"Turning Red"

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It's been difficult for me to move on to a new post after my two latest ones about Qandi. I'm starting to feel better about it, now that some time has passed. I sincerely believe she would want me to be happy and carry on. I know this because every time I felt sad or just didn't feel well, she was always by my side, faithfully comforting me. And I know she will continue to be by my side as I move forward.

So onward we go.

When I first heard about and saw the trailer for "Turning Red", I was intrigued. It looked light-hearted and fun, but with a meaningful message. It is a computer animated coming of age movie about a teenage girl named Mei Lee who turns into a giant red panda every time she experiences strong emotions. At first glance, this seems like a movie for young children, but the message and some of the scenes in the movie are more appropriate for older children, hence the PG rating (although I felt that PG-13 might have been more suitable). It hits on the complexities of being a teenager, as well as on the parental perspective of raising a teenage girl. 

I didn't like the fact that Mei Lee was encouraged to suppress her emotions. I mean, I know it turns into chaos and potential destruction when she turns into the giant red panda, but suppressing emotions can have a detrimental outcome for anyone, especially for a teenager at a complicated stage in her life. Her family didn't give her any strategies for dealing with these strong emotions. They just expected her to turn them off. I understand this was part of the conflict and plot in the movie, but perhaps there was some way it could have been addressed among the characters at some point. This is one reason I felt a PG-13 movie might have been more suitable. 

The parents aren't the only ones in this movie who have their faults. Mei Lee thinks she's an adult just because she is now a teenager. She finds comfort in her friendships, which is what teenagers do. Very relatable. Both Mei Lee and her family have their faults. Nobody is perfect and they all have extreme feelings about the way things should be. The challenge is for them to all meet somewhere in the middle.

"Turning Red" is a fun movie with a well-developed plot and good character development. It is tough to be a teenage girl...and the parents of a teenage girl. I've been there and my parents have been there. And I imagine it's even tougher nowadays. This makes the movie relatable. I also enjoyed the music in this movie. I found myself oddly interested in the boy band that Mei Lee and her friends were so crazy about. It brought up some fond memories of when Stephanie and I attended concerts.

If you're even remotely interested in watching this movie, I recommend going for it. It's streaming on Disney+, which is the only streaming platform I pay for. So it was a no-brainer for me to watch it. In fact, I watched it twice. And I'm glad I did.