[OSCAR REVIEW] Turning Red bombards viewers with Chinese culture, nostalgia and stereotypes

Pixar’s 25th feature film, Turning Red, was released on Disney+ on Mar. 1, 2022 and pleased viewers with its nostalgic animation of life in the early 21st century through a Chinese family’s perspective. The film was nominated for an Oscar. However, did Disney go too far and raise stereotypes of Chinese family dynamics?

Turning Red is set in Toronto, Canada in 2002. The main character, Meilin “Mei” Lee (Rosalie Chiang, is a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl who is a perfect student and daughter. Mei and her parents, Ming (Sandra Oh) and Jin (Orion Lee), own a temple that honors their ancestors. Their most revered ancestor, Sun Yee, was particularly fond of red pandas and could turn into one. One day, Mei wakes up as a gigantic red panda. She later learns that the women in her family turn into red pandas as they come of age. Startled by this fact, she fights against unleashing her red panda and does this by showing as little emotion by possible. The only way to banish the red panda spirit is to undergo a ritual. However, under Mei’s rotten luck, the ritual cuts close to 4*Town, Mei and her friends’ favorite band’s, concert. Over time, Mei learns to appreciate her red panda and uses it to make money for the 4*Town concert with her friends, Miriam (Ava Morse), Priya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), and Abby (Hyein Park). Ultimately, Mei makes the choice to either undergo the ritual and honor her family or disobey them and go to the concert with her friends.

Rosalie Chiang and Sandra Oh did a great job portraying their characters’ conflicting and relatable mother-daughter relationship and creating moments of tension, vulnerability and laughter. On the other hand, their characters were bland and stereotypical. What’s more stereotypical than a Chinese daughter who honors her “tiger mom,” gets straight A’s, and ditches her friends to help out at her family-owned temple? Even worse, Ming is the perfect example of a “tiger mom” with her manipulative, demanding, and unsupportive behavior. These characters that Disney created in hopes of boosting diversity didn’t work out in their favor. Instead, the company boosted Chinese stereotypes.

Aside from the stereotypical family dynamics, the animation of the film was authentic and reminiscent of China, especially its food. The detail put into a cooking scene at the start of the film of dumplings, pork and lettuce stir-fry, and other Chinese dishes was impeccable, as well as other scenes that had food such as Ming’s congee decorated with fried eggs, a mushroom, and green onions to depict a red panda’s face. Turning Red intentionally used these small details to make viewers feel more at home.

The underlying message of the film is to be yourself. Even though it’s a cheesy message, it was pretty well-represented by Mei choosing what makes her happy in life for once, not just what makes Ming happy. Moments of tension, cringe, and laughter were packed into the film, like all PG-rated and Disney films. While there were underlying stereotypes and flaws in the film, it’s still a lighthearted movie to watch on a movie night. It’s also perfect for viewers hoping to unleash their inner red panda.