Soul examined life’s purpose while touching on the afterlife. To its credit, Pixar has built a reputation for creating movies that tackle difficult subjects. But when she’s hanging out with her supportive friends, she’s able to keep it in check. Meilin is transformed into a red panda when her emotions grow out of control. ![]() “You’re being weird,” one of her friends tells her at school the same morning she struggled with keeping the red panda inside. The red panda is a magical element in Turning Red, but it’s also symbolic of a menstrual cycle and Meilin’s emotions. “I overcame it, and you will too,” her mom says. It can only be “cured” by undergoing a ritual at night under a red moon, during which time the red panda will be “sealed” in a necklace charm. (The men, we are told were “all gone.”) The gods granted her wish, and since then, every female in Meilin’s ancestry – including her mom – has had this red panda power. As Meilin eventually learns, this ancestor – a woman – “asked the gods” to turn her into a red panda so she could protect her village from evil invaders. As Meilin tells us, “instead of honoring a god, we honor our ancestors.” One of those ancestors was a lover of nature who dedicated her life to the animals of the forest – especially to the red panda. The backdrop to the plot is Meilin’s Asian family and their service as “keepers” of an ancestral temple in the city of Toronto. Still, discerning children likely will have pointed questions when the credits roll. Much of the discussion about periods is implied, not said. By itself, that’s a solid idea for an animated film – but it might not be a plot Mom and Dad want to discuss with their 5-year-old son on a Friday night. The movie’s central focus is female puberty, or, more specifically, a girl’s first menstrual cycle. Social media was replete with messages on the film’s opening day from moms and dads who watched several minutes of Turning Red … only to turn it off after learning more about the plot (which, by the way, wasn’t clear from the trailer). Here are four things parents should know about Turning Red: 1. The new Pixar Disney Plus film Turning Red (PG) tells the unique story of Meilin, who lives with a loving but overbearing mom and a dad who isn’t sure how to handle his fast-changing teen daughter. The question is: Will she ever learn to control her emotions? ![]() It seems that Meilin’s red panda transformation occurs only when she grows anxious, angry or sad. She eventually turns back into her human self but then turns back into a giant red panda at school – only to turn back into her normal self after she locks herself in a bathroom stall. That’s because Meilin, one morning, wakes up as a giant red panda. No doubt, Meilin is going through some tough times.īut things are about to get much worse. And like others her age, she often hides in her room – in her case, under her bed – and daydreams about members of the opposite sex. Like others her age, she often thinks she’s the smartest person in the world. Meilin is a 13-year-old girl who struggles with everything a typical teen faces – insecurity, awkwardness and a tendency to be easily embarrassed.
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