GMS Students Review ‘Turning Red’

GMS Students Review Turning Red

Imagery by Blue Linden

If you’ve been keeping up with all the new, trendy movies on Disney+, you’ve absolutely heard of Turning Red, which has become a big hit with teens and their families. It was released March 11th 2022, and is a movie which depicts girls going through puberty and showing the side of girls that society fails to notice.

Our quirky protagonist, Meilin Mei Lee (otherwise known as Mei or Mei Mei), is a 13 year old girl living in Toronto, Canada in the year 2002. Mei Mei also happens to have a best friend squad, consisting of Priya, Abby, and Mariam. They’re each unique in their own ways, each personality being relatable in some way. Mei Mei and all her friends are obsessed over a boy-band called Four Town (despite having five members).

Early in the movie you see an embarrassing moment for her. Soon after, she turns into a large red panda, which is caused when she has any strong emotions. This was passed to her by her ancestors- at the very start, Sun-Yi, who once summoned the panda as a blessing acted more as a curse over time. At first, Meilin thinks that it’s an inconvenience, though, with the help of her friends she finds that she can use the panda to help them get to Four Town’s concert.The red panda can be sealed within an object to protect the wearer from releasing the panda when experiencing a strong emotion. Mei’s relationship with her mother gets tougher and tougher throughout the movie, with all these changes happening to her it’s difficult for her to sustain healthy relationships. Throughout the movie, there are very realistic representations of a teenage girl’s life.

An 8th grader at Glasgow middle school, Korina Horvat, said, “The movie made my feelings about being a teenager clearer and better.”

The popularity coming from this movie is all thanks to our social media outlets, like Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok. Disney and Pixar truly did a wonderful job with capturing the ups and downs of Mei’s’ life and is definitely worth watching.

Turning Red is the new big hit on Disney+, take some time to watch it!