![]() ![]() Even the movie’s boyband, 4*Town, serve more significance in the movie than just being a nod to noughties boy bands like the Backstreet Boys and N*SYNC. Photo: Disney Pixar.Īs was noted by audiences when the trailer dropped back in November 2021, there are elements of the story that initially seem to play into East Asian stereotypes - the harsh, overbearing mother and the passive father, the idea that Asian students are perfect overachievers under a lot of pressure, to name a few - but instead of using this to create a one-dimensional caricature of the Chinese community, the movie explores both the real consequences and reasons behind these social phenomena. (Left to right) Abby (Hyein Park), Miriam (Ava Morse) and Priya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), Mei's friends, catch Mei (Rosalie Chiang) in red panda form. The cast of characters reflects this diverse society well, as between Mei’s friends, the kids and adults at her school and the members of fictional boy band 4*Town, diversity exists beautifully within the film just because, without any sense of virtue signalling. It is also notable that Shi also chose to set the movie in Toronto, a city with a high Chinese immigrant population and a diverse immigrant population in general. It is also indicative of how Turning Red is inspired by the childhood of writer-director Domee Shi, with many little details surrounding growing up in the noughties - the Nokia brick phones, virtual pets and home burnt CDs - here to make nineties and early noughties kids smile. Set in 2002, the movie plays on the Y2K nostalgia going around these days, whilst also cleverly avoiding the need to explore how a girl turning into a red panda would become an internet phenomenon in a few hours if the movie was set today. The movie follows Mei as she discovers her shapeshifting ability for the first time, and explores her relationships with not just herself both in human and red panda form, but also how these new abilities change the way she relates to her her friends and her family: most notably, with her mother Ming (Sandra Oh). Yet, as with Bao, Shi's newest tale uses her concept to explore multiple themes, and as a result Turning Red is a highly complex, often deeply heartbreaking and layered story about not just the chaos of ones teenage years, but also how this is affected by the immigrant experience. The premise is charmingly simple: 13-year-old Mei (Rosalie Chiang) finds she turns into a giant red panda when her emotions are out of control and Shi herself has said, it's 'kind of like 'The Incredible Hulk', but cuter'. Thus, it makes more than perfect sense for Pixar's first movie starring an East Asian lead to also be helmed by Shi. Clearly, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences loved it too, and in 2019 Bao won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. ![]() In 2018, Domee Shi's short animated film Bao was a cultural moment a moving eight minute short that explored food, family and Chinese culture in such a way that audiences cried and smiled in equal measure. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |