Turning Red

First of all, if your kids don’t know about puberty and all the things that go along with that- you better have a chat before you watch. However, this wasn’t my issue with the movie. My problem? This movie empowers impressionable, pre-pubescent kids to blatantly disrespect their parents. Kids, especially tweens, don’t need empowerment in this area, they will naturally push against the grain regardless. Which is normal. But this movie isn’t doing parents any favors. PIXAR produced a movie that gives kids permission to be disrespectful and thoughtless. It’s hard enough parenting tweens and this movie just adds fuel to their hormonal and rebellious fire. I was so disappointed, it had potential to be an inspiring movie giving parents and kids tools to navigate puberty effectively and productively . Instead, it just seemed overwhelmingly angry and chaotic. There are some valuable lessons from the movie if you can get past all the cringe worthy scenes, but in my opinion, the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.

This is one of the best movies Disney has put out in years for launching important conversations with your kids! We watched it last night with our 6yo son, and paused it to talk about: - periods (which he already knew about) and how some people think they're shameful or embarrassing, - if the mother was respectful to her daughter, - if the daughter was respectful to her mother, - what they might have done differently to communicate, - the father's role, and if/how/when he could have helped with the conflict and stood up for his daughter, - managing strong emotions, - bullying, - lying and keeping secrets, and - what blackmail is and why it's so important that he ALWAYS tell us if someone tries to get him to do something he doesn't want to and then tells him that they will tell us and he'll get in trouble if he doesn't do what that person wants. That last one is BY FAR the most important, because that's how predators prey on children - they convince them that they can't tell their parents something because their parents would be upset with them or wouldn't believe them. Even without all of the deep topics, this was a delightful, funny, silly movie that anyone who has ever struggled to manage their emotions should be able to relate to. The way it so deftly handled serious topics, normalized periods, and normalized people with Type 1 Diabetes, made it an absolute standout among the entire Disney collection of films. Definitely watch this with your kids. Have those talks with them. If you see something in the movie you don't approve of, talk with them about why. Don't just stick your kid in front of the screen and rely on Disney to provide your values for you. Having those conversations with your child will not only help impart the morals you want them to have, but it also teaches them to view other media through a more careful lens, and think more critically about what they see, hear, and read.

I made my account today just so I can simply write this review. After seeing what a lot of parents and adults have been commenting, I was honestly quite surprised. As the mother to three kids (no older than 11), I was content with this movie. I think it was a good depiction of certain mother-daughter relationships and frankly while watching the movie are we surprised Mei acted the way she did in the end? When there's an overbearing parent like Ming it's only natural your child will react a certain way. I don't think the message of the movie was to tell your children to 'rebel' against your parents rather this was a message to the parents... That protecting your kids can only go so far and sometimes, you've got to trust that they're growing up. The discussion about periods was interesting looking through these reviews... This was one of the first movies made by Pixar/Disney that discussed periods in such ways and I am so glad they did. It's about time we stop making periods seem like it's everything but natural. It was a nice touch to see it put this way. Finally, with parents calling the girls 'sex'-crazed and what not simply because they like a boy band is just ridiculous. They're supposed to be 13 years olds, of course they're going to fantasise about boys and obsess over boy-bands. That's what growing up is about. It was so great to see Chinese representation in a Pixar/Disney movie as my husband is Chinese and it was amazing to see characters my children could relate too. The movie was also funny and audible made us laugh. This movie was a solid 9/10. I absolutely loved it, my kids and husband loved it and I most definitely will be watching this again with them.

Worst Disney movie I've ever watched. The crazy mother and the whole "humor" around her period??! It was insane, wasn't funny. The message about "do what I say" "serve your parents" the whole dialogue was ridiculous. Hated the movie – do not recommend.

Extremely disappointed with myself for not reading reviews and previewing this movie before letting my children (11, 8, and 6) watch. I incorrectly assumed that since it was a Disney Pixar movie it would be fine. I was wrong. The movie contains repeated storylines and scenes of the kids lying to their parents and sneaking out of the house. All of this is portrayed as cool and ok because the main character's mom is portrayed as overbearing, way too protective, and "psycho." There are references to the main character starting her period, boys being sexy, comments about their specific physical appearance being attractive, and the 13 year old main character talks about how honoring your parents is great, but that sometimes honoring them "too much" means you aren't honoring yourself. The beginning of the movie includes the main character's romantic/sexy drawings of her boy crush. In one scene, the girl "gyrates" in front of her mother to make her angry. Friends are seen as more important than family relationships. There is some pretty scary imagery as well, relating to the girl's ancient family history and connection to the red panda.

As a parent to middle school aged children this film was a fantastic jumping off point for some big conversations. The primary plot line is about puberty for girls, the main character is an 8th grader. The film also addresses first crushes, lying to parents, parties that get out of hand, big emotions, and a slew of other hot topics for this age range. Be prepared to talk with your kids after this film, and enjoy the early 2000's Toronto location.

I did not like that the whole movie is about defying your mom and doing whatever you want bc you’re 13. Way to mature w subject material such as periods, “sexy” images drawn about a crush, mom becomes the monster, “my body my choice” is said, sneaking out…not suitable for kids younger than high school in my opinion.

Why are they making movies to sexualize our children? CHILDRENS movies should NOT contain gyrating, sexual content, periods, etc. I am so disappointed in this movie.

My 9 year old boy ended this saying it was the “best movie I have ever seen.” As an Asian American child is was very meaningful to see Asian representative on the big screen. This lead to a lot of conversations about changes and how relationships with our families change as we grow. My 6 year old also enjoyed it. Great opportunity to again normalize puberty.

I didn’t like the themes that a lot of reviews brought up….the disrespect to parents, lying and sneaking around. The main problem I had was ‘the panda hustle ‘ ….so we’re teaching young girls to sexualize themselves because that means they’re grown up????? And to make money by taking pics and vids of yourself for money?? I am horrified I let my 8 year old son watch it by himself and then when we watched it together I felt like I was a bad parent. I shouldn’t have to feel like my child watched the wrong Disney/Pixar movie. I trusted them but I will be screening every movie first from now on. Very disappointed at the overly sexual themes and the theme of ‘pimping yourself out’ for some cash. Isn’t this what we’re trying to steer our kids away from? And the scene at the end when she’s shaking her butt at her mom saying this is me and does that bother you mom? Like what was that scene. Shaking your butt is not a mark of maturity or being a woman. And I don’t want my son taught these themes either. You can disguise it as a panda all you want….what message is Disney/Pixar trying to send to our very impressionable young women and boys? I’m extremely disappointed.