Turning Red and the curious case of criticism

Photo by Monika Kozub on Unsplash

It’s been a few weeks since Turning Red, the new smash hit from Pixar, hit the airwaves on Disney+.

And almost from the start there has been criticism. Mainly from men.

But before we go into that, let’s look at the story of this movie.

It’s a coming of age story, about a girl who, overnight, has her first period. Yet, instead of dealing with the potential embarrassment of menstruation cups and tampons (which it kind of does deal with shortly thereafter), it goes into a different route and makes Mei, the main character, into a red panda.

In a funny and creative way, the topic is a tad more relaxing, and showcases a different transformation, which the character does throughout this movie.

Some of the moments she grows up is how she deals with her overbearing mom, her rich bully, and her newfound power.

Of course, she has three friends that help her through this.

And this is where we talk about the criticism.

A portion of the criticism this movie has received is related to the girls, as a collective unit, and how they behave.

But seriously, how many of these people, which, again, are mostly male, hang around young girls all day and know how they behave?