Turning Red
People have many sides — some complicated. The point isn't to hide the bad ones, but to give them enough room, and accept them.
2022 · Animated Comedy · Domee Shi · Disney+
Themes: self-knowledge, emotional control, life, family, friendship, mother-daughter relationships.
"People have many sides, and some are complicated. The point isn't to hide the bad ones, but to give them enough room, and accept them."
- 🔊 Voice cast includes Golden Globe winner Sandra Oh and others
- 🎵 Music written by Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas (no wonder it's so catchy)
- 😀🤣😡 The most expressive character faces in Pixar's history
Intro
Set in a Chinatown in Canada — though because I kept seeing a tower like the Oriental Pearl while watching, I thought it was Shanghai, until I looked it up and found it's Canada's proudly-owned "CN Tower" 🤣. The red panda metaphor represents how adolescent kids get lazy and love junk food that's bad for them.
Palette and pacing
The palette is beautiful as ever — pink, bright — and the pacing is quick; blink and you might miss some details, like the beaded seat cushion in mom's car, so authentic, love it 💕🤩
A few thoughts
Breaking free of a mother's constraints isn't limited to discipline — it's also her behavioral patterns and ways of thinking. However well we get along, we're all shaped by our mothers to some degree, aren't we? Sometimes, by knowing ourselves better, we can recognize which influences we carry — keep the good ones, and let the bad ones go, or coexist with them. Just like Meilin: making the choice best suited to herself, then bravely facing the life ahead.
By the way, in the later part Meilin shifts freely between human and panda — I think it kind of symbolizes that she can now freely control her emotions?
Associations
Mom asks why she wants to go to the concert, and Meilin's reason is to broaden her appreciation of music — which is so like something I'd say: something clearly driven by desire, yet you have to give a reason even you don't believe, hahaha.
- As a kid I'd clearly be playing on the computer but always say I was "using" the computer — as if putting it that way sounded more proper? 🤣
- In middle school, swooning over cute boys with classmates.
- The digital pet egg (one of life's regrets — a shame I never got to have one).
An indescribable feeling
Seeing a Taoist priest performing a ritual in a Disney film felt so wonderful — a culture being seen by the whole world, an indescribable feeling?
A good line
"Sometimes I miss how things were, but nothing stays the same way forever." 「有時我會懷念過去的時光，但沒有什麼是永遠不變的。」
The mom and dad exchanging a sweaty glance — such a delicate touch.
青春養成記
人有各種不同的面向，有些面很複雜，重點不是將那些壞的藏起來，而是給他足夠的空間、接受他。
2022｜動畫喜劇｜石之予｜Disney+
「自我認識、情緒控制、人生、家庭、友情、母女關係」
「人有各種不同的面向，有些面很複雜，重點不是將那些壞的藏起來，而是給他足夠的空間、接受他。」
- 🔊 配音卡司有金球獎視后吳珊卓等人
- 🎵 音樂由怪奇比莉跟他哥哥finneas創作（難怪很洗腦）
- 😀🤣😡 皮克斯動畫有史以來人物表情最豐富的一部
Intro
背景在加拿大的中國城，但其實因為觀看時一直看到類似上海明珠的高塔，還以為是在上海，後來查資料才發現那個是加拿大人引以為傲的「國家電視塔」🤣，用紅貓熊的寓意是表示青春期的孩子懶散，愛吃對身體不好的食物。
色調跟節奏
色調一如既往的美，粉色、明亮，節奏很快速，少看一秒就可能會忽略一些細節，例如媽媽車上椅子的珠珠墊子，好道地好喜歡💕🤩
小感想
擺脫母親的束縛不限於管教方面，還有母親的行為模式跟思想等等，不論相處得如何，我們或多或少都會受到母親的影響吧？而有時候我們可以透過更認識自己，認清自己受到了哪些影響，是好的可以留下，而壞的，則可以let it go 或者與他共存，就像美美一樣，自己做出最適合自己選擇，然後勇敢迎接接下來的人生。
話說後段美美在人與熊貓之間變換自如，我覺得有點象徵是他已經可以自由控制自己的情緒？
聯想
媽媽問他為何要去演唱會？美美的理由是擴展欣賞音樂的範圍，好像我會說的話，明明是慾望驅使的東西，卻得說出一番自己都不相信的理由哈哈哈。
- 小時候明明是在玩電腦卻都說是在「用」電腦，好像這樣講就比較正經的感覺？🤣
- 國中跟同學一起看帥哥發花癡。
- 寵物蛋（人生遺憾之一，可惜沒能擁有過）。
無法形容的感覺
在迪士尼看到道士作法的感覺好奇妙，是一種文化被全世界看到，一種難以形容的感覺？
好句
「有時我會懷念過去的時光，但沒有什麼是永遠不變的。」 "Sometimes I miss how things were, but nothing stays the same way forever."
爸媽互看流汗太細膩啦。