Film as a medium for cultivating a culture of peace: Turning Red film review (2022)

Abstract

Turning Red is a fictional animated comedy film directed by Shi (2022) available for viewing on Disney Plus Hotstar. This film is set in Toronto, Canada but the main character is Chinese. The film tells the life of Mellin “Mei” Lee as a student who struggles with a hereditary curse. At first, Mei was described as a teenage character who excels in several subjects and has normal relationships like teenage girls her age, such as having a gang, starting to like men, and having an idol group. The conflict starts when Mie felt that her mother was too overprotective and too restrained so that Mei could not express her emotions appropriately. As a result, Mei gets hit by a curse. This curse allows a woman from the Lee family to transform into a red panda. Initially, this change was not a curse but a blessing to the women in the Lee family. They use the red panda transformation to protect their hometown from soldiers who want to colonize it when all the boys go to war. As time passes and the world changes, this gift becomes a disaster for the Lee family. The red panda’s curse drastically changes Mei’s life, causing Mei to avoid social interactions. The film has a bright plot when Mei’s best friend finds out about Mei’s curse. They accept Mei for who she is, and so Mei feels loved by her best friends. The love of her best friend allows Mei to control her emotions, which causes her to control her transformation into a red panda. The Mei family tries to remove this curse by holding a curse release ceremony during the red moon. Simultaneously, Mei and her friends use the red panda to earn money for buying tickets to watch their favorite boyband concert. The transformation of the red panda turns into a spectacle. Mei’s attempt is discovered by her mother who then gets angry. To assuage her mother’s feelings, Mei finally takes part in the ceremony to get rid of the red panda. During the ceremony, however, Mei suddenly changes her mind, choosing to keep the red panda upon remembering good memories with her friends. And since the ceremony coincided with the concert, Mei runs away to see her favorite boyband. Her angry mother then turns into a giant red panda and disrupts the concert. The conflict escalates when Mei and her family tried to help her mother become human again by holding a ceremony at the concert venue. Mei’s family manages to save her mother. The director ends the film with the Lee family’s acceptance of Mei’s choice to keep the red panda.