Turning Red - Cheap Thoughts

Puberty sucks. It sucks for everyone, the only thing that could make it infinitely worse is if you transformed into a giant monster at the sign of any strong emotion so…good thing teenagers don’t experience any of that. Turning Red is built on a lot of foundations that have come before in other Pixar/Disney films, a rebellious teenager who goes against her parents wishes for the sake of her own identity, face off against many obstacles, the main of which being their own internal dilemma taking a physical manifestation. Yet fewer Disney films take such an analytical approach to the subject matter as Turning Red does. The act of rebellion is not just an act for the sake of it, but it is one built up out of a burning desire to be one’s own person, even when that person goes against their own parents’ ideal version of oneself. Our main character Mei (Rosalie Chiang) is not necessarily lying to her parents in who she is, the part they see is still a part of her, but that active repression of her other side that she gets to be with her friends makes it an escape from a family that requires all the success but offers none of the trust. We were all different with our friends than we were our families, in some ways that felt more like the real version of us, and if that’s not something you relate to then really question what kind of childhood you had.

The film also allows Pixar to experiment more with their own animation style. Truth be told Pixar have always felt weightier and more realistic on their designs and animation. This has allowed for some truly breath-taking and impressive looking films but is limiting in the opportunities provided by the medium of animation. Turning Red is expressive, it’s rubbery, it’s exaggerated and all in the favour of creating one of (if not) the most visually hilarious films Pixar have ever made. It’s certainly a shame that the three latest Pixar films which all happen to be some of their most creative, smart and emotionally nuanced films have all been straight to streaming, when the inarguable cash grab that will be Lightyear still receives the theatrical release. Pixar are one of the few major studios that still make original features that appeal to broader audiences, it’s saddening to see their work be relegated like this.

Turning Red is going to mean a lot to a lot of people, it’s a subject matter that can be connected with and rarely gets discussed this deeply, and yet it never loses its sense of personal identity. In the broader scale this is a story of a teenager struggling with their identity between their friends and their family. On a personal scale it is still the story of a 13-year-old Chinese Canadian girl hitting puberty and anyone who can connect to any of those nouns, this is a unique experience of seeing themselves in a major motion picture, and no one can take that away.

-Danny