The Philosophy of Turning Red 

I think another aspect of Turning Red was the sense of duty child of immigrants, especially Asian immigrants, feel towards their parents. I know there's a lot of testimony from East and South Asian kids where they hide the fact that they're dating or even married, or tattoos, or that they've done drugs from their parents even into adulthood. The portrayal of the mother's reaction in the movie was actually quite tame, and a lot of kids would probably face physical violence in addition to being cursed out or even disowned for dishonoring their family. The depiction in Turning Red seemed like a very sugarcoated, PG version of the generational trauma of the Asian diaspora and would probably involve more screaming and hitting in real life. I know the comedian/chef Eddie Huang said the ABC adaptation of his book Fresh off the Boat whitewashed a lot of the violence present in his childhood growing up in Florida in the 90s.

Turning Red was certainly a movie I wish I had when I was that age that told me that I didn’t have to feel ashamed or embarrassed by natural feelings.

The pad variety is thoughtful, not shocking, I assure you.

This was such a lovely movie. It's super interesting to see a take on female adolescene in such a straight forward, honest fashion. Also just adolescene in general. Like I hated boy bands as a kid, but I can't still relate to themes of growing up and seperating from your parents, due to your sudden interest and desires. It really said "Embrace the cringe"

I really hope that a movie like this can help parents learn that they have to let go too. Ming's line "the further you go away from me, the prouder I will be" hit me really hard. It was so affirming of Mei's independence and I love it. As children grow and change that distance is important for children to grow into their own person.

6:11 imo that's... not really a "shocking" variety, for Mei's supposed first time getting her period. Pads come in a variety of lengths, thicknesses, scents (yes really, and they are important), and with or without wings, and everyone who gets a period has to figure out what works best for them. If anything, Ming is a little UNDERprepared, by not getting a single box of tampons as well.

Is it just me, or is the 2020's becoming the decade of "Generational Trauma" in Animation? Turning Red, Encanto, Steven Universe: Future, The Owl House...

Not a bad exploration of Turning Red by any means, but also an incomplete one. I wish this video had looked more into the psychological development specifically of the Pan-Asian Diasporic Experience. I will focus on just one simple aspect that might change the way anyone views Turning Red, that being Shame Culture vs Guilt Culture. For many 2nd and 3rd Generation Asians in Western countries, one of the biggest cultural clashes they face is this cultural idea of Shame vs Guilt. In many Western Cultures decisions that involve some kind of risk are kind of thought of like, "reward and punishment," scenarios. "If I eat that 3rd piece of cake, will it be worth the potential stomachache the next day and the feeling that I'm being a pig" is a silly little example of a choice made with this reward and consequence mindset. In this cultural context, it is the guilt over an action performed that informs whether or not someone performs an action or not. This is contrasted by many Eastern Cultures which are more concerned with thought of "honor and dishonor," vs "reward and punishment." In this cultural context that same situation with the cake brings up thoughts like, "If I eat that 3rd piece of cake, will people look at me as a fatty, and will they in turn look at my parents and judge them for raising a child who is such a glutton." In this line of thought, it is the shame one might bring to themself and others that most strongly informs that person's actions. Getting back to Turning Red which is about a Chinese-Canadian Girl living in Toronto, Canada, a Western Culture, you can clearly see where the conflict between traditional Asian Culture clashes with the dominant Western Culture of her living environment. Mei is being pulled in two different cultural directions and for much of the film, she believes that by embracing one culture she forsakes the other. In Shame Cultures, one cultural "value," children are taught by example of their parents to embrace is the idea of, "stuffing," their emotions for the sake of a greater good. Controversial communication is seen as injecting disharmony into a situation that from the outside, had the appearance of being harmonious. Turning Red to many of the Pan Asian Diaspora like myself, a Chinese American, seems to be making a powerful case, that stuffing our emotions, fears, and insecurities is not the way life is meant to be lived. We need to be able to communicate to others and especially parental figures that we are not alright, and we have a lot questions and concerns over the "messy" things in our lives. In Turning Red, it is not simply that Mei is having issues separating herself from her mother, she is wrestling with this idea of doing something that will cause disharmony to grow between her and her mother, something that will bring shame upon the both of them. The reason, Mei doesn't outwardly confront her mom after the incident with the boy or does not stand with her friends in the aftermath of the Panda Party; these are examples of Mei's fear about creating this disharmony which without a doubt stem from being raised in a Shame Culture Household.

I watched this movie with my mom, and it was pretty healing for both of us. In my mom's side of the family, my grandmother and her sisters had to grow up super fast as a consequence of my great grandpa's bad decisions, thus making them very resilient but also very repressed and contained sort of speak. This attitude was imposed on my mom when she was younger, she didnt feel like she could express everything to my grandma the way she wanted and overall had a tough relationship with her. My grandmother always asked more out of my mom, and when my mom had me it was a similar experience. When my dad died, suddenly my mother became the only parent and I had to grow up fast too, and obtained responsibilities that were a bit much for a 16 year old. Both of us grew up feeling less than, both of us were asked to perform tough tasks and we both felt like we couldnt talk to each other. Any difference we had between each other was also mirrored in the differences my mom had with my grandma.

'Getting good grades' is a part of the problem. School should be about learning and grading takes the focus away from that and places it firmly on chasing a number/letter. The most annoying question I remember hearing in EVERY class in college was 'Will this be on the test?' We need to be teaching our children to enjoy the act of learning and the way schools are structured does NOTHING to foster that in the majority of students...Thank you for coming to my TeD talk :p

I think a very key part of the story here worth mentioning is the unique Asian/Asian-Canadian migrant story too. The way Asian families deal with emotions is (mostly) to supress them - like how Mei's family banished their pandas. Her family's intervention and immediate response to keep the panda in - i.e. preference for stoicism - is something common here, in Asia. And a strong theme in the movie. But for a second/third generation Canadian, Mei's role is to break the generational cycle and reconcile both Eastern and Western values. When she is presented with the choice to embrace her emotions or avoid this potentially tumultuous journey, she choses to face the challenges despite the difficulties of the latter route.

I was almost unable to watch this movie, it got way too real for me. My mother was exactly like May's. I managed to watch it thanks to the support of my girlfriend who helped me realize that all that is in the past and I have to accept it and move on. It is still pretty hard tho, I'm sure I won't be able to watch that movie again

While I applaud you guys CORRECTLY labelling Freud as a philosopher, I would not recommend basing any analysis on his theories....

The one thing that turning red did that encanto did not was have the mom of the protagonist, Julieta, address her role in the generational trama.

Thank God my parents never pressured me with school stuff, all they ever asked of me was to try my best and just pass, even if its by the slightest margin.

I watched Turning Red not long after I'd seen Everything, Everywhere, All At Once and I found it so interesting how they both explored these themes of finding your independent self outside of your parents particularly in the Asian context.

One of their best and, ironically, most mature films

I JUST saw this amazing movie this past weekend!! It's f'n amazing: the story, the animation, the chinese influence, the retro tec (tamagochis, cellphones), the Toronto skyline ... All of it!! Pixar just gets everything on point!!

This movie also covers how your peers will more often embrace you for your emotions and being yourself where your parents and older generations will scold and toss you aside as a failure. It’s a really hard transition but I think it’s important to surround yourself the most with your own generation. I’m gen Z and I had to repress my emotions my whole life and once I finally moved out I could be myself and I started making friends my age who accepted me where my father absolutely hates how I think and what I believe. And that’s fine with me. I’d rather be happy and accepted than beaten down and repressed. I’m glad they covered this. It’s an important topic that the Right are so scared of it’s hilarious, but now they are using that fear and anger to organize to oppress us for being ourselves. We don’t hurt anyone but their fear and hate for us makes them want to eliminate us. That cannot happen.

Being on my way to parenthood myself, I think this gives me some perspective on how to let go and let children be their own thing. I was always allowed a lot of freedom growing up and I really want to convey that to my kids, giving them space to grow up, but be aware that I will be there whenever things go awry.

DUDE, you went so deep. Thanks for your psycho analysis. It was freaking awesome

Yes turning red onward soul luca and turning red has showed that Pixar still got it that they aren't afraid of failure or change they still have new great ideas one of the best Pixar films for me

i think the most important line in the movie comes in the last scene, when Meilin says, my panda my choice, which is that she taking charge of her own life and her own body.

My mother literally tells me the same phrase everytime I have to leave the house for a while

Director domee shi did a great job giving messages like parents calm down a bit. Stop being overly protective to your childrens. Let kids be themselves. And for children that to be themselves ....accept the good and the bad things. Things change and you have to change with it. Also it gives a very mature message about parents who didn't put you on this earth in order to insult you. They are just painfully out of their depth and struggling with demons of there own. Anger turns at point to pity and compassion which happens at the end of the movie at the mirror scene. Greatly told for every ages to be emotionally mature.

that's how Asian kids grow up. First we obey the parents because cultural moralityand expectations, next we rebel parents because we have goal of our own and parents never accept we are growing up, and then we live with it, that parents always want the perfect kid that you never need to be, so it's ok to just not care what they want and not treat them like shit.

excellent video as always

always love your videos so so much

I loved this movie and I think it's a valuable lesson to young people to learn to express themselves and be who they truly are. Meanwhile our state leaders are passing anti-trans bills and anti-LGBTQ legislation.

15:30 That is what I think sometimes and even tell to my children as a joke: better return to my belly.

Loved the movie from Disney and loved learning about this Julia Krustev from wisecrack.

I can't wait to hear your take(s) on "Everything Everywhere All At Once".

I surprisingly really enjoyed this movie! It's themes really hit hard

I loved the animation. It's so expressive and cute.

Loved the movie. It was an ode to women at the women’s month! Again, science and psychology never fails to point out how different women and men are and how much of our psyche is dependent on our own bodies.

Lovely video for a great movie

There was just so much amazing symbolism in this movie. And god it was SO realistic to being 13. From the visual of her turning into the panda for the first time and being horrified of how she doesn’t recognize herself in the mirror, and the motions of grabbing her larger belly and smelling her armpits it’s like a DIRECT parallel to puberty. Her mom even mistakes her secretive horror her mom even mistakes as her reaction to her first period. And I like the choice of the origin for the panda form, their female ancestor, a mother seeking to protect her daughters and people calls on a deity to GIFT her with the power to be stronger and bigger and able to protect. And I LOVE how they directly say that her powers work by HARNESSING HER EMOTIONS. Something men so often see as a weakness in women. But mei finds herself, wants to go her own way. The mother daughter relationship portrayals. I adored this movie. Hit so close to home. And the movie being set in the early 2000’s also feels so perfect, a brilliant world setting

Good analysis.

With Julia Kristeva, it reminds me of a recent study done saying that teenagers starting at 13 don't want to hear their mom's voice. According to the study, this is because teenagers are seeking friends that aren't their mom. Despite what Norman Bates would tell you, we need friends beyond our mom. We don't have to abandon our mom just have friends and a life beyond her. This is definetly a theme of turning red. As Mei struggles to have a life beyond her mom. In the end Mei has a life with her mom and her friends.

6:40 I've not watched the movie, but I've heard of it's themes around puberty. Finding out the origin of the "curse?" is one used for self defense while fighters were away is interesting though. I've been pondering lately that in an increasingly modern and safe society many of the neurological triggers our ancestors developed as warning systems aren't prevalent within our culture anymore - IE. we're not jumping at every bush in case there's a large predator lurking within it. In addition, we have longer lifespans thanks to medical and technological advancement. Which means that instead of dying or sheltering from the environmental threats that would have curbed our ancestors' limbic reactions our modern culture has an archaic emotional neurology that's incompatible with modern living. Many of the warnings meant to warn of us danger no longer serve a life-threatening preservation mechanism and are now turned toward the next threat our shorter-lived ancestors didn't have to be long bothered by - emotional turmoil. Relating that to the film, I find it interesting that an aspect portrayed is that women in the bloodline who experienced great emotional turmoil became monsters to defend themselves. Now, in a non-warfarring culture, that red panda manifests during great emotional strife in general. Before it served a life-preserving function. Now society is not the dangerous landscape of the past that same energy manifests as chaos in a modern setting.

Although I liked the vid there is a bit of a missed opportunity here. Whenever an Asian immigrant grows up in a western environment the main struggles is not only about family but thier philosophies. Wisecrack has a good opportunity here to talk about the differences between eastern and western philosophies. Individualism vs Collectivism.

Jung has a lot to say about the size of momma panda.

Not the lick at 1:45 lmaoooo I'm dead

Please make a video about severance, that show Is amazing

the 4 town thing is cuz one of them plans to leave to go solo one day but wants to be supportive of his brother so when he's gone there's 4 of them

the perks of being a wallflower is a great movie and book and a video would be amazing on it

The religious household point is so accurate I'm unlearning now

I had this emotional issue when I was in the fifth grade. Had the average height of a white man.

Quite a good exploration of this movie, not bad. I'm going to add that abjection through religion/spirituality is not thrown out at all at the end of the movie, but it rather takes a different shape within Mei's changing family ethos as it confronts western culture and values. Curiously it's the most traditionally oriented grandmother and matriarch of the family the first one to recognize that Mei will keep the panda (the wild side of their femininity) to explore, and briefly wishes her the guidance of their ancestor before letting mother and daughter have a final dialogue. Then, we watch a scene where Sun Yee and Mei joyfully comune, for the movie makes the argument that only through the spiritual connection that women share in their shared human/animal condition can they explore this thing called womanhood (a conclusion that I fully agree on). Gotta also say that this movie really breaks the classical Pixar mold, a thing that the production team sought and actually achieved (hence why some people used to the more western/kosher Pixar style feel it off or wrong and sort of disliked it). I'd say that if you aren't still "getting it" but you want to understand it, give the making-of 40 minutes feature (also available on the platform) a brief watch. The feminist and pro-immigrant vibe is quite there, and I can say that I personally appreciate it, somewhat away from the polarized tired and toxic discourse thanks to the artistic merit alone. Finally, I have seen there is a lot of things that the mainstream culture been saying about the movie (not a lot of it flattering and more obsessed with the taboos the movie broke), but I'll focus that there is also a somewhat niche growingly going mainstream sector who are having a VERY different take from the movie, related to the animal/human duality question launched at the end of this video. This movie really resonated a lot with members of the furry fandom, I have heard and seen so, because it says a lot about the "furry condition"; anthropomorphism and zoomorphism. I'm a philosopher that belongs to this artistic movement and community and one of my main thesis is that furries are the cultural expression of this synthesis between the human nature and the animal nature within the Homo Sapiens. I shall further investigate this abjection thing within us because curiously the main center of expression for the fandom, I'd argue, is also art, spirituality, sex and rituals. Thanks for the reference to Julia Kristeva. That shall enrichen my analysis 👍🏽

Green Beanie girl looks like female Luigi and it frickin adorable!

I really enjoy the messages it sends through the boy bands songs and the positivity in being yourself :)

I think this is an important movie for sure.

"it didn't have any 9/11 in it; 0/10" - Mr. Enter

the stomach thing is so accurate lol

i cried like a baby

“Mine called it “stripper music”

You guys should def do a vid on Everything Everywhere All At Once

13:23 "There are four lights!"

6:11 "Shocking variety of pads" I mean... Is it? That seemed pretty normal for a household expecting a girl to get her first period.... Then again, I only have my own childhood to go by... My mom was, not on Ming's level, but still quite the "helicopter parent", and since I also have an older sister, even though mine came much sooner than anyone really expected, we had a pretty large variety of options for me to choose from, just from what my mom and sister used at the time... Mom was sure I'd be heavy like her and my sister, so there were all kinds of "super, heavy, and overnight" options, as well as regular, and thin for "spotting", and my sister had this weird thing when she first got hers, where most scented ones would cause a rash, so we had options of scented or unscented... One of them had a strange reaction to certain specific brands of tampons, so different brands were kept for those as well... Like... It's best to explore and understand all of your options. You never really know how your body will react to what at first, or what works best for you, and oddly enough, the smallest difference from one pad or tampon to the next can make or break your experience... Like... It's a painstaking nightmare for some of us...

I hope you guys break down Everything Everywhere All At Once soon

this film is fantastic

E;R's review of Turning Red was the best

Plz do everything everywhere all at once

still going through it

I related a lot to Turning Red, but not in the way that was intended. I have autism, and I've had to be "normal" in society, hiding my true self. I'm sloppy, awkward, and over emotional. Yeah.

@Wisecrack when will you make an video on the rumbling? Attack on Titan Final season ended

Bruh I saw this vid thumbnail and already knew my homie Freud was going to be the first dude mentioned.

identity is performative. Even the performing part.

I HATED that none of the aunts chose to keep their panda, but maybe that's my arrested development talking.

I'm no psych major, but weren't many of Freuds concepts debunked?

This kind of growing up is why I felt such a kinship with werewolves as a child. There's the human and there's the beast. The more you repress it, the more it fights to be free. Just live with it, and make it part of you, and let it out to play. No suppression, no religious claptrap, no separation. It's part of you, so stop acting like it isn't.

Great F*cking Stuff! I love this video! Disney _vaulting_ Turning Red behind Disney + should be consider a war crime!

One thing I loved about this movie is that it didn't simply didn't frame religion as this wholly repressive and evil force, but rather something that Ming Lee could still include and appreciate in her life while coming to terms with her inner red panda.. In fact, Ming Lee seems to reconnect with her ancestor's and their traditions in a way that her mother, and grandmother were never was able to. It seemed as though the more toxic aspects of her religious upbringing, had more to do with the relationships between her and her mother, and guilt culture than they did with the cultural practices themselves. It was incredibly cathartic to me, a christian, watching a story about sexual repression not end with the protagonist removing themselves entirely from their cultural heritage, but rather learn how to cope with it in a healthy way and integrate it into their identity

Remember MIB2 in the beginning? I think that scene turned me into a little deviant, I’ll let you figure out why but if you know you know.

3:50 O M G XD

It's a really good film, embrace yourself

"We're all just monkeys in shoes" - Tim Minchin -- or in this case, red pandas

I’m still turned up at 30

You said "Animality", and now I can't stop picturing Mei appearing in the next Mortal Kombat 😂

Oh man. Julia Kristeva and the abjection gave me major flashbacks to undergraduate. Now let's talk about Barbara Creed and the "monstrous feminine" and how that can be applied to women's sexuality.

6:37 so basically the Vulcans ideology repress all emotions

That's cool, but where's your Everything Everywhere All at Once analysis? That flick seems like a philosopher's wet dream.

Wait wait wait a minute what happened to futuristic guy with the eyebrows?

Yoooo Michael, did u ever teach philosophy classes at a college in MD? Lol

Although I watch a ton of foreign films from Asia, I couldn't care enough about the character to watch the film beyond 15min.

That's no where close to a shocking variety of pads. First day, night time, light day, with wings, and scented...it takes a couple of years for a teen's period to stabilize and become predictable. Mei literally won't know if she's going to recreate the Shining elevator scene or just have a little rust that day. if you had to shove a pillow into your boxers 6 days a month, you'd want a healthy variety, too.

I feel like social media might boost repression, specially for teenage girls. I'm no expert, but just a thought.

I think the movie got it wrong where her friends were like a safe haven to her. Because some of her friends might not have her best interest at all, all the time. So I wonder how she is suppose to actually calm herself down.

This movie helped me come to full terms with my Asexual identity. Sure I feel sexually attracted but it's usually temporary and I don't want to have sex. As a weird kid myself it also inspired me to not grow out of my childish hobbies completely.

I'm pretty it was on purpose.. but also, it's a reference to O-Town

This movie taught me that growing up is cringey and that's okay.

No dancer is turning to a giant farry

The movie reminded me of Jung.

even as a dude this movie speaks to me and everyone should watch if you ask me....

I can relate; however, instead of a big cute red panda, my monstrous form would be a viscous red wolf.

Too cute

16:10 question?

-- and what if the bad stuff is as bad as your anxiety tells you?

I appreciate the additional angle you brought to the metaphor tying it to The Abject, I had only been seeing it from a simple repression angle. The end felt super unsatisfying to me though, as not only did the movie never explore the stakes of opening yourself up to the ID (it’s hinted that the panda might take over if she doesn’t learn to control it, but that ends up kind of being a dangling plot point.) also her mom, aunts, and grandma all just go back to a state of repression, even after their “healing” moment and that’s presented as a good thing for some reason? Literally both the danger of leaving things repressed isn’t resolved, nor is the impending danger of destroying the super ego entirely. The whole movie felt like an incredible set up, which made a muddy unsatisfying ending that much more of a let down. The final message ends up feeling less like a positive affirmation of mental and emotional well-being and more like a glorification of individualism and personal decadence.

Wasn't the whole '4' thing supposed to be tied to death?