CinemaBlend Turning Red Over Review blasted as racist – AsAmNews

By Jana Monji, AsAmNews Art & Culture Writer

Things got weird this week and quickly proved that silly cartoons can bring up very adult issues. On Tuesday (8 March 2022), CinemaBlend posted its review of Turning Red on Tuesday and it was pulled before Wednesday due to perceived racism and sexism. CinemaBlend also posted an apology.

According to Indiewire:

I did not read the original review but it was available in the Wayback Machine. I have also posted the full review on my blog.

In short, OConnell panned the movie for being too Asian. That the story lacked a universally relatable theme. He wrote:

“Turning Red is the horniest movie in Pixar history, which parents no doubt will find surprising. 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 Domee Shi’s friends and immediate family members. Which is fine… but also, a tad limiting in its scope.”

As a woman, Meilin represents half of the world’s population. Meilin Lee as someone of Chinese descent represents about 20 percent of the world population. How representative is she of the population of Canada and Toronto?

As an ethnic group in North America, she represents a people that were the target of exclusion legislation in both Canada (Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 and Chinese Immigration Act, 1923) and the United States (Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882). The legislation passed after the Chinese immigrants had helped build the railroad in both countries. Japanese Canadians, like Japanese Americans, were incarcerated during World War II. People in Canada and the United States of East Asian descent have similar experiences. Most certainly without such acts, the population of people of East Asian descent would be greater today in both countries.

Yet, Canada isn’t the United States and Toronto isn’t Charlotte, North Carolina where Sean O’Connell’s Facebook page indicates he lives. According to his Facebook page, he’s from Massapequa Park, New York which is 93.9 White alone, and 0.3 percent Black, but 2.3 percent Asian, alone.  The demographics of Charlotte according to the US Census Bureau is 48.8 percent for White alone, 35.2 percent for Black or African American alone, 14.3 percent Hispanic or Latino. People of Asian descent alone are only 6.5 percent. That is higher than the national average for people of Asian descent which is 5.9 percent (Black or African American alone is 13.4 percent while Hispanic/Latino is 18.5 percent, nationally). 

Cinemablend’s reaction to the social media storm indicates that the ability to relate to people, including women of East Asian descent is important,  but without a person of East Asian descent on staff, I wonder if the projects of people of East Asian descent and those about Asian and Pacific Islander communities will be fairly reviewed.  Representation is important. The staff of CinemaBlend doesn’t appear to include a writer who would be under the same anti-Asian hate that has risen since the COVID-19 pandemic began. 

One of the reasons I write for AsAmNews is I’ve felt that despite demographics, the concerns of people of Asian descent have been ignored even when the numbers indicate they are a significant population of specific cities and even greater in number than other minorities that do receive attention and might end up over-represented. O’Connell isn’t totally to blame. The binary system of considering racism and diversity in terms of Black and White doesn’t require one to understand and include other minorities. Look at the recent nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson. Hearing that she should be nominated because there’s never been a Black woman on SCOTUS seems tone-deaf when there have never been a justice of either sex for other minority groups (e.g. Asian American, Native American or Muslim American). Look at the Oscars and their choice of hosts for the 2022 ceremonies even after the fiasco of 2016. (My application to cover the Oscars for AsAmNews has been rejected.) 

Having limited knowledge of Canada, this incident did make me change my point of view of what a Canadian might look like, but it also again emphasized that the forever foreigner feeling is real in Canada and the United States. 

• To read my full analysis of Sean O’Connell’s review, visit my blog, AgeOfTheGeek.org.

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