Growing up is a beast: Turning Red

University of Denver student watches Turning Red on DisneyPlus [Photo by Alexa Chan, with Megan Holiday]

When have you ever let out your inner panda? On March 11, 2022, the quirky, coming-of-age animation Turning Red was released to American theatres. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios, this feature-length film follows a 13 year old, Asian-Canadian girl name Mei as she goes through the trials of puberty and finds herself among family expectation. I thought the overall message of the film was influential and deep. The style and animation was modern and smooth. In general, I thought it was a great film. 

Mei’s mom, Ming, showing her period preparation kit. [Photo by DisneyPlus]

I thought that Turning Red beautifully navigates the inevitable issue so many young women face. Their period. The red villain that visits once a month, stirring up the pot of hormones. During Mei’s first debut as the red panda, Ming is frantic because she thinks Mei is starting her period. She runs and grabs her kit filled with various sizes of pads, ibuprofen, and heating pads, etc. Not only is this a topic that doesn’t often get talked about, but is portrayed in our films today as something that turns women into angry, cranky beasts once a month. But Turning Red does a magnificent job at showcasing diversity in period products and how emotional this event can be in a young women’s life. 

In terms of the plot, I thought to be complex and metaphorical. Young Mei finds out she has inherited a rather odd genetic curse. Whenever she has any overwhelming emotion — excitement, hate, love, and anger —- she turns into a giant, fluffy red panda bear. Tail and all! Turning Red touches on some timeless, oh-so-joyful obstacles that usually occur during puberty or during the life of a 13 year old girl. One major being theme being change. 

University of Denver student Casey Tindall comments, “It’s okay to embrace changes and it’s okay to live up to your own standards instead of trying to please everyone all the time. I think we’d all like to accommodate others wishes to better our lives, but when we don’t listen to ourselves we become someone we’re not – like the red panda.” 

Have you ever been so overwhelmed by an overbearing parent or the crushing weight of expectation? Verywell Mind writes an article about the expectation versus reality trap. 

They state that, with social media nowadays, “Your expectations can create significant stress when they don’t match up with reality.” I think article accurately represents Mei’s mother, Ming, and what she expected about parenthood. 

Ming also inherited the panda gene, but suppresses and locks it away in a necklace. Mei is Ming’s whole world. She loves her more than anything in life and wants the best from her, always. Ming’s standards for Mei begin to drive a wedge between the two of them. We see Mei crying and holding back her real feelings and opinions from her mother because she is a “good daughter.” 

Tindall says, “When we can no longer push down what we are feeling, we explode in unpredictable ways. Whether that be a temper tantrum, crying or turning intp a fuzzy creature. We become someone we’re not when we are not our true selves.” 

Mei turns into a panda due to overwhelming emotions. At the beginning of the film because her mom is so overbearing, Mei takes all of her feelings and retaliation against her mom and pushes it deep deep inside. 

Megan Holiday, another viewer, states, “Turning Red is about how to deal with emotions and about how unhealthy bottling up your emotions can be.” 

While some people believe for the movie to be cringey and ridiculous. I think the message still stands that your emotions are apart of you and can come out in beastly ways. 

The dad in the film said it best, “You can’t get rid of the things about yourself that you don’t like – you have to make room for those sides of yourself and learn to live with it.” 

Overall, I thought it was a decent film and provided a stronger message for it’s younger and adolescent audiences. For too long, the topic of periods has been given a bad reputation throughout films. It’s used as a punch line to explain women’s behavior. I think Turning Red is changing the narrative around this topic and the topic of navigating your emotions through puberty.