Jokes Fly After Older Male Critic Complains Pixar's Teen Girl Coming-of-age Film 'Turning Red' Wasn't 'Relatable'

As was probably a matter of time, a review of Pixar's latest film Turning Red, a coming-of-age movie that centers on an Asian-Canadian teenage girl who turns into a red panda whenever she gets too excited, has riled up social media after a hot take from a critic went viral yesterday.

The review in question came from CinemaBlend's Sean O'Connell, who, in a 2.5/5 star review, summed up his feelings with, "I am not this film's target audience." The review was taken down but has been archived here.

O'Connell kicked off his review by opining that Pixar has drifted away from the "universal themes" presented in the studio's early works like Toy Story and Monsters Inc. and has given "fresh voices" the "freedom to share deeply personal – though less universal – stories," citing Turning Red, Onward and Luca as films that "risk alienating audience members who can’t find a way into the story." While discussing his various issues with the plot and pace of the film, O'Connell delivered a passage that would attract the attention of social media.

I recognized the humor in the film, but connected with none of it. By rooting Turning Red very specifically in the Asian community of Toronto, the film legitimately feels like it was made for (filmmaker) Domee Shi’s friends and immediate family members. Which is fine… but also, a tad limiting in its scope.

The quote was pulled by Twitter user @VinnieMancuso1, who wrote, "God, this is terrible criticism. Writing about art requires empathy. 'This wasn’t made for me' is a starting point, not THE point."

The review attracted an intense amount of criticism as some Twitter users expressed their exhaustion at a white male movie critic expressing he didn't "connect" with a story centered around an Asian teen girl, particularly because so many films throughout cinema history have centered the white male perspective as the "universal" experience.

Perspective like @JordanMCalhoun’s is more important now more than ever. Look at how terrible that review of the new Pixar movie was. This writer has such a narrow view of how to enjoy storytelling. Meanwhile nerds of color have been playing that exercise all our lives. https://t.co/PDSCsydNB3

— Gene Park Souls (@GenePark) March 9, 2022

The real fun from the controversy came when people began making quips about how they related to films with more outlandish plots because they too are, say, racecars or a bumbling chef being controlled by a rodent.

Of course, I am only a fan of Ratatouille because I, as a person being piloted by a rat, can relate to it. https://t.co/q79qrkysd3

— Jonah Gottlieb (@JonahGottlieb) March 9, 2022

I relate to Ratatouille because I, the audience, also have a rodent controlling my central nervous system https://t.co/WzArFNV9zo

— Benny Based (@thisbuggybee) March 8, 2022

As someone who isn't a fish, I just couldn't relate to "Finding Nemo."

— Benjamin Siemon (@BenjaminJS) March 8, 2022

Imagine if any other pixar film was criticised the way Turning Red is being criticised. For example: "Yeah, the movie is fine but I'm not a chef living in France/a sentient race car/a Scottish princess living in the 10th century so I couldn't relate to it at all."

— mahal!!! (@mxmahal) March 9, 2022

As an 80 year old widower who flies his on house on weekends via ballons to get over my grief, I can only relate to Cars 2.

— Jon^2 (@regularguy24) March 8, 2022

O'Connell eventually walked back and apologized for his review of Turning Red. "I'm genuinely sorry for my Turning Red review," he wrote. "Thank you to everyone who has reached out with criticism, no matter how harsh. It is clear that I didn't engage nearly enough with the movie, nor did I explain my point of view well, at all. I really appreciate your feedback."

I'm genuinely sorry for my Turning Red review. Thank you to everyone who has reached out with criticism, no matter how harsh. It is clear that I didn't engage nearly enough with the movie, nor did I explain my point of view well, at all. I really appreciate your feedback.

— Sean O'Connell (@Sean_OConnell) March 8, 2022