red might not be everyone's cup of tea, but you can feel that it was crafted with love and passion from the creators. I personally enjoyed the film a lot. The "emoji" faces didn't feel like a cheap cop out to me though, but more visual shorthand that's prevalent in a specific style. Think chibi faces in older anime (which probably influenced a lot of the creative direction of the film)

I don’t think the panda is a metaphor for puberty, or at least, it’s not *just* that. It’s a metaphor for her wilder self, her desires and emerging adult nature. It’s a metaphor for lack of control - not by her, but by her mother. The red panda represents her outgrowing her mother, changing beyond what her mother is capable of controlling, which includes puberty, yes, but also sexual desire, different tastes in culture and teenage rebellion. That’s why it’s sudden and stressful and messes with her emotions, like menstruation, but also leads to joy, freedom and independence, like growing up. I think that’s what the stakes and consequences are. Her family is scared that she’ll grow beyond their control and stay there, that’s why they’re scared of the panda, and why they, as older generations so often do in Asian cultures, seal theirs away for the sake of tradition, the status quo and harmony. It’s a metaphor that works on multiple levels.

I felt the strongest message was breaking generational trauma. The red panda is the wild side that has to get tamed because it’s just what their whole family has always done. She breaks free to be herself which is a common and relatable theme for 2nd and 3rd gen immigrants.

As a chinese-european, the only thing that really bothered me was, that there were not enough shots of the food

So about the transformation: I would argue that the red panda is a more complex metaphor than just being "puberty/menstruation." It is in some ways representative of a person's (especially people socialized as women) ability to be completely themselves, warts and all. To be smelly and loud. To take up space. To be scary. It's a part of you that begins to take shape around the time of puberty, as you mature into the person you're going to be someday. As in the legend in the movie and as in life, it's something that can be a strength, a hindrance, or a mix of both. In Canada and the US (the grandma lives in Florida, I think?), the older women in Mei's family have all decided to suppress this side of themselves, likely in order to survive and be accepted in the cultures/places/spaces they inhabit. To the point where they have all forgotten or don't realize that the red panda self could be useful or good. This is even made somewhat explicit by Mei's dad right before the ceremony. He tells his daughter that while for Mei's mother the red panda part of herself was something that led to her causing harm, for Mei it's something that she uses to have fun and help herself and her friends. For the aunties and grandma, they likely had various reasons to put those parts of themselves away. Yet this is not merely a sad or bad thing. It looks like they were all able to find happiness in life despite or even because of those self-restrictions. And when needed, they were all able to allow those parts of themselves out in order to help their family. In choosing to hold on to her red panda, Mei has chosen to embrace all aspects of her wild, outrageous personality. To be unapologetically herself in everything she does, both at home and in public. With the help of her friends, and wisdom gained from the experience of the women who came before her, she chooses to wield the messy, taking-up-space aspect of herself.

The grandmother wanted to scare or discourage her granddaughter from turning into a panda because it was miserable or shameful for her so she made it scary. Times change and the new generation thinks it's no big deal. That's the metaphor, to older generation menstruation was taboo and to keep hidden. The stakes is dealing with her family.

I wasn't sure how to explain the metaphor of the red panda from my perspective as a girl growing up in a Chinese family after watching so many reviews, and now Accented Cinema's, hoping that it will be covered. But I see that the red panda needs not to be confined to be just a metaphor for puberty, but also a parallel to how girls grow up in a Chinese family (at least from my experience). Without going into too much detail, female figures are often made to feel shame about what 'biologically'makes them women? We all know the bodily changes we go through, and yet somehow keep it under covers like it is what makes a woman 'shameful'. Example, if you're too emotional or you start having your own thoughts? I understand the inconsistency, but it is something I see in my own family from grandmother to mother, and to myself. How my grandma is a firm believer to push away her own emotions and urges as a role of an older sister taking care of nine brothers, and then as a mother and grandmother. The panda hinders your ability in playing your role as a female in the family, of being a proper lady. And so, many women, especially those of the older generation such as my own grandmother, seal away their pandas for their families but also because of duty, until daughters like my mother appear like MeiLing and cause a shock through the family. At the start, it is filial and dutiful to seal away the panda for the sake of the family, and bringing trouble if you release it. And yet, like how the aunts release their pandas, these are really the things that make our mothers and grandmothers so amazing. I see the red panda as something Chinese women face growing up, half puberty, half the 'feminine' (not necessarily attached to being female of course) qualities that they learn are not weaknesses, but strengths. I think it is unfair to always use 'generational trauma'to describe movies tackling a more 'niche' aspect? Rather than trauma, it is more of an 'internalised misogyny' of sorts, and our sometimes conservative nature of being Chinese. That women are not loud, boisterous or obnoxious at that age I think, it is also the fear of giving up who you are even though your family know, but risk to be able to do it openly. It is generation after generation of 'abstinence' or 'suppression', some sort of unnecessary stigma? (Which is why I can see why it is in a sense generational trauma, but I think themes are more fluid than just to be confined to such a rigid label) I hope anyone out there can understand my perspective! (Singaporean Chinese btw hi!)

I really resonated with the relationship between MeiLin and her mother. I've never seen this complicated dynamic captured with such nuance before Turning Red. For that, it stands as one of my favorite animated films in recent times.

I actually liked the hint of overly dramatic “emoji” faces and not sure how that conveyed the film for being “cheap” when using it. It reminded me of overly dramatic anime characters when they’re feeling intense/strong emotions. i just thought most Asian-Westerns would understand that. I mean you even referenced how Sailor Moon was a part of the nostalgia…

I think the red panda can be a metaphor for both. It's strong emotions, which are typically looked down on (at least in my family) because girls are expected to be always well behaved and polite. The urge to rebel against this and enjoy your life, personal interests, etc. Sky rockets around the time you hit puberty. And as you reach adulthood, you learn to completely cut this part out of you to be "socially acceptable". This is made all the more evident to me at the end with Sun Yee's reaction to Mei Mei's question. Despite the family's reverence for Sun Yee and their admiration for her fighting spirit, they shun their gift from her because it doesn't fit with this "new world". Yes, they need to control it, but the movie also says you don't have to completely get rid of it. (The talk with the dad.) Sun Yee is overjoyed to see one of her descendents finally keep her power. What started as a soft, sad smile of understanding, when she offers the portal, blossoms into a grin of pure joy and relief. It's human to get mad, over excited, or cry. Sometimes you have to learn to control these emotions when you get older, but you should never have to feel ashamed of them or destroy them completely. In the end, it's all a part of you, and can give you the strength to protect what's important. For Sun Yee, it was literally fighting off attackers with fury to protect her daughters. For Ming, it was standing her ground to keep her lover (which is her choice! Not her mother's!). Good things can come out of the panda.

you know, every female reviewer that i've watched understands the metaphor perfectly. this might be the one thing that doesn't cross over the gender gap perfectly. having a family that understands and wants the best for you but still decides to follow the patriarchal or eurocentric standards for society is something that we've been dealing with forever. i'm black, my entire family wears their hair with weaves, perms, and wigs, i'm like the only one who wears it naturally. they're all "ooh that's so great for you, i bet your hairline's gonna look great" but when it comes to them actually switching to wear their natural hair it's "oh no, MY hair's too much work, personally i like spending $800 to get it done". so yeah, if we could turn into red pandas, i can see all of my female relatives not caring what i do as long as i can control it, but be completely uninterested in learning how to do it themselves.

I think the metaphor goes beyond puberty. It’s also a metaphor for how women are taught as they grow to silence their emotions and not speak up, and the panda is the film’s example of saying that if you choose to do so, be it because of cultural reasons or w/e, at the end of the day its a choice; we shouldn’t force young girls to hide their feelings

I'm an american white woman. The inter-generational trauma of relating to your mother, your grandmother, you aunts...and still saying I'm going to be myself. That's what I took away from Turning Red that I could relate to. Has nothing to do with puberty. They even put that in the film!! Oh It's your time? I have all the pads! NO MOM it's not that time!!! It's about oh shoot all of you were told to be in this corner and now we're all going to talk about it because I won't be in this corner. And ON TOP of that she has a super supportive dad! Never had that in my house.

I think the "emoji" faces were a good design choice in telling a story about 13 year olds in the 00s. It is their emotional shorthand. The red panda metaphor is a little messy but works to encompass the messiness of growing up.

It's inaccurate and unfair to call the expressions as cheap "emoji" faces when really it is a love letter to shoujo anime/manga in particular. Being an Asian-Canadian who grew up in Toronto at the time we were all obsessed with classic 90s shoujo manga such as Sailor Moon and Fruits Basket (which is a story about a family who transforms into animals in the Chinese zodiac). These stories are essentially about love and human interaction. They use those expressions to convey it in a way in an aesthetic that shoujo manga developed over more than a century. It really boils down to taste and not a commentary of budget or skill. Also, completely agree with the comments pointing out that the magical puberty metaphor isn't meant to be a one-on-one literal thing. The older adults sealing away their panda in my mind is a generational difference metaphor. I have older women in my family who would have liked to make the life choices as a Canadian kid would have liked to make but can't or don't feel comfortable or they didn't completely understand the way I see things. And that is ok! Parents may not agree with their children's choices but living with them as Mei and her mother do at the end of the movie is much more healing than keeping it all in and pretending to be very different people (as is very common among Asian diaspora kids)

Perhaps it is simply because I related to the experiences in the film a lot, but Turning Red is literally my favorite movie that Pixar has made in years. While I am not Chinese nor Canadian, this is the first movie EVER that has accurately represented my own experiences growing up. From the dumb anime art, to the upfront discussion of periods, to Mei's relationships with her friends (all of whom remind me of friends I had growing up), I felt like the director really understood this experience and for the first time gave it a voice. It made me miss the cringe version of me that I used to be. While I was never into boybands, and while this movie doesn't exactly cover my specific experience growing up LGBT, it still got to me in a way that no Pixar movie has ever been able to. I cried multiple times. In terms of the movie's craftsmanship and storytelling, I thought the art was beautiful: its pastels reminded me of many of the backgrounds of the original Sailor Moon anime, and it was incredibly expressive and fun in its animation no matter what they were portraying. For a different perspective on the metaphor, I thought the fact that everyone but Mei sealed the panda away made perfect sense. Mei is going her own way and building her own life and sense of self. If Mei's mother or anyone else had decided to keep their panda, it would cheapen the message of the film. I think it is useful to compare the resolution to the one in Pixar's Brave. It ends with Merida's mother completely accepting that Merida's way of life is simply 'better' and letting her hair down and riding horses now also. There was no resolution to her complex relationship with her mother, and her attempting to transform her mother into something else was essentially validated by the ending. While Turning Red is about different things than Brave, I feel like the comparison is useful to make. Brave was meant to be about a complicated mother-daughter relationship, but its plotting was completely undermined when Pixar fired its female director, replaced her with a male one, and tried to pretend it had nothing to do with gender. Turning Red got to keep its all-female team of directors and its complex themes and complicated mother-daughter relationships, and is better for it. Of course Mei can't convince her family to change how they relate to their pandas; they have been living like this for years and are going their own way. In some ways, their time to make the choice has already ended. I thought Mei's mother's resolution in particular in regards to this issue was good: by having to take care of her panda in a Tamagotchi (another toy I grew up playing with actually), she has to acknowledge its existence and slowly, perhaps, come to accept it as a part of herself, even if she isn't fully ready. I also found myself not minding the change in conflict you described from the puberty metaphor to the concert-- I think the point is in part that as Mei comes to accept the panda as part of herself and therefore to accept her current, newly developing teenage self in all of its cringy glory, keeping control of it becomes less of a problem. It is simply a part of her, rather than a beast she needs to control. So by choosing to keep the panda, she is accepting her current self in all of its flaws, as well as the fact that her body is changing and that she is growing up. I hope this behemoth of a comment isn't dismissive of the review! I really enjoyed the perspective on the film, and it is what made me think about all of this in the first place! I simply find myself compelled to share my own experiences with and feelings about it, because I really loved it, even more than Soul. This is subjective, but I actually found myself enjoying Turning Red's stylized pastels over Soul's attempt at realism. Thank you to anyone who actually read this? Its a long comment, I know.

As the son of immigrant Chinese parents (first born in the country), this movie spoke to me on so many levels. I viewed the Red Panda as a mix of many things, puberty being the catalyst of change to Mei becoming her true self. The mother, grandmother, and aunties all had to suppress this for various reasons (which any Chinese person with one foot in non-Western culture would probably understand if not agree with) and they wanted to do the same for Mei - be a "proper" Chinese daughter. Of course, differences between being a son and being a daughter are very striking in the culture, and my parents were already rebels in the eyes of the rest of the family. But still, there was so much emphasis on filial duty in my life mixed with the desire to be American/embrace my Western life that I thought Turning Red touched on perfectly. I grew up in the 80s instead of the 2000s but I think it's very similar! Anyway, I cried watching this and I'm so happy I got to watch this with my 4.5 yo son as well. This movie had so much heart and I don't think I'm articulating myself particularly well here. Still lots of emotions mixed up in the movie as I unpack my own upbringing. Thanks for doing a video!

"It made Toronto look good, that's pretty impressive" Holy shit

I really disagree with the second part. I think the red panda was a pretty layered metaphor for the idea of change during adolescence, not just hormonal puberty. A different side of herself was emerging and if she spent enough time indulging in it it she would be tempted to explore it even further - she DID ultimately stay a red panda after the party, when given the choice to split from it during the ceremony it was difficult and she decided that she didn't want to split either way. Her family were so focused on this idea of being the perfect daughters of perfect mothers that they hid that from themselves, and in the end her mother had to be the openly aggressive and rebellious self she was hiding away from her adolescence in order to reach her kid. I think the metaphor tracked perfectly well and I'm really glad that it wasn't as simple as being a stand-in for a single thing.

I just wanted to chime in on the idea that the movie had low stakes. I see the issue that you pointed out, but to me the grandma scene almost feels like a red herring now. The interpersonal stakes in the movie were emotionally high stakes, it all moves to service the relationship between mei and ming, and mei and her friends was the true heart of the film imo, and thus ties into the whole panda thing. The panda is the point of contention between her and herself, and her and Ming. I think if we frame the movie's stakes in that way, then the concert = her independence, her bonds with her friends whom she loves and uses to help her healthily manage her emotions. Against her going to the concert and dismissing her interests as base is Ming, whom Mei loves and wants to keep approval of, but it's straining her ability to be who she fully is. Suppressing her panda is the family culturally expected thing to do, because to them the risk of it isn't worth trying to learn how to live with it. And for some people, like Ming, it is actually dangerous for her to not "suppress" it. But Mei quickly learned to control it by using the love and support of her friends, who didn't fear/reject the panda, but accepted it. The stakes boiled over when Ming found out that Mei was rebelling (honestly nightmare scenario LOL) and it ended in a huge fight between Mei and her mom - just like the kind of event that ruined the relationship between Ming and the grandma. I think her lines are muddled, but looking at the scene where Mei lost herself to her negative emotions (tyler's party), I'm thinking that's more what grandma meant. Because if you don't learn to control it, if you don't learn how to healthily manage your emotions, you "lose yourself to them". Looking at it like this, I actually like how all her relatives chose to free the panda for the sake of saving Ming - they let out their strong emotions for love, and thus it didn't get the better of them. I agree with the other comments about how them sealing the panda again is fine, because that's how they learned to "manage" that part of them - they suppressed it. They can't really just change how they've lived for decades just because Mei likes her panda. Mei is the first one in the family for a long time that's instead embraced it fully, potential danger and all, and trusts in herself, and her external emotional support, to manage it. It works within the themes of coming of age pretty well in that aspect for me.

Gotta hard disagree with it being a lesser Pixar film visually. People think realism is the be all end all of artistic quality, but there's nothing wrong with cartoons being cartoony. The color palette, design, and very stylized moments made this my favorite Pixar film visually, its so expressive and fun and even the anime faces evoke exactly what they're meant to. Its a visual masterpiece.

I think a reason for why Mei can control her powers while the rest of her family can’t is the fact that she more or less embraced it and made it her own, while her aunts, grandma and mom refused to due to generational trauma. They suppressed it for so long that they feel they can’t control it, but Mei can. She’s young, she’s from a generation that’s less strict and is more open minded about certain things. This sets up Mei showing she is growing into her own person and that maybe the power they all grew to fear and restrict might be more easily controlled by future generations with a different point of view and way of doing things. I think that’s still part of the overall message and character arc of not just Mei, but her mom as well. It’s about rebuilding a healthy relationship with one’s family and for them to allow their future gens to bloom and explore things differently. Idk, I agree that the metaphor is a bit messy, but I think that’s kind of the point in a sense: growing up, puberty, becoming your own person and developing that sense of identity is all very messy.

usually your analysis does it for me, but i don't think you really understood the stylistic choice of simple things like sparkly "emoji" eyes, since it's a project driven by women who grew up with anime and fanarts, such expression is used to convey the teen girls' excitement, amusement, and over eccentricity. calling it cheap and incomplete could be from an overly perfectionist point of view without truly understanding the meaning behind the art style, possibly another case of not understanding the way teen girls feel and think. especially at this age when everything they like seems to be the most important thing in life, such an expression conveys that perfectly, at least to me, an ex-13 year old girl who fangirled a lot.

You focus too much on the period/puberty metaphor being a single easy answer. You forget that periods and puberties are themselves a symbol of the transition to adulthood. The trauma of puberty is both the sudden body horror, and that it marks the transition from child to adult. Adulthood in Turning Red centers on the decision to either align yourself with your family's expectations for what kind of adult you'll be or to embrace a unique aspect of yourself and define you adult identity independently. All of the red panda women still have access to their own unique strengths and identity (pandas) even though they have all decided to not pursue that side of themselves and instead become part of the support structure of the family. Mei at the end of the movie is asserting that she can synthesize her adult identity into her role in the family rather than suppressing it as previous generations have. Through that lens Mei comes to relate strongest to Sun Yee, who also kept the red panda powers as part of her identity rather than suppressing it as so many of her ancestors chose to. The reason it's harder to seal away the panda the more she transforms is because she'll learn to like being the panda and might come to disagree with the plan of sealing it... WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS. The fact that she doesn't get stuck as a panda after being warned about it isn't a problem with the lore of the movie, it's a problem with the perspective that the grandmother's advice is coming from. There are no "consequences" to face because the metaphor of the panda is not something bad -- it's something that her conservative family frames as bad. Calling Turning Red "definitely the lesser of the Pixar catalog" in terms of visuals is a totally unrelatable assessment to me. This is the first interesting looking Pixar film I've seen since the opening of Up. Pixar has always had a very conservative idea of what CG animation should look like, and I'm glad that they are finally embracing a variety of techniques of cartooning that have generally passed them by. I would bet that they feel "cheap" to you because they are cartooning techniques that come from comics (especially webcomics), and TV animation.

I like the recent trend of 'coming of age' movies depicting more real parent/child relationships. Dune and Turning Red stand out to me. The Hollywood trope is for children to want nothing more than to break free of their oppressive parents. These movies instead show children who honestly wish to make their parents happy and proud while also trying to establish their own identity. When children actually want a good relationship with their parents, it makes the things they choose to disagree on more meaningful.

As an Chinese-Canadian woman kind of coming into my own and suffering that classic generational trauma, you may have read the film a little wrong, specifically the metaphor. It's 1am so this is gonna get rambly, and I know you're getting a lot of comments already, but I just wanted to add my two cents. I disagree with your view that the red panda represents (hormonal) puberty. I think it's the discussion of developing your own desires and personality that is divorced from the perfect image that Chinese women place on each other to be the most perfect daughter, mom, housewife, etc. It's the parts of yourself that may stick out and cause your aunt or cousins at the family dinner to whisper about you when you're not in the room, even though it's not harming anyone, you're just a little different. The panda's introduction in the story is played alongside her mom mistaking it for her first period, so to have it be a total other thing (turning into a red panda!) signifies to the viewer that hey, we're not talking about hormones and your body changing here, there's something else going on. Your quote you pulled here, "Your mother and I were close once, but the red panda tore that away." doesn't really hold water to support the "puberty" argument. This is showcased later on too when you find out Ming hurt Grandma because she wanted to marry the Dad, who I'm guessing the grandma didn't entirely approve of at the time. That's not puberty, that's personal wants that don't live up to motherly expectations. Grandma here is coming from a place of not understanding this "red panda" ("selfish" desire) that Ming (the mom) had, refusing to acknowledge this "different" part of her daughter, and blaming it for the split between them. Next, you bring up the point that Meimei quickly gains control of the panda and uses it to earn money. This kind of ties into the discussion of low stakes you bring up later. To me at least, I also found it kind of weird how Grandma and Ming kept telling Meimei that the panda is ***bad***, that she must push it down and away until they can perform the ritual, but without any real *proof* as to why the panda is bad. There's literally a scene where Meimei asks Grandma "What happens if the ritual doesn't work?" and her grandma replies with "It must work.", thereby showing the mindset that she and probably her mom before her had: just hammer down the nail that sticks out, don't nurture it or give it a chance, go with what has proven to work and don't try to be different. They also constantly tell her that if she summons it, it'll make it harder to go away. However, that's only because Meimei begins to bond with that part of herself. You chose a quote, "Each time you do, the stronger it gets and then you'll be bound to it forever" and I interpreted that more as allowing the panda into your life, gaining control and learning to love it will make the ritual fail because there is that scene where Meimei is going through the portal but the memories flood back, convincing her to stick with it and abandon the ritual. The ritual's fail/pass is entirely based on her thoughts and feelings, not some magical ruleset that says oh no, you've summoned it 1 too many times and now you're stuck forever. The panda doesn't have "mythical" consequences. Meimei wouldn't get "stuck" as the panda because that's not the point. This isn't a story about mystical demons and gods, not really, it's being used as a vehicle to tell a story about generational trauma. The stakes are potential ostracization from family members if she continues on with it. I'm also a tiny bit confused when you said "abuse of power must have consequences" What exactly is the abuse of power here? Her powers with the red panda, if we're being literal, and that she can turn into a cute red panda, and that her strength goes up a fair bit. She can't fly, do mythic shit, all she does is make some money off of it yes, but also make her friends happy as well. They bond over this thing she can do. Lastly, I wanted to briefly touch on the older women getting rid of their red pandas at the end. While I do find it breaks up the messaging a little bit, I also think it's the most realistic ending. They've chosen to seal away those parts of themselves, they have a social system to uphold (it's not just them, they have to think of their husbands, parents, friends, who are likely all part of that chinese system that relies so heavily on face and not standing out in a weird way. it's not so easy to change when you're older.) but they've also opened their minds a bit and allowed Meimei the space to be herself and embrace this new part of her. That's an experience of being chinese canadian i feel, your parents and their generation might still carry those traditions, but if they give you space to properly come into your own that's a wonderful thing. on a personal note, this movie hit extra hard bc it really resonated w me. I do art for a living and i'm gonna be honest, it didn't fit my mom's expectations of me but after she saw that it made me happy (and that i could make money lmao) she let me continue. definitely weird those first couple years telling family members i was doing art and getting weird looks bc everyone else either went into medical, business, or pharmacy LOL As another side note, i personally really liked the stylization of the movie. to me it's always more interesting to break new ground (have you seen any other 3D films that push 3d animation that far? 2d yes, what about 3d? it's a good veer from hyperrealism that was the trend for a few years) but i totally get where you're coming from as well. anyway ty for the video as always

I think asking for bad consequences for turning into the red panda goes against the messaging of the movie. The Red Panda is just a natural part of their family and representing the "wild" side of the girl that she's supposed to repress as she comes into womanhood. But as Meimei has shown that this "wild" side and freedom of self expression is something she chooses to embrace like her ancestor Sun Yee. @5:50 Who's to say that her grandma knows everything about the transformation and not just parroting what had been told to her. With how Meimei's mom turned out, it's pretty telling that we're not supposed to take everything the grandma said as truth. If Meimei become stuck as a red panda, that would just play into every movie cliche that has been done before. @06:40 The movie has been showing generational trauma since the beginning with her mom putting all those pressures and responsibilities onto Meimei. It's only revealed later on that the mom has her own generational trauma. And the movie is a coming of age movie with magical elements mixed into it not some high stake save the world superhero thing. That's like asking the Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service to fight in some ancient witch war.

I can't buy how unrealistic this film is. What sort of fantasy world is Toronto anyway?

The metaphor seems inconsistent only when it is assumed to represent puberty and nothing else. I feel the red panda represents any and all innate qualities women were historically taught to suppress. Virtuous women are quiet, demure, controlled, desexualised and obedient. Aggression, strong emotions, sexual attraction, self-agency, even body odour, are all things that are associated with the red panda. They are an intrinsic part of all women and therefore have to be consciously suppressed, like a great fiery beast that’s always fighting to escape. The pain and struggle of the ritual represents the pain of fighting against your humanity, which was necessary in the past because women had few if any rights and could not refuse to conform. Women are not supposed to fight and cause dissent in the eyes of traditionalists, they are meant to unify and pacify as a monolithic unit, hence why the fighting between mother and daughter is shown to be so catastrophic - it shakes the foundations of what women are supposed to be like, and therefore scars and crushes buildings when presented literally. As stated in the film, the traits represented by the red panda are natural and good (gifted by a literal diety) and when the men who normally withheld positions of leadership and defence from women were absent in wartime, the primal urges of the red panda were what kept those women alive. But when those men came back, the qualities that saved the lives of their daughters, sisters, mothers and partners, and gave them independence, were no longer welcome. In order to be a good Chinese woman, and to be considered ‘acceptable’ to men, she must exorcise the panda so that she may be welcomed into a patriarchal society once more. A fundamental, life-saving part of their humanity is now nothing but an ‘inconvienience’, an embarrassment, a feral animal to be caged and gawked at. It will always be there fighting to escape, the internal conflict will never truly end, but it must be done if she wishes to be accepted. Even though the modern-day men and boys around Mei Mei love the panda, because times have changed, the generational trauma experienced by the older women does not evaporate so easily. The women fear the panda like the plague, believing that if you let it out even a little, you’ll become addicted. That fearmongering is a product of the harm done to them and sounds identical to religious fundamentalist rhetoric. It’s reminiscent of this idea that a girl who has sex outside of marriage or is too fiery and rebellious in her temperament will become undesirable to men and forever be sleeping around in search of a husband who will reluctantly take her. It has historically been the role of women to train young girls to control themselves in this way, not the men who demand it, because men were not supposed to know how unnatural it was for the women. They weren’t supposed to see the struggle, because a struggle would indicate a lack of innate purity on the part of the girl and threaten her reputation. The panda appears during puberty because that is the time when children become adults and start having their own ideas and rebelling, but also because the onset of menses was the time when women were said to get their ‘sinful urges’ and most needed to be controlled and browbeaten, lest they lose their chastity. The panda is obviously red and associated with the red moon because haha periods, but when you start reading it as a broader metaphor it stops having so many flaws. It also makes the ending heartbreaking, because although many of the women are shown to have made peace with their lives as ‘traditional’ women, and are happy to abandon so many of their human qualities in the form of the panda spirit (a choice they are free and welcome to make, of course), Mei’s mother’s panda spirit looks back sadly as if wondering if she too could have stayed connected with her human just like Mei and her panda. It symbolises a kind of sorrowful resignation on the part of Mei’s mother that the other women don’t seem to have, perhaps even envy of her daughter. I honestly think the metaphor could not have been executed better.

Never got "panda is a metaphor for puberty" bc the plot point was puberty was a red herring.

I felt that more than puberty, the panda was just a metaphor of one's identity, one's emotions, of one's change and you starting to see your family in real lenses the more you grow. It's so common in many cultures to tell women to repress their emotions when they grow up, and that is so sad. It hits hard.

To be fair, at the end of the movie the family pretty much has to pay for the property damages caused to the skydome which sounds pretty bad on their finances lol

To me the red panda represents the female experience of puberty *specifically*. I think the film definitely has a non-traditional narrative! But I also think that’s because western media in specific (only because that’s a majority of what I’ve consumed) LOVES and almost NEEDS a “this is a bad aspect of yourself, this is a bad guy, defeat it/them.” And I really think Turning Red is a particularly special film for women and young girls because it’s about having parts of yourself you’re told are “BAD, INAPPROPRIATE, UNLADYLIKE” and finding a way to accept that part of yourself which is honestly a universal female experience. Having an inner panda is natural, hehe. I know a lot of ink has been spilled about the subject matter being “niche” or unrelatable, and it definitely could have tried to give better access of its points to non-female viewers. But I also think it’s pretty special when MOST of the films coming out of Hollywood treat their female characters like hot props, viewed through the Male Gaze. When you’re a young girl you’re told to be demure and polite and cute and small and then you hit puberty and you become all of these things you “aren’t supposed to be.” Like smelly, and angry, and loud, assertive and horny (lol). And female sexuality has ALWAYS been shamed or condemned pretty much consistently in the west to our active memory. It might not be a perfect metaphor, but to me, when the relatives released their red pandas it was them shedding appearances to use all of the pent up emotion (that women get harassed and made fun of for having, “are you on your period?? Are you PMSing?? Oh, women are so irrational,”) to help the mom’s character going through what is essentially a mental breakdown. I think it’s an amazing metaphor for intense emotions, that are a side effect of puberty, and the way women are told to repress it their WHOLE LIVES. It’s also why I think the relatives resealed their pandas. I’m a Chinese adoptee, so I don’t know everything about current Chinese culture, but it’s my understanding women aren’t encouraged to be hyper aggressive or “masculine”. And these women would have lived their whole lives repressing their otherwise natural emotions, to appear more proper. So, resealing would be what they’re most comfortable with but they support Mei’s choice an expression of support and change (as I’m sure lots of immigrant generations experience) as a family becomes “more Canadian” or changes with what is culturally acceptable in their new country. Also, I genuinely think men and boys also go through intense mood-swings, but it’s not really demonized in western society… it’s more rewarded because that’s when they get into fights (be a real man), or they take it out in sports, because anger and aggression and frustration are more acceptable in men than women. But maybe a male-oriented version of this story would just have their pandas really sad. You tell me.

I feel like you just didn't understand this movie at all. "Meimei turning into a red panda is a metaphor for puberty, right?" no, it's not (at least not JUST that). Other comments have pointed out well what it actually represents. I think you just missed it. Because this wasn't that type of movie that "ohhh, she gets a power, and she can use her power for this and that, but eventually realize the responsibility of being a superhero" or whatever. I kinda dislike how critics try to insert the same story-narrative-mold into every movie, like maybe sometimes a movie is just silly and fun and showing the path of becoming a woman and finding the balance between family ( +generational trauma) and yourself, and doesn't have to have obvious stakes like her not being able to turn back into human from the panda form... it wouldn't have fit with what the power actually represents anyways. I personally think they balanced this movie out really well, but obviously it's not gonna please everybody. But I also feel like most of your views were just preferences and not even actual problems with the movie. I think it's important to remember who this movie is primarily targeted towards (young girls), and what it tries to tell them (it's okay to grow up, be messy/smelly/silly etc.). Did it do a good job with these goals they set out for this movie? Absolutely. Is it gonna be relatable to an adult who most likely hasn't even had these experiences as a kid? Probably not.

I suspect the whole "It gets stronger every time you turn" bit is more in reference to what happens in the final showdown than Meis shenanigans thorough the movie. Mei just didn't have the panda curse active long enough for it to really affect her yet. It will, it's just such a slow burn that it's outside of the movies timescale. But at least the Chekhov's gun was fired. Just not by the main character.

"It made Toronto look good... that's pretty impressive" The most under-appreciated joke in this video. Thanks for that amazing one-liner!

The movie literally spells out what the panda is at the beginning of the movie: an ancestral gift that more recent ancestors learned to banish from themselves when they moved to Canada, likely as a survival mechanism to avoid stigma and discrimination. The panda is a familial trait passed down through generations that was once deemed a hindrance to the family's survival (hence the need to lock it away) and that Mei, a Chinese Canadian girl who is fully at home in her community, comes to view as a strength and familial gift it was intended to be. Of course the older relatives choose to lock their pandas away at the end of the movie: to them, that's what makes sense and how they've chosen to live all their lives. And of course Mei chooses to keep her panda: she learns that just because her recent ancestors have chosen to hide away their family traits, it doesn't mean that she has to, because she's her own person who now lives in a cultural moment so different from her relatives. I loved that the movie didn't demonize either choice, but rather framed it as a difficult and personal decision. Given all the elements that the movie lays out explicitly in the beginning and implicitly throughout, to read the panda as just a metaphor for puberty seems a bit shallow tbh

As an Asian-American born 1 year before Mei Mei, I felt that Turning Red and Shang Chi captured the Asian-American/Canadian experience well. Especially with Turning Red, I felt seen.

You took the metaphor too literal. The panda was never a problem, it was the whole female line concealing a part of who they are for not good reason other than tradition, and mei's upbringing in a different ambient than the rest of her family allowed her to go over that family trauma. You can even think of getting rid of the panda as female mutilation

For me, the panda felt like a metaphor for womanhood. Embracing what it is to be your own Woman vs being your mother's Girl. As a daughter of an immigrant myself, it really hit close home to see all of the adult women let loose all of the ugliness and messiness that comes with womanhood after hiding it away for so long. And in the end they choose to part with it once more because that's what they were taught to do. But Mei embraces her womanhood in a way that the women in her family before her weren't allowed to do. So, yes, puberty is definitely part of that but it's a lot more than that.

When the grandmother tells her she could lose control if she keeps transforming I don't think it's her stating a fact, it's her being scared of the red panda after what happened with her daughter and probably after her own mother told her it was dangerous. She's repeating what she was taught, that the panda part of them is bad and should be locked up. She's worried for her grand daughter. But yes, the end where they all decide to lock their pandas away is confusing, the movie is clearly trying to say that we shouldn't just ignore and lock away the embarrassing and "bad" parts of ourselves, but not them, they're fine, or it's too late, I don't know. Loved the movie anyway. Edit: Also loved how Tyler ended up as a part of the friend group and not as the butt of a bad joke.

I immediately thought about your Shang-Chi review after I watched Turning Red. I was so glad the movie stayed focused on Asian-Canadians living the life they live in the land they were born in, while acknowledging and paying tribute to their heritage in a way that doesn't solely define the character. I sort of took the whole red panda metaphor as "everyone gets it, and everyone has their own way of dealing with it." Mei's personality is far different than that of the rest of her family. And while locking away the red panda worked for her relatives, she's not her relatives, she's her own person and discovered a way she can healthily keep the red panda. It's not perfect, but that's sort of what I took from it. As for the low stakes, I also appreciated that. As taboo and embarrassing going through puberty can be, it's a totally normal process that everyone goes through. The fact that people treat it like it's no big deal was a surprising and nice take on the subject. Anyway, great review of the film, and great hearing your thoughts on the subject matter.

as someone who loves animation, i think the exaggerated expressions (which tend to blend 2d and 3d) and less detailed environments are more of a stylistic choice, and in that sense, they work very well. despite its simplicity, little things like the details on hair and fabric are very well executed, and the lighting is absolutely gorgeous and conveys mood very well.

5:41 I noticed this too! But it was acknowledged during the scene where Mei tried to banish her panda. She has to fight just to put her body through the portal Sun Yee creates, while her family walks through easily. I'm guessing it's because Mei turned into her panda more than her family. Excellent video as usual dude. I love hearing your thoughts on movies :)

I'm glad to hear you liked the movie, and I really enjoy your videos for how much depth you put into movie critiques and how far you are willing to go to see the layers of them. But I think there might have been a misunderstanding, while the panda CAN be seen and used as a period metaphor, Its not the ONLY metaphor that it is or can be seen as. The Panda is (in my opinion) meant to be seen as a (in a good way) mixed fun snacks bag of themes and messages. At times it was clear it was about puberty but other times the panda represented things like the link to Mei's roots, generational trauma of her family itself, the essence of becoming something new, or doing something different with yourself. Ultimately I saw the Panda metaphor not being mutually exclusive to one singular thing, but representing identity as a whole. Especially when you compare Mei to her female family members and how they repress identity via repressing the panda, and in doing so fall in line to a similar mold or shape of life style. And I think this is even more backed up by the question Mei asked at the end to the audience, do we ourselves repress or let out aspects of our own identities in life. Edit: As for the stakes of the movie for using the panda, its presented in a... strange way. The stakes themselves don't work like how they usually do in other movies. Mei (and by extension us the audience) is told of the risks of the Panda and its harm, but it is who that tells of these stakes that matter more than the possible stakes themselves. It is Mei's mother Ming and more so Mei' grandmother Wu the more than likely (current) oldest member of her family that is stating this. Because to these women, they are of the mindset that repressing identity makes life better or more achievable, and all the panda (identity/self expression) would be is just something that interferes with that mindset or goal. When Mei asks Wu has getting stuck as a panda ever happened, Wu doesn't really answer the question. It shows that Mei got the information of the stakes from someone who didn't really understand the situation in its totality relating to the modern day and in the different country/culture that they now live in. And it shows the audience that people we know or knew that we care for and who care for us can sometimes get it wrong. Not because they don't love us but because they THINK they know what best.

I get why you say that the metaphor feels weak in certain aspects when it comes to being exclusively about puberty. But I think there's multiple metaphors when you look at it. Like, for me when Mei says that it's an "inconvenient genetic thing" I interrepted that as being a metaphor for generational illness and disabilities. It's the blessing vs curse thing. Sun Yee and Meilin saw the panda as a blessing and the rest of her family saw it as a thing to be cured rather than embraced as a part of their own identities. That's what I think her one aunt meant when she said it's her life, she gets to decide how she lives it, including what she decides to do with her own body. And as a fem person that's a really powerful thing to hear, especially in a movie that does destigmatize menstruation. Loved hearing your take on it!

I don't have much to comment on besides point #1, with my own take on the "inconsistent metaphor". Personally, I feel the red panda is more about teenagehood in general, not just puberty. I don't quite like relating it to puberty in general, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't have any part whatsoever to do with it. To me, it's about emotions and individuality. If you see it as a rather normal part of her that can turn into an uncontrollable mess because of intense emotions, then I think it's a lot easier to imagine her being able to utilise her shapeshifting for her own benefit while not suffering from its impact - which is a feelgood trope that I am a fan of. I do remember there being a scene where Mei Lee's grandmother mentions that if she keeps using her form, she'll forever be stuck that way. I think that's important, because the red panda form and lineage angle as a whole is, to me, about this...sense of control in the traditional Chinese household. I come from a Chinese family, am Chinese myself, and residing in Southeast Asia, so I understand firsthand the impact of generational trauma and the obsession with control over others, especially your own child. I'm not a mother of course, but I do understand where the fear and insecurity and desperation for control comes from. Mei Lee's grandmother is overbearing and controlling, which is what leads Ming Lee to become similar, and I feel the red panda is best seen as individuality. Parents like Ming Lee and her own mother fear losing control of their children, and this often means their child gaining individuality and straying from the path they set for their child. Mei Lee is finding herself, breaking free from generational trauma and expectations, and taking the path she wants. I think this "consequence" Ming Lee speaks of is a self-imposed limit, especially since they look at strong emotions so negatively. A sort of personal narrative and bias, I guess. Ming Lee and the rest of the women in the family are more than content to conceal their red pandas - though I feel this is where the "red panda side as Individuality" reading will fall, but this also means it's not *just* Individuality. It's individuality, strong emotions, finding yourself, etc. There is nothing inherently wrong with their lifestyles, only how much it negatively impacts others. Ming Lee can still retain her personality but learn to not try and exert so much control over Mei Lee, which I appreciate. After all, you don't grow out of your patterns overnight. I too face an overbearing mother who is *extremely* manipulative and toxic, but I also understand that Ming Lee comes from a place of genuine concern and love for Mei Lee. This whole interpretation as emotions and the self, it's why I believe Ming Lee is the most ferocious and largest out of the entire family shown. She's spent so long suppressing these emotions as a result of her upbringing that they end up festering into such a huge being compared to everybody else. There's also guilt I feel, which can spiral into terrible emotions which may have contributed to how large she ended up being. Maybe it's a large generational gap, but I LOVE the "emoji faces". As a cartoonist/illustrator and lover of exaggeration and dynamic-ness in the media I consume, I feel the facial expressions were just the right amount of exaggerated and funny. It's a clear experimentation of style and really brings out the 2D style I often see very, very well in my eyes. I adored that about it, and love the callbacks to anime and anime tropes. If I'm not wrong, there was an article that came out before the movie's release that talked about Domee Shi's focus on using big, flowing tears and taking inspiration from anime. Regarding #2, I feel like it's *fine* to not give consequences to Mei Lee's transformation abuse. It's a story yeah, but it's also a feelgood one. I think her having the option to change and to not is a decent idea too, and can surely be worked into something else without her having to be forced to stuck in her panda form. Consequences and raising stakes are generally good rules to keep in stories, and is one that I like to employ in my stories, but I feel Turning Red is just as good without it, really. When it comes to her transformation, anyway.

Yeah for a casual viewer like me in China, the mom and daughter stuff was good enough to watch it again and again.

I thought of "suppressing" the red panda as a metaphor for assimilation into Canadian society. The red panda represents her heritage, and in the movie I interpreted the line "as we came into a new world, the blessing became an inconvenience" as indicating that they attempted to assimilate into Canadian society and play into the model minority myth of Asians as calm, complacent, and faultlessly polite individuals.

As a Vietnamese person, i was lucky enough to have amazing parents that dont put too much pressure on my shoulders, but oh man this movie really hits: from my experiences, there has always been a situation where id argue with my mom and say “unacceptable” things to her (even though i was only defending myself) and then she would scream and tell me to go back to my room then we both cry and apologize to each other lol. For me personally, Turning Red describes this feeling of being besties with your mom but once we argue its a mess kinda feeling so well lmaooo, haven’t cried like this in a while

This was a very refreshing critic video for Turning Red, with all of the positives and negatives fairly laid out in a way that doesn't overly bash or blindly praise it.

I feel the core message of the film can be very tricky for a lot of male audiences to grasp. The red panda is NOT ONLY puberty, but also the heavy burden of emotional bursts that came along that age, which stays with any woman throughout their lifetime. Sealing away the panda, symbolizes women’s experience of suppressing their emotional side to live up to their social expectations of delicacy and beauty. That’s why meimei’s mom and grandma still have the panda. They sealed away their freedom, and that is by their choice of life. Memei chose to keep the panda, is the glimpse of hope that one can be accepted and loved by the society without going through the delicate control that all the previous generations of women had. I can see the film resonating with anyone, not just women, who have undergone prolonged phases of self doubt and have struggled with emotion controls. The film manages to make things comic and fun, the theme it’s trying to express, is a much more complex and potentially depressing one for many that share the experience. As a Chinese woman, I find this movie a little bit on the weird side, with a number of aesthetic elements I do not like - the symbolism itself however is ingenious. I too have sealed away my own panda long ago. It comes out occasionally when I’m vulnerable and losing control, disrupts my life, and hurts those I love. This is like a beauty and the beast story, except that beast and the beauty are one. With that, this Pixar film is the perfect fairy tale, probably never seen before, even for an adult like me.

It is saddening to see that the metaphor didn't "click" for you. When I watched it the first time, that was one of the things that immediately did! This movie is largely about the struggle of "Become your mother, or become yourself." The movie reinforces several things her family tries to force upon her. "Don't have strong emotions, be traditional, reject your the new and emotional and scary nature, even if it is magical and wonderful as well". Sometimes through subtle things like deleting the film in the videocamera, like deleting a part of herself that her mother doesn't like. A fun part of her. It is more about the development of one's identity. Not just physical, but also your new desires and cringe lifestyle and shaking your booty. All the things adults - especially traditional ones - do not condone. This movie brilliantly captured the oppressive nature - much like in Encanto - of a tyrannical parent, which is very prevalent in many Asian countries (as my Chinese-born, distant friends confirm with sad sighs and wishes they lived with less demanding lifestyles and less parental tyranny and lack of communication). Her female elders suppressed this personal growth, as their own mothers and grandmothers no doubt did before them. Her mother did so because she was extra prone to rage and destruction (understandable), but she lost a lot of things on the way. It is obvious that in the process of pleasing her own mother, she -became- her mother.

I think the Red Panda symbolizes true self. It just so happens puberty is when one discover their true self. Mei Mei accepts her true self rather than just sealing it away to mold herself into other's expectations.

I beg to differ, the emoji faces weren't necessarily a "cheap cop out", I would rather argue that they are a stylistic choice. The movie seems to intentionally reference a more cartoony/manga/manhua/anime aesthetic that was quite prevalent in the 80s and 90s (even earlier), and those did have what you describe as "emoji faces" in scenes that were meant to be sillier or comedic. Turning Red's aesthetic looks basically like a 3D version of manga aesthetics.

Woah, hey. The emoji faces arent a blemish, they are a feature!

When you said “Meimei’s glasses have no lenses” I thought ‘Oh, that’s going to ruin the movie for me. Won’t be able to unsee that.’ Instead I just noticed the many times where her lenses were visible. It’s an artistic choice to leave them out of certain shots. Sometimes realistic glasses physics need to come second, especially when they could obscure the emotions of the protagonist.

Good review and analysis, just a few things: - The fangirl art is not "anime porn". That is a young girl gushing over their crush and expressing it. There was no explicit content anywhere, unlike what we've certainly seen boys draw. But with girls it's totally different. Talk to your nieces and younger family members and you'll see, assuming they'd be willing to share that level of private stuff with you(as you might imagine it's a tall order, but not because they might be harboring X-rated material in there). - I think the movie us all the impression at the start, that the metaphor for the Red Panda was puberty, but as the film progressed, it was meant to mean much more. You might have gotten stuck that it has to be mean just one thing. I don't feel the film was perfect either, as it suffered from what I call the "Pixar effect". Lots of moments where characters spoke incredibly fast, lots of "fast funny" moments where if you didn't catch it, you'd miss it. It could benefit from slowing down a little for these fast moments, but I wonder if it's that way because of Hollywood censors and it'd be safer to quickly deliver the humor that would go over their heads, than to risk them upping the age rating over a joke they didn't like.

The red panda is also standing for a family trauma which every female member of the family wants to be sealed and not told about. Only Meilin has the maturity to break the family trauma and thus accepts the red panda as part of herself. In that way this film has a similar message as Disney's Encanto, it's all about overcoming family traumas.

Great video as always, but i'd like to raise some points: Firstly I think it's unproductive to look at the film from a "technical" standpoint simply by comparing it to Disney/Pixar's other output. From now on you will be seeing a lot more 3D movies that chase after very specific, almost authorial artstyles and presentations than Pixar's now 20 year streak of reaching for photorealistic rendering. Spiderverse, Mitchels vs the Machines, Luca, Arcane, Turning Red and even the new Puss in Boots are part of this new era, and I'm incredibly happy to see animation moving there. Turning Red's artstyle is a thematic coming together of asian and american motifs, with the "bean"-like designs moving similarly to the snappy cartoon animations of something like Cloudy with a Chance of meatballs, clashing with painterly pastel backgrounds splashed with bokeh effect evocative of Sailor Moon and Shinkai, and impactful effects animation straight from anime. I'm sure people more-versed in chinese art itself can also see parts of it in there. Second, while I agree that the metaphor for the panda is maybe not as strong as it could be, the "puberty" aspect of it is somewhat of a red herring (heh) to the audience. From an outsider perspective, as westerners, as men, even as an audience jaded by too many thinly veiled metaphors, it's the first thing you go to, but as the movie delves into its actual theme, it becomes representative of held back emotions and the shadow self, whereas Mei is allowed to be her "true self" amongst her friends and eventually even her greater school community, it's at home that tradition dictates it must be repressed. For her mother, the repressed self was not only seeking individuality, but also someone who deeply loved someone her family disaproved of, which might hint at why her Panda was massive, as it stemmed from strong emotions. The date of the concert moving pushes the ultimatum onto Mei: Tradition vs Self, and much like you alluded, she manages to do both. You can be both. That the family choses to repress their self, i'd agree that yes it's a little bit sloppy, but also they are all grown. they're selves have long since adapted to what they are now. Mei as a young person still has the possibility to choose and evolve alongside that part of her. Anyway that's all! Keep it up!

Thank you for the ACTUAL critique on this movie! You always show such incredible understanding of everything that you take a look at.

I think the metaphor is more to control and safely express one's emotions rather than just puberty. At least that's what I got from watching it.

I don't think the panda is a metaphor for puberty, I do think it's a metaphor for change. The panda brings change, changes that usually come around 13, you are not a child but not an adult either. Meimei embracing her panda is her embracing her true self, meanwhile, all her family members repressed it they choose to not embrace their true selves. Miriam even says that - you are different, I like this NEW YOU. That's moral, change can be scary but you can embrace it. The moment Meimei embraces her Panda, she can control it, Grandma warns her because this change can affect relationships from a very controlling family. Mei is saying- mom, this is me and you will have to accept it! That's why Mei keeps her panda, and at the same time, her mother accepts hers and lets it loose a little. I do think it's also something that many women have to deal with, to repress ourselves so much that we lose sight of who we are, and when we find ourselves it's liberating. I enjoyed this movie, I'm glad it takes risks The EMOJI EXPRESSION is not a cheap thing, it's a style choice even the lack of lenses on her glasses, it's a style choice to make it easier to read her expressions. If the movie was really cheap the rendering of her fur would look TV-level fur.

I think the red panda doesn't have to have real consequences. Locking it away sort of symbolizes being the perfect daughter. It talked about how to be considered perfect, Mei and her mom both had to keep their emotions in control once they came of age. Does it kind of also stand for puberty? Sure! But puberty is also a time in your life when you realize what you want from your life and sometimes that doesn't line up with what your parents want from you. The panda IS a part of her. It's a part of her culture. Sure it can be destructive and primal, but so is growing up. Showing that the red panda wasn't really as dangerous or bad as the elder women said just shows that their fear was unfounded. The other women in the family locked it away to assimilate but, like you said, Mei is choosing to be authentically both Chinese and Canadian

The breakdown of the different approaches from which you analyze the film are very useful in understanding this essay. I appreciate the added context.

The emoji faces were meant to be inspired by anime but she didn’t want it to be too close to anime because that could alienate the audience if they aren’t familiar

aside from its heart-warming message and lessons aside, i think what really struck me was how real each and every single character felt. they felt real, they felt alive, even the ones who only appeared for a short amount of time made me feel like ive known them the entire movie. the depiction of youth in meimei and her friends' life hits wayy too close to my heart. i love that the movie doesn't shy away from the preteen's full packaged awkwardness. i could fully understand each and every single one of their worries, and accept their flaws for what it is because we all have went through it :)

It's a movie that can relate to anyone who has an a similar background, even mainland China netizens had good reviews for it. I really liked how they emphasized the tradition and expectations in the Asian family and how the director's past is woven with the story, combining Canadian and Chinese cultures and showing how someone can thrive in these settings.

"So was it a good movie?" "Yes" "ok then-" *"however"*

I think the dad perfectly summed up what the red panda was a metaphor for. That which ‘others’ or ‘self’ may view as a negative thing about ourselves, in the end, we have to accept who we are not just in the positive, but also the negative parts.

I feel like your interpretation of the panda's puberty metaphor being inconsistent is...well, a very male perspective. The women of the family finding a way to suppress their "pandas", it being something that can be locked away, could still work within the metaphor of female puberty. When we grow hair on our legs and pits and start smelling weird, we're told to shave everywhere and wear perfume. When our period starts, we're told that our hormones make us "difficult" and can turn us into "monsters". We may even take birth control to get rid of it, or at least lessen it, sometimes even at very young ages. The fact that the other women of the family have "suppressed" their pandas - they found a way to get rid of all their fur (shaving), to smell nice (perfume ect.), to not "turn red" (the pill) - still works with the puberty metaphor for females. We're told our "pandas", our puberty changes, are monstrous things that taint us, which we need to properly temper and control. In contrast, when you guys go through puberty, you have your own share of problems and it's still hard, but you're also kind of respected for it. You're "becoming a man." Growing chest hair is a good thing, and all that. So that aspect of puberty and mature womanhood being "monstrous" and being something you need to lock away usually isn't there for guys in the same way. I'm not trying to complain that, "Oh, being a girl is so much harder" or anything like that; I'm just trying to say that the puberty metaphor in this film probably resinates more if you've gone through female puberty because of those differences in experience. That said, yeah, the movie is still kind of messy even if you do extend the puberty metaphor with that in mind. I see what you mean there. I think I agree with other commenters saying that the red panda is probably a metaphor for growing into your true self, not just puberty. Not only would that fit with the aspects of changing as you grow up but also fits with Mei having fun with her friends and acting like a teenager as the panda and her having to suppress the panda while around her mother.

While I personally wasn't bothered by the slight inconsistent metaphor I think it comes down to using monsters or super powers as a stand-in never really works perfectly. Like for example the X-Men they were originally stand-ins for Jewish people and as time went on with different writers Black and LGBTQ+ people as well. But mutants were never that great a metaphor to begin with because they could explode with their powers at any time, there's a genuine reason to be afraid of them. Which is not how discrimination works, minorities don't blow up one day and potentially kill a lot of people. Zootopia has a similar issue as well. Not saying Marvels mutants or Zootopia are bad, just that it's hard to make a perfect metaphor using those ideas. I think the only time I've seen where this trope was done right is the Discworld series.

It may sound silly, but a friend of mine who's watched this movie (and loved it) said her biggest problem with it was that the red panda depicted in the film looked NOTHING like a red panda, not even in a cartoonish manner. I found her critique kind of funny.

I don't think you understood the movie. As a teen girl, South Asian, and 'perfect child', this movie had me crying. I saw myself in Mei. It literally felt like someone had filmed me without me knowing. I think the panda resembles many things, not just puberty. I think it depicts your cringey side. The side you like and want to express but hide away due to societal expectations. Stuff like sexuality, hobbies, etc etc. Some people's sides are more harmful, so keeping them at bay is better (Mei's mom) but for most embracing it is a step forward in life.

When Accented Cinema talks about a movie, I know I should watch and gonna enjoy it. :)

I appreciated this film for its authenticity even if it didn't check all the right boxes for me. This film also had a lot of nods to Japanese anime via the emoji facial expressions, Sailor Moon transformation, and the leaping through town a la the Girl Who Lept Through Time which was a definite plus

I personally really enjoyed the animation style of this movie. Generally I'm not a fan of the soft baby faced look, but it works here. The expressions are very cartoony and dynamic, and as far as clothing, hair and body types go, the character designs are wonderful. They feel like people I would've seen/been friends with in middle or high school.

This review/critique was really well done. I always appreciate seeing someone trying to view something through multiple different lenses and all of them informing their overall view of a film or other piece of media. It's much better than single-minded praise or condescension that appears too commonly on social media when it comes to very popular films like this. Thank you for your hard work and your great reviews as always, Mr. Yang Zhang!

This is the first Pixar movie since Coco which I enjoyed from the first frame till last. It was surprisingly funny and self-aware. This is also the first Disney+ Pixar release that I would have paid money to watch in theaters over and over again.

A women's attitude towards her own coming-of-age and developments in puberty cannot be separated from generational trauma; during those times, we'd often feel suppressed by our mothers whom we assume to be our allies because they've gone through the same thing, yet they still choose to inflict the same treatment upon us as the one they'd suffered. As a female, I didn't think the two themes distracted from each other because they are so interconnected. In fact, I really appreciate the filmmakers for digging deeper and highlighting this connection.

"I can't believe this is not a movie about kids turning communists." That's the sequel: _Turning Putin Red_ Questionable political jokes aside, I love this channel and how fair and balanced your reviews always are. Keep up the great work!

Turning Red is my favorite Pixar movie since Inside Out.

It makes me so happy that Accented Cinema is Chinese-Canadian.

I enjoyed the movie, and am likewise really encouraged by the new direction(s) the director took it in. It feels very heartfelt and genuine.

I always enjoy your videos and the insight they give. I neither grew up immigrant nor chinese, and your perspective is always enriching my understanding of film. I assume I miss a lot of little things that are specific to canada, toronto, being an immigrant, chinese culture or growing up a woman. The only references that directly hit me where the bucket of Tim Hortons, them squeezing the other kids for "loonies" , the upside down sign for fortune in Mei's home, that 4 is a bad number and the cliches of her mother asking for overachieving and how they aunties behaved and looked (even tho I have no first hand experience, the cliches are deeply known). To anything else, culturely I might be rather oblivious. As a CG artist tho, I can tell you that those over "animated" , expressive faces are way harder to craft as to call it a "cheap cope-out". It amazed me how smooth the transitions worked, to rig a Face to make these possible, in this expressive and extreme way is really complex and I love the stylized feel. We are so over saturated by the older pixar "hyper-realism" look that I'm just hungry for this. Animation is such an broad expressive medium and we shouldn't holding back using its potential to tell a story visually. Now, on the Panda even tho it gets introduced side by side with the "first menstruation" talk by her mom, which puts the puberty metaphor close, I don't believe that it's that simple or one dimensional. The Movie is really on the nose with the basic up front message, if you just listen Mei is telling everything. In the beginning, really the intro, she already opens the topic of generational trauma "but maybe you forget to honor yourself" and the last thing she says "we all have a crazy side in us, some just don't let it out, how about you?" is the 2nd part. It's about embracing the inner dork/geek and freeing yourself from the influence of family trauma. I see what you mean by inconsistencies in the metaphor, when the entire family turns back and seals the spirit again shortly after. But it was so minor that I didn't even thought about that while watching the movie. I assume that (it's never reallysaid I believe) Mei is the first generation born in Canada, which turn I imagined means her Mom moved with the grandma to canada as a kid or teen. This would put her in this harsh place torn even more between cultures and was my explination why her spirit was this gigantic and furious. But maybe at this point I over interpret the movie, and my lag of knowledge about growing up in a foreign country shows.

Turning Red reminded me a lot of the video you made about Chinese animation, where you mentioned the current generation being heavily influenced by the Japanese TV animes from their childhood ! I really found many cues for this in Turning Red :) Great video as usual~

as a Chinese Canadian woman who used to love boy bands this movie was like made for me 😂 I agree most strongly with your point on the no consequences but overall loved it

There are people who refuse to relate/empathize with the movie on any level because as soon as they see something about Asians that don't fit the mold of what they have been traditionally shown in the past about what Asians fit into stereotype wise, they feel uncomfortable. The view of how Asians are has been so long ingrained in western culture that breaking out of the molds still is difficult to this day. This is all part of the othering... the made to feel alien aspect of how western people feel about Asians... fit our stereotypes or else we don't know what to do with you, so we leave you alone mentality. Not to mention the view of Asians has taken a big hit lately since COVID.

I just liked that it felt different, and that yeah - it wasnt going to please everyone, but I think that showed that they were willing to take a chance on the director and the concept - doing something outside the mould. Also i thought the friend group was adorable and felt so real :)

A lot of people said they hated this movie just because the main character & her friends are cringey. They are, but it's authentic & relatable. Me & my friends used to be just as embarrassing as them when we were younger.

I love your videos. You give us a new and fresh perspective on things!

I love to read everybody's experiences watching this film, Turning Red deserves all the love and attention is getting. But this review felt kinda emotionless and clearly missing the point at many parts.

The film is popular in China because the director shows the correct traditional Chinese costumes. Hanfu is beautiful, this is the first time in a foreign film.

Honestly, this movie is a very good example that you don't have to be the same ethnicity as the main character to relate. I'm very much a typical white French woman, but this movie still brought up some stuff that resonated with me: coming to terms that you can't be the exact thing your relatives want you to be, that you're your own person, to name one.

A debut film... the director made this big metaphor, which is basically the whole title of the movie. And she was perhaps a little clumsy with this metaphor, but hey everyone's clumsy when they start.

i love how relatable this movie was to me, its on a personal level growing up as a chinese canadian girl mei lin reminds me sooo much of my younger self

The "film critic" segment felt like you're not wholly engaging the film on its on terms but on a "what I wish this film would have been" level.

"it made Toronto look good That's pretty impressive" 💀

Thank you for your art as always. I always get so happy when I see you have a new video. Your voice is super calming. I like how you word your critiques and I feel like your perspective on art and culture is very interesting and refreshing. Love your art a lot. Please keep it up and I hope you have a wonderful day.