Unpopular take: Turning Red is amazing and so are it’s themes. (Spoiler free).
I want to start out by saying that I do believe that GDT’s Pinocchio deserves the prizes and all the prise it gets. And so does Puss in Boots: the last wish.
However, for all the prise that’s been thrown their way there’s something problematic that needs to be adressed and it’s not about the movies. It’s about some of thier fans.
I am not here to defend Disney, I hate what the House of Mouse has become and even before they certainly had a lot of questionable things about them. Normaly I would be spitefully happy about all the flak they are getting if it wasn’t for the fact that all the hate has been directed towards a movie that does not deserve it.
Here’s an example of what i mean.
Now before you haters start, this is not to say that Puss in Boots or Pinocchio are bad movies, in fact I love them too, i just happen to love Turning Red too.
Turning Red is an amazing movie that, in it’s own way, breaks as many conventions as Del Toro’s take on Pinocchio does. But while that movie get it’s well-earned applause, Red gets undeserved hate for a number of reasons that are way beyond the movie’s control.
One is that the movie is linked to Disney, and because it happened to be their project that drew more attention last year, it ended up being the one in which Disney’s dissaponted fans took out their frustration on.
Another is the whole double-standard of people who are okay with a “kid’s” movie having themes of death, war, panic attacks and unintentionally harmfull parents, but are still too conservative to have themes of being an pubert and panicking about not knowing what’s going on.
One thing that pepole seem to miss is that this movie was intentionally made to be cringe at times and uncomfortable for some people because being uncomfortable is a HUGE part of being a teen. But instead of offering thier sympathy to a girl who is lost on both her body and on who she is, like everyone is at that age, they want to call her gross or inmproper and act as if they are over it.
Being a teen is about doing things we may be embarrased about later on cause we don’t know any better and adults who are supposedly wiser are often uwilling to help or even acknowlege that. So we are often forced to play by ear and figure things out by ourselves.
That is what this movie is about, it’s not a heartwarming, frightening tale of a wooden boy or an epic satire of a fearless hero who laughs at Death. It’s a juvenile and weird story about suddenly understanding that growing up is messy.
It’s not fair to compare Turning Red to those because it’s not doing what those movies want to do but the thing it wants to do.
You can tell right away from their artstyles. Pinocchio and Puss in Boots have more stylized designs that are eye catching and fun to watch. And Turning Red has a more simple but still energetic and overtly cartoony style. That allows for the expresive over the top faces and gestures in the movie (which also ties into the themes of puberty feeling all over the place).
Like Guillermo del Toro said when he got the Oscar, animation isn’t a genere it’s a medium. And Turning red doesn’t deserve to be held back by the double-standards people wish to have for said medium; or the hate for the company that helped create those double-standars; or the inmature pepole who still wish they had done things diferently when they were younger.
I always knew this movie wasn’t gonna win the Oscar and that’s fine by me, Domee Shi (the movie’s creator) didn’t do this movie to win a prize, she made it cause she had a story to tell about making room for all the messy and unruly things in our life. If not to let it out, then to admit it’s there and it’s okay to have it.
If you still don’t like this movie or Disney and think Pinocchio and Puss in Boots are better, that’s fair. But stop bringing Turning Red and the people who enjoy it down just because it’s not what you expected or “Oscar worthy”
If you agree with me, reblog or repost this and spread the word. This movie needs someone in it’s corner.
