Turning Red

[Anonymous]

Tried watching it last night with DS(12) and DS(8). They wanted to switch to something else after about 10 minutes (the main character and her 3 friends were, in the words of my kid, "annoying and cringe") but I said let's give it another few scenes. It got such good reviews. I really don't know why! We all agreed to switch to rewatch "Raya and the Last Dragon" after about 25 minutes.

I'm open with my kids about puberty, menstruation, etc., but cringe really is the best way to describe the movie's presentation. And the weird friend group was all so one-note (the flat animation of the faces didn't help). And the stereotyping of the controlling Asian Tiger mom was gross.

Summary: hated it! Would have hated it as a tween/teen girl watching with my mom.

[Anonymous]

I should have read reviews before watching with my 6 year-old daughter. It is for older kids, and even with that in mind, I think it was weird.

[Anonymous]

The tiger mom Asian stereotyping was cringeworthy.

[Anonymous]

I was lukewarm - I found it heavy handed - but my 12yo son liked it a lot (despite explicitly saying that many seasons were “cringe”). We all loved Encanto, btw.

[Anonymous]

Watched it with my two boys, 11 and 9. We liked it ok. They know about girls getting their periods but I think that scene sort of went over their heads. I do think that parents should be aware that the movie makes that very obvious in case they haven't had that talk with their daughters. I would imagine that many parents may be forced into a conversation before they were expecting to. But maybe it's a good introduction. I just wasn't expecting that from a Disney movie and didn't feel like it was necessary to include. I think the metaphor of the red panda was probably enough to get the point across.

And yes I think the one friend is supposed to have Downs Syndrome. I thought that was pretty apparent.

[Anonymous]

I’d rather see a movie about getting your period than hiding it behind ancient Chinese history about girls turning into a red panda. It fuels really sexist stereotypes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d rather see a movie about getting your period than hiding it behind ancient Chinese history about girls turning into a red panda. It fuels really sexist stereotypes.

I’m not entirely sure what your mean by the sexist stereotype, but if it was there, I think I maybe kind of appreciated it a bit. I’m a little tired of the girl power/girls rule the world/girls-as-fierce-warriors tropes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:M kids both liked it (girl 10, boy 7). I liked parts of it but thought the music was boring. It did lead to a good chat with my 10 year old about parental expectations.

Billie Eilish and her brother wrote all of the 4*town songs. Her brother performed the voice of one of the band members.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 7 year old son loves it.
Out of the more recent Pixar movies his top four are Soul (1)
Turning Red (2) Luca (3) and Encanto (4)
He told me

My 7 year old hated Soul. Said it was way too sad to be a kid’s movie and I agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The tiger mom Asian stereotyping was cringeworthy.

Not just the mom. An Asian girl getting straight A’s, playing the flute, and being nerdy are all stereotypes. I initially didn’t want to see the movie because of that. But when I learned it was created by 2 Asian women I gave it a shot. Turns out the movie is based a lot on one of the creator’s actual life experiences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Watched it with my two boys, 11 and 9. We liked it ok. They know about girls getting their periods but I think that scene sort of went over their heads. I do think that parents should be aware that the movie makes that very obvious in case they haven't had that talk with their daughters. I would imagine that many parents may be forced into a conversation before they were expecting to. But maybe it's a good introduction. I just wasn't expecting that from a Disney movie and didn't feel like it was necessary to include. I think the metaphor of the red panda was probably enough to get the point across.

And yes I think the one friend is supposed to have Downs Syndrome. I thought that was pretty apparent.

Just FYI that the average age of menstruation for black and brown girls is 9. Been prepping my black daughter since age 7 as encouraged by her pediatrician.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Watched it with my two boys, 11 and 9. We liked it ok. They know about girls getting their periods but I think that scene sort of went over their heads. I do think that parents should be aware that the movie makes that very obvious in case they haven't had that talk with their daughters. I would imagine that many parents may be forced into a conversation before they were expecting to. But maybe it's a good introduction. I just wasn't expecting that from a Disney movie and didn't feel like it was necessary to include. I think the metaphor of the red panda was probably enough to get the point across.

And yes I think the one friend is supposed to have Downs Syndrome. I thought that was pretty apparent.

Because the mom comes in the bathroom with a box full of pads? Was there something more obvious that I missed? Because I think that would float right over the heads of most younger kids, as they would be distracted by the girl having turned into a giant panda.

[Anonymous]

My almost-12 year old DS was really into it. Since most books and movies have female protagonists nowadays, he's used to female main characters and he can identify with them. Some of the social stuff was universally mortifying, so easy to sympathize with Mei for it.

The red panda-as-puberty/menstruation was overriden by the red panda-as-fun monster in the second half of the movie, so that part didn't turn off or lose my DS.

I thought it was a bit overly frenetic. But it was better than Encanto, at least. The music was just kinda meh instead of obnoxious.

[Anonymous]

Disney Princess Teen Wolf! I couldn’t believe how similar it was including the parent expecting the were-panda, to the friends making money off the “rock star” were-panda. All we were missing was Mei surfing on top of a van and dunking some basketballs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My almost-12 year old DS was really into it. Since most books and movies have female protagonists nowadays, he's used to female main characters and he can identify with them. Some of the social stuff was universally mortifying, so easy to sympathize with Mei for it.

The red panda-as-puberty/menstruation was overriden by the red panda-as-fun monster in the second half of the movie, so that part didn't turn off or lose my DS.

I thought it was a bit overly frenetic. But it was better than Encanto, at least. The music was just kinda meh instead of obnoxious.

Pixar movies are NOT musicals.