Pixar's Turning Red is MORE than just Body Positivity! (VIDEO SCRIPT)

I don’t know about you, Readers. But I’m currently enjoying this new wave of Disney Pixar films we’ve been getting as of late.

So far, there has only been one film that didn’t sit right, and that’s Disney Pixar’s Soul -- which, I’ve explained my reasonings why in a video I made on the subject a while back. But recent films like Coco, Inside Out and Luca have been fun, relatable and oddly allegorical in their storytelling.

That’s why, considering the storytelling roll Pixar has been on lately, I’m kinda stoked for Turning Red

Not only has Pixar been STELLAR in getting me interested in slice of life stuff -- a genre of storytelling I have no problem admitting bored me to tears in the past -- but seeing more north american asian representation in film and television is a HUGE plus

Especially if the story finds a way to play into the heritage and culture of the individual or family in question, in which Turning Red does both.

Mei Lee is a Chinese Canadian who finds out that because of her ancestors association with the Red Panda -- aka Matt McMuscles’ fursona -- she starts turning into a giant anthropomorphic one whenever she gets too excited or stressed around the time she turns 13

Now I was already on board this premise when I first saw the teaser trailer, and that was mostly because one of the things I was able to relate to was Mei’s association with her mother and how her overprotective actions just ADD on to her anxiety

Same, Mei. Same.

Now while the full trailer does give a bit more context to the reason why Mei’s mom is like this, it’s the overall struggle of self-acceptance Mei has to go through compounded with dealing with her mom that made me understand a possible way someone can take away from the movie overall.

And that’s one of embracing not the person OTHERS want you to be, but the one that YOU want to be.

What initially tipped me off that this was a route the movie could go in was how the full trailer initially presented things. From how she reacted when her mom and dad discovered she transformed to how receptive her friends were and helping her get her transformations under control.

Now at first glance, one can look at these situations and take away that what Mei is going through is a metaphor for puberty, which is completely understandable and fits within the subtext just as well.

But what really sold me on this being Mei’s journey of embracing her whole self is what she says in the trailer

“My whole life I’ve been perfect little Mei-Mei. But maybe I like this new me”

Now from that sentence and the scenes in display from the movie, there are SO many ways one can interpret that line.

When I first saw it and heard the line, I gained PLENTY of body positivity vibes

And while they’re definitely present, that’s only PART of the whole. Because you can’t just factor in certain aspect of Mei’s coming of age story.

Everything from the type of kid Mei was BEFORE her family’s “curse” kicked in, to how her mom has presented herself in both the teaser and the full trailer plays a key part of her development; breaking out of the expectations and control of others in order to be her own person.

From the way things look in the trailers, Mei’s mom is a Tiger Mom; a mother who is incredibly strict and obsessively “invested” in the success of her child.

And for a while, it looks like Mei kinda fell in line with this doctrine according to the full trailer because that’s her mother. Straight A’s, taking up an instrument as an extracurricular probably for scholarship reasons, things of that nature.

So by the time Mei has been bestowed the curse of the red panda, her mother is even more overprotective than usual.

Following her around to make sure she doesn’t Hulk out and expose herself, while at the same time GIVING HER PANIC ATTACKS AND INCREASING HER CHANCES OF HULKING OUT BECAUSE YOU’RE LITERALLY STALKING YOUR CHILD.

In a way, yes; there is a body positivity narrative in Turning Red in how Mei’s mom sees her transformations getting in the way of her life versus Mei’s eventual acceptance of herself and not looking at it as a hindrance if she’s stuck this way

But at the same time, it’s also giving Mei the opportunity to learn that she doesn’t have to live for her mom. She can live for herself, and that receiving this situation helped her finally be able to see that.

Is this me saying that both points can’t coexist in the same narrative or that one is more prominent than the other, absolutely not.

Turning Red might be one of the most versatile narratives to come from Pixar because of that fact, and honestly I welcome media with that much multifacetedness in its narrative

But from the way Turning Red is setting out to be, its allegories are less compound and more layered; not a mixture of certain morals blending into one finite one, but multiple lessons that present themselves and can easily be applied throughout the narrative that collectively add to the whole message

And, just like Mei, that’s perfectly fine.

But, I digress, Readers; your homework assignment for the day:

Write in the comment section below if you’re looking forward to watching Disney Pixar’s Turning Red

Or, if you feel like sharing with the rest of the class, a movie you’ve seen that had multiple meanings and allegories within it, that all resulted in one large takeaway

Whichever question you decide to answer, I’d love to know your thoughts.