Turning Red, the new Disney Pixar film directed by Domee Shi, demonstrates the importance of meaningful representation in media. The main character in the film is Mei Lee, a 13 year old Chinese Canadian girl. Her Chinese Canadian identity is intrinsic to her character with topics of generational trauma due to being East Asian immigrants and the pains of puberty as a growing girl being the main conflicts of the movie. In addition to race and gender, however, the way the film portrays middle school life is super familiar, at least to someone who grew up in America. The positive reception to the film that I’ve seen really embraced the nostalgia of being a cringy little girl — the film felt like it was trying to genuinely portray that snapshot in time and all the ups and downs that it entailed. More of the positive reception also entailed how those that grew up in immigrant households (beyond just East Asian people) related to Mei and her mother’s strained relationship — another point of genuine representation that Shi was able to convey. Overall, it was a great film to watch and fun to point out 2000s-era easter eggs like Mei’s Tamagotchi toy and the obsession over Backstreet Boys-esque boy bands, and also interesting to see some cathartic and interesting growth between a mother and daughter’s relationship.
Categories: 403-MW
1 Comment
Jeein Hong · April 16, 2022 at 9:51 pm
I never really force myself to think about the motives or the message behind the story plot of the film is trying to deliver. However, I think after the movie is over, I tend to reflect back on the film and get impressed at the big picture. Next time I watch a movie, I’ll try think of the media representation as well. Your thoughts behind the importance in media representation resonated with me a lot.
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