"She is actually a few years younger than me, which is never a fact I enjoy learning about highly successful people" Same J.J. Same.

@spector3881

2 жыл бұрын

I'm 35, and articles like "the top 30 under list" make me feel sick.

@YahyeAli123

2 жыл бұрын

@@spector3881 yeah that feeling comes from the thought that you might have wasted your life. And younger people than you have reached so much more in their life like you could have, but didn’t those thoughts has everybody even the people you see as successful. They see people who are even younger than them and more successful. And they think that they are wasting their lives, but you shouldn’t believe those thoughts, because they are fake. As long as you had a happy and fulfilling live how simple it may be is worth it. So just enjoy your life and be happy then everything will be fine.

@TheAlexSchmidt

2 жыл бұрын

I'm still in my 20s and I feel that way.

@kiga14

2 жыл бұрын

By the time Evariste Galois was my age, he was already dead.

@SofaMuncher

2 жыл бұрын

Don't worry man, we all walk our own paths, Colonel Sanders was homeless living in his car in his 60s, then he started KFC!

I can't get mad at them for showing the CN Tower over again when movies set in pairs use the Effiel Tower constantly and New York films use the Statue of Liberty. That's just what filmmakers do at this point. The film's timing is also just before the Sars outbreak, which severally impacted the AAPI community in Toronto. It's interesting to place it right there between those two significant events. Also, the kid is not just wearing any Raptors jersey; there is a 15 on it. That's a Vince Carter Jersey :D

@BouncingTribbles

2 жыл бұрын

100%, it's nice to see someone treat a Canadian city as it's own thing

@stjoco

2 жыл бұрын

Also, living in the city, I find most people do tend to orient based on it, since it is so visible.

@adorabell4253

2 жыл бұрын

It's also just there. It towers above everything. Unless you face the other way you probably have a view of it from your window. My parents live 10k away and they stare at it when drinking their morning coffee.

@cltran86

2 жыл бұрын

i live on the edge of the city, and i can still see the CN Tower from where im at.

@52flyingbicycles

2 жыл бұрын

I thought the timing was so they could get a full lunar eclipse on a Saturday during the school year

They also called Mei's hat a 'tuque', a lot of americans know that hat as a 'beanie' so it was another canadian reference folks in america wouldn't get at first.

@eaglesfan226

2 жыл бұрын

And Mei called the graffiti vandalists “hosers”. That sounds very Canadian.

@Silentgrace11

2 жыл бұрын

Given she has such deep involvement with her multigenerational family, though, it wouldn’t be too surprising for Mei to use “old folk” slang sometimes. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents growing up so I still tend to use a lot of older slang myself

@vcool122

2 жыл бұрын

@@Silentgrace11 Or just because the slang is funny to say. In Quebec, people don't use "À la revoyure" when saying goodbye to each other. It's an old folks saying. But some people use it as a joke.

@HidanKitten32

2 жыл бұрын

@name "old people slang" now, in the 2020's. But in the early 2000's? When this took place? Still very useable. I was 10 in 2002 so I don't remember much. But I do remember those little digital pets. (I know what they are, I just can't spell it) And, ^^ since my school had a hill, Sledding for Gym class in the winter. Not sure if that is just a Canadian thing but it was AWESOME

@KeyDash753

2 жыл бұрын

I imagine "squeeze every last loonie out of those kids" would go over the heads of most non-Canadians.

Love how critics scream "I cant relate to a teen girl!" but then praise movies about talking cars, robots, and fish

@Noid1220

2 жыл бұрын

they probably skipped puberty

@natowaveenjoyer9862

2 жыл бұрын

chadyes.jpg

@KiruKamiVA

2 жыл бұрын

literally my thought. why do you need to relate to a film for it to be good? it just adds to the value of the film but it doesnt mean it is bad lol also i dont see every movie that takes place in every other part of the world needing to be very specific about dates and historical accuracies. do we hear about 9/11 everytime a movie is based in America? or do we hear about WW2 everytime a movie takes place in Germany? like bruh half way through this video i thought this dude was an idiot lol his critiques are baseless imo and make no sense- hes just trying to dislike the movie to dislike it.

@matheussanthiago9685

2 жыл бұрын

and italians

@ThePrinceofHisOwnKingdom

2 жыл бұрын

Did they scream though? I only heard 1 critic saying that and the movie, last I checked, is better received than Cars.

JJ, I’m gonna have to say I relate to Canadians on this. Living in a small state, I also get really excited whenever we’re acknowledged in any sort

@krautrick16

2 жыл бұрын

My country has 19 million people and I don't.

@seanmurphree4716

2 жыл бұрын

Me when my country (America) is mentioned: 😑 I sleep Me when my state (Florida) is mentioned: 🤨😌 nice Me when my city (Tampa) is mentioned: 👀👀👀👀 Me when my IP and physical address are mentioned: wait what the fu-

@achaeanmapping4408

2 жыл бұрын

Me too, with Cyprus

@JJMcCullough

2 жыл бұрын

What state??

@Jacob-yg7lz

2 жыл бұрын

That's how New Mexicans feel about Breaking Bad

I personally think the criticism that a movie would be "too specific" to a culture is ridiculous. Seeing other cultures on screen can be very enlightening, and I don't think it alienates kids at all. When I was younger I watched so many animes that were overtly Japanese, and I grew up with a fascination for Japan. Side note this movie depicts how preteens act SO well especially in the 2000s, and I'd love to see more 2000s period pieces that could dive deeper into it

@brianbrady139

2 жыл бұрын

Lady bird is a another good example of a teen period drama set in 2002, though ment for an older audience it has some overlapping themes

@bk9661

2 жыл бұрын

Exactly! I almost didn’t relate to the main character at all in this but it’s still a very fun movie and it helps you understand what the character is going through/their culture so it didn’t feel at all alienating, i think people are just looking for a reason to dislike the movie

@PaulaYuanEA

2 жыл бұрын

Also, frankly, the idea that the film is "just for Domee Shi and her immediate family and friends" is ridiculous when one factors in just how large the East Asian community is in/around Toronto, if not just in North America in general. Like--first of all, I think it is very much generalizable to Asian communities in the U.S., but even if for some reason you wanted to focus only on the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) that is HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of people, not "Domee Shi and her immediate family and friends." It honestly feels like a very reductionist take that just screams, "I don't want to bother trying to empathize or understand this movie because I can recognize that it wasn't explicitly made for me."

@ivorywind9739

2 жыл бұрын

If you can’t relate to a setting, it just doesn’t matter. Relate to the character’s personalities, relate for their likes and dislikes, relate to their struggles, relate to the themes of growing up, or don’t at all, because relatability is not always needed to enjoy a movie. Saying that setting something in a specific place is going to limit your audience is such a ridiculous statement, I swear.

@juliamorton3438

2 жыл бұрын

@@PaulaYuanEA I know! I grew up in the GTA and I was like the 1 white kid in the friend group. It spoke to me as that is what school looked like for me. There might be some differences if I set it in East End Hamilton, but seeing mixed friend groups normalized is great. I have enough stories about people who look like me. What I love about this is seeing stories from another perspective that is Chinese-Canadian representation, but also shows how relatable her story and experiences are (feelings at that age, school, relationships with parents, peer group vs family tension). It shows both the differences and specifics of a culture and time in history, but speaks to universal truths and common humanity.

"The CN tower appears a gratuitous amount of times" No you don't understand, back then you could see the thing all the time from basically anywhere as long as you're close enough (like as long as it wasn't beyond the horizon or the visibility was low). On clear enough days I could see it from my Highschool, and I wasn't even *in* toronto technically. It's a bit harder now with all the Condos that have gone up, but it used to be impossible to miss. It was also a bit of a useful compass because you could tell where you were in relation to the CN tower and then you could figure out which way to go accordingly.

@crazydragy4233

2 жыл бұрын

Exactly, also do we complain about the Statue of Liberty or Eiffel tower when media is set in NYC or Paris?

@ARCtheCartoonMaster

2 жыл бұрын

@@crazydragy4233 If there's ever a movie set in Adelaide, I'll be crazy excited if Westpac House appears in every shot.

@jordanbrown3109

2 жыл бұрын

Well yea. In my opinion it was a bit on the nose but yea you can still see it from practically anywhere.

@LakeGameCreepr

2 жыл бұрын

The north star of Toronto lol

One thing I liked about the movie is generational trauma and how parent (mostly new immigrants) can be overly strict and blind of social norms. Like how Mei’s mom confronted the store clerk about Mei drawings. In her mind she was doing the right thing and protecting her daughter, while her daughter has to face the social consequences of her mother’s action.

@roberttheguy4974

2 жыл бұрын

Its kind if weird though because her mom also lived in Canada her whole life

@arpathia7262

2 жыл бұрын

@@roberttheguy4974 yes but in a more homogenous part of it. Areas like Chinatown are still densely populated by people of asian descent, with a lot of people living there (especially older) being direct migrants. She probably was still in quite an old-fashioned asian bubble

@BeckyNosferatu

2 жыл бұрын

@@arpathia7262 That much is obvious from how she responds to her other family members. A lot of immigrants do this, for multiple generations. It's easier to live around your kin than be an outsider.

Absolutely nailed the impression of Allen Tsai's movie details shorts. Even the vocal inflection is there!

@benjespina

2 жыл бұрын

so that's why the cadence seemed so un-JJ. Haha

@ZRaddue

2 жыл бұрын

Yup that was perfect! It got a pretty hearty chuckle from me.

@quartzking3997

2 жыл бұрын

Fr the way he speaks is so annoying. It feels like he thinks his audience are toddlers

@TheAmericanPrometheus

2 жыл бұрын

@@quartzking3997 ikr. I love the facts he presents and the general idea behind his type of content, but he 'inflects' his voice so much and in such an off-kilter way that I just mute his shorts when I watch them.

@SpiralSine6

2 жыл бұрын

Oh my god that voice is so annoying, it was unnerving how accurate JJ’s impression was.

I think you make some valid points, but honestly if this movie had taken place in some specific US city it would be much less a topic of conversation. I’m not Canadian so take that for what it’s worth, but it’s incredibly common for writers (of any medium) to place their stories in settings they know intimately well, like where they grew up. So it seems an odd position to take that setting the film in Toronto needs to be ‘justified’ in some way. Sometimes a story just takes place where it takes place.

@mg9681

2 жыл бұрын

To put this another way - why should someone have to anonymize the city and shave off any identifying details to make it more relatable or whatever? I get some stories having just "the city" is it's in contrast to a rural area or suburb, or some genres that make a point of this-could-be-anywhere, but like New York and Paris and LA shouldn't be the only cities allowed to be named in movies.

@AbsolXGuardian

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah. Turning Red is unusual for a pixar movie for taking place in a concrete year and city, but in the context of overall media it shouldn't be a big deal.

@zigurdur92

2 жыл бұрын

@@AbsolXGuardian Inside Out takes place in San Francisco and Finding Nemo takes place in Sydney. So using real life cities in Pixar film is not uncommon.

@AbsolXGuardian

2 жыл бұрын

@@zigurdur92 But the specific year is exceptional

@zigurdur92

2 жыл бұрын

@@AbsolXGuardian nope , Wall-e also had specific year 2805 and Inside out also uses specific season like Turning red.

The snack packaging was accurate. The stores in Toronto always put the English side of the packaging facing front, and the french side usually unseen unless it's misplaced. Also about the racism around 2002, I actually went to the high school on Queen street Toronto at the same year. That school was fulled with racial minorities, Asians, Africans, Middle Easterns, white people were actually the "minority" in the school. At least for my personal experience, I did not feel too much racism was going on, if there were any.

@ARCtheCartoonMaster

2 жыл бұрын

I dated a white girl who lives in an area mainly populated by Afghanis, so you could technically say I dated a minority woman.

@yeeaahhzz

2 жыл бұрын

yeah most schools I went to in Toronto had white people as the minority lol

I'm Canadian and I loved the movie! My problem with that notorious critic's review was this... I think if people go into this movie not only looking to find something about the character's subtle and uniquely Canadian experience they can relate to but also choosing to respond to the things they don't relate to with contempt instead of curiosity, they're bound to be disappointed. If he couldn't relate to someone's Canadian childhood experience because it felt too much like an inside thing then that is someone who never really wanted to learn about that experience. Anyone interested in Canada would find this movie to be a fun and respectful nod to Canadian culture.

@crazydragy4233

2 жыл бұрын

Myeah, not every story is gonna be your story! Doesn't mean it's completely unrelatable or not interesting... they're still human

The sudden parody of movie fun facts TikToks / YT shorts was hilarious. much appreciated

@YungStinkyWinky

2 жыл бұрын

Tbh it’s probably a clip he was already gonna use as a YT short later, he just popped it in there

@poke-champ4256

2 жыл бұрын

@@YungStinkyWinky thats definitly not true atleast for his voice. He imitated that specific voice of that one dude(or maybe its multiple) who does these short movie facts.Like this dumb overpronounciation,jj talks like normal person in his shorts. It was clearly intended to take a bit of the piss out of them.

@pitmezzari2873

2 жыл бұрын

@@poke-champ4256Did you know that in the movie X character Y does Z? That's because Y learns from his mistakes.

@YungStinkyWinky

2 жыл бұрын

@@poke-champ4256 I hope so :p

@user-vi4xy1jw7e

2 жыл бұрын

@@poke-champ4256 You sure?

I loved your spoof of short KZread/TikTok movie trivia videos during the Canadian in-jokes section 😂

@taldimazia9194

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah that Allen tsai parody was top tier

@veggiet2009

2 жыл бұрын

Yes! You got the inflections perfectly!

@theobuniel9643

2 жыл бұрын

@@taldimazia9194 Too bad he didn't say "because [blank] learns from his mistakes.", would've been even more top tier. 🤣

@R41ph3a7b6

2 жыл бұрын

Agreed

@taldimazia9194

2 жыл бұрын

@@theobuniel9643 yeah and Han Solo at the end would be the cherry on top

I would much rather watch a film that feels like it specifically relates to someone and their friends experiences than one which feels like it was focus grouped to apply to everyone and therefore feels soulless

@valawee

2 жыл бұрын

I heard a quote that was like, "if you want to appeal to the majority you'll only ever be able to pick vanilla or chocolate " And I personally love mint chocolate or cotton candy 😋

From what I figured, it wasn't trying to be a Canada centric movie, but a Toronto centric movie. Obviously you can't completely divorce Toronto from Canada, but the Canadian references have to be seen in the context of somebody living in Toronto, which is probably why the references seem so weak to somebody from Vancouver. Also, your contempt for Eastern Canada is oozing out of this review

@DPWFG

2 жыл бұрын

Most Westerners hate the East; half of my husband's family lives in Alberta, and got damn do they hate "those libtards from Toronto." Also, I don't understand the hate for having the CN tower in every shot; I could literally see the CN from my apartment building, and I live in Brampton.

@stuartchan5924

2 жыл бұрын

Like a NYC setting movie doesn't reference Louisiana or California, Turning Red is doing just fine representing Toronto at that time period, save for the accessible streetcar that waits for people with doors open. I think JJ is feeling left out because it's only set in teenage Mei Ling's world of downtown Toronto

@J0E1L3

2 жыл бұрын

milk bags and also a thing in Québec and some of the Maritimes, it is not an Ontario only thing

@mikesiemens4145

2 жыл бұрын

@@J0E1L3 I remember milk bags in the early 80's in Vancouver as well.

@yeeaahhzz

2 жыл бұрын

"Also, your contempt for Eastern Canada is oozing out of this review' ooof I thought I was the only one who picked up on that

When Mei's mother says sorry, many call her "unrealistic". In fact she's just become true Canadian.

@seanicus100

2 жыл бұрын

I kinda view the whole "canadians are very apologetic" thing to not just be in inaccurate stereotype but a facet of liberal canadian nationalism that this channel strives to fight against. I've met many rude canadians. While different cultures can have different feelings to them (different cultures are more polite etc), Canada's culture is still the same as American culture, and I don't really see how it helps to continue the stereotype that Canadians say sorry more. It's a positive stereotype, at least.

@yahelgamer32

2 жыл бұрын

@@seanicus100 and you missed the joke

@DonutsIceCreamAndCottenCandy

2 жыл бұрын

@@seanicus100 Canadian culture is NOT the same as American culture.

@seanicus100

2 жыл бұрын

@@DonutsIceCreamAndCottenCandy That's what canadians are fond of saying. But it's not even what JJ himself says. There are slight differences sure (same as there are differences within the US) but they're both part of a unified anglo-american culture.

@Kishanth.J

2 жыл бұрын

@@seanicus100 Canada’s culture and America’s culture are not comparable cause, in my opinion, their is no general culture for ether nation. Culture is a usually based on regional aspects. A East Coast American is completely different from a West coast one, Southern and Midwest Americans are their own distinct culture to. Just like a Maritimer is far more different than a Francophone or a Prairies Canadian.

I would say the representation of Canadian culture is better executed and more integral to the plot than, let's say, the Australian representation in Finding Nemo, where it's so in the background that everyone reading this comment forgot that the film took place in Australia until I pointed it out.

@danfurtado9158

2 жыл бұрын

Finding Nemo took place in the 🌊 brooo

@blackman7437

2 жыл бұрын

@@danfurtado9158 The dentist office that half the film takes place in is in Sydney. Merlin is explicitly shown to being going towards the Sydney Harbour.

@danfurtado9158

2 жыл бұрын

@@blackman7437 just messing around I remember the dentist office in Sydney

@SKPetel

2 жыл бұрын

as dan mentioned, this isn't on the mainland, it's in the middle of the pacific. how many pacific fish have you talked to? they might've got the culture right for all we know

@mrkylemarshall

2 жыл бұрын

I would have to disagree. Finding Nemo specifically took place in the great barrier reef as a diverse background of fish. This obviously meant it had to take place in Australia. In Turning Red I would argue that it could easily have taken place in NYC and nothing substantial would’ve changed

All very good points, and I don't understand the criticism of it being "unrelatable" because Mei is Chinese Canadian, when the movie is about dealing with the raging hormones, emotions, and changes that come with puberty, which is something everyone experiences. And to be fair on them mentioning Toronto a lot, it's literally a plot point that Abby misread the schedule and kept telling them the concert date for Toledo, not Toronto.

@michaelnally2841

2 жыл бұрын

I mean I’m a white guy and I related to Mei’s struggles given that puberty is not a pleasant thing to go through for most people. It’s awkward, inconvenient, and makes you feel like a big uncomfortable blob at times.

The girls fashion was pretty spot on. The slap on bracelets, the chockers, hair styles. They did good.

I'd say Luca is a movie that happens in Italy, has a ton of italian references, but the Italianness of it all isn't really a major plot point. change Vespa with any other bike brand and pasta with any other food and you could place the movie in any small town near a beach.

@potentialcaroozin2385

2 жыл бұрын

Disagree!, the extras and scenery scream Italian, not to mention the way the main antagonist dresses lol

@lucaalbertorizzo4114

2 жыл бұрын

Being an Italian called Luca, I feel I have to disagree completely with you on this one :) . The movie is filled with references to Italian culture of '50 and '60 (more specifically of the cinque terre in Liguria), with an astonishing attention to details (e.g. most of the streets are named after to Italian writers, poets and moviemakers) and the esthetic of the places. The characters think and act like people of my grandparents' generation (I have pictures of my great grandma dressed like one the old ladies in movie, eating a gelato with her friends :) ), although in the context of a kids' movie with a magical element. In my opinion, to watch a movie which uses Italy "as a character" more than Luca, one should watch a Fellini one (whose work is referenced several times too) or Pasolini one. There are, obviously, similarities with other part of the world, but the movie is so full of references to Italian (pop and high) culture (brands' name, card games, "Girolamo Trombetta", Sanremo, Marcello Mastroianni, Italo Calvino, ..) that it was transported in any other place, it would look rather odd :)

@grmancool

2 жыл бұрын

@@lucaalbertorizzo4114 certo che ha dei riferimenti. io abito a Genova quindi sono state molto chiare per me anche haha, ma dico che quelli riferimenti non erano cruciali per il plot. confronto il film con Encanto che è basata in Colombia (il mio paese natale) e Encanto non fa senso in nessun altro luogo perché la storia colombiana è il driving factor del film. con Luca non succede questo.

@ArtisticGamer14

2 жыл бұрын

I also felt a bit sad that they didn't use many common Italian words or terms. Like for most movies about a specific culture, they will refer to the grandparents with the term in that language, like "Abuella" in Encanto... but they didn't refer to the grandmother as Nonna or the uncle as a Zio... it really didn't feel like it was italian. Also, the pronunciation of most if the italian words was horrid.

@laraa739

2 жыл бұрын

@@ArtisticGamer14 I’m glad they did because it just doesn’t make sense since in any movie set in another country the translation is implied so why would they talk like english speaking immigrants? It’s just distracting

it's weird. I personally LOVE hyper specific and regional films. I love getting to see how other people live, to hear stories of people and experiences that I never would have gotten to see otherwise. I didn't know that was an odd thing to be into? Are there people that only want to see their own stories over and over?

@mithril_leaf

2 жыл бұрын

It seems common among more staunchly conservative types, at least in my experience. I'm in the same boat as you though.

@antifragiIed

2 жыл бұрын

i loved seeing encanto for that same reason. seeing people find out about buñuelos, colombian slang, music, etc… and get so invested in my culture is something i would’ve never expected

@sundalosketch4769

2 жыл бұрын

They're a great breath of fresh air from all the vague imaginative worlds, timelines and universes that doesn't center around the USA or New York specifically. It makes me feel me connected with other human beings all the way across the globe or a few miles away while still being able to indulge in the child-like entertainment.

@grayonthewater

2 жыл бұрын

Same!!! God I’m so over broad general settings give me some one else’s real life

@Latrimie

2 жыл бұрын

This!! Thats one of the greatest gifts of art of any kind. I dont remember many people complaining about not relating to toys/cars/robots so that argument sounds like an excuse to me.. And on top of that we dont need to relate to every little thing to empaphise and be invested, we learn new things this way.

What I don't get is the criticism of the film for being "too asian" and how critics can't relate. As a Latino American, we had Coco and there's some stuff from that movie only I will get because I have the cultural background. Just because it's not your culture doesn't mean you can't enjoy it. Just find an angle you can relate to. For me I really sympathize with Mei struggles to please everyone and being the "perfect child". That's an issue that crosses cultural borders, though it's really prominent in Asian culture. Really, don't question a movie, just watch it if you like it good if you don't like it well that's how it is. And if you really have a hard time "trying to relate" to another culture, I recommend watching a lot of foreign films.

ppl who say 'ugh this city is just being used as a gimmick instead of being an interesting and relevant setting in terms of the plot' casually ignoring the million and a half stories that take place in nyc/la like 🙈

As someone from Toronto, they nailed pretty much everything except the characters don't pronounce it "Terrano."

@ennuiedstealthgamesfan621

2 жыл бұрын

Chrawno 😤😤😤

@insertnamehere3106

2 жыл бұрын

I know the feeling. Growing up in Illinois you can immediately tell when someone is from out of state when they call it "Illinoyz"

@juliegolick

2 жыл бұрын

I'm a Montrealer who was studying in Toronto a few years after this (2005), and my at-the-time teenage cousin assured me that I was a loser unless I called it anything but "T-dot" :D

@dstinnettmusic

2 жыл бұрын

@@insertnamehere3106 who pronounces it that way? I am from Virginia and I was taught and still say it Ill-annoy

@gtipold9009

2 жыл бұрын

Chruuranna

I can kinda relate to the "representation" of Canada in this movie. Whenever there's a movie that is set in Brazil (my country), even if a lot of things are BS or inaccurate, I find that most people (including me) love it just because it's Brazil being noticed, and I suppose this is true for other countries in Latin America as well.

@GenerationZ313

2 жыл бұрын

I'm fairly certain this is what a lot of ethnic minorities (myself included) feel when they see someone of there own ethnicity in a major production. It's such a shame that lots of people discount it as being woke.

@alrighty4456

2 жыл бұрын

@@GenerationZ313 i completely agree with this take, it's just that sometimes the representation in big projects is done with no thought to it so the plot and character development becomes stale but I do in fact love diversity in films when it's done right...

@sebastianchicazapata4519

2 жыл бұрын

Exactly, this happened to me as a Colombian when I watched Encanto.

@maycowrocha1496

2 жыл бұрын

@@sebastianchicazapata4519 I think Encanto has been a good movie in that sense for great part of latin america, as a brazilian myself I really enjoy the characters of Encanto the familly setting, how the cousings interact, is something really relatable, the way that they may be diferent "race" people even if they are siblings , wich is something not that common thing out of latin america, and the birracial couple been something really natural and not a topic by its own at all, and Miguel, he is just really cool

@johanrodriguez7147

2 жыл бұрын

@@sebastianchicazapata4519 Encanto is authentically Colombian, not only set there, without the Armed Conflict and forced displacement and the murder of Pedro the story would have never had foundation to set the plot on. It touches universal topics like intergenerational trauma, but at the same time very Colombian problems that led to that trauma. It only goes to show the tremendous strength of the more than 8 million victims the armed conflict in Colombia has left.

Being an immigrant teenager in year 2002 in the GTA, this movie hit really well. It really wasn't set in Canada per se but Toronto. The subtlety was great and for those who get it but it didn't try to do the old tired stereotypes. Just cause a movie is set somewhere it doesn't have to obsess over its location. Btw the Daisy Mart was a great touch and in some way a more authentic reference.

One thing I noticed was that in the beginning scenes, Mei was answering a question by saying "Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba" Now we never hear the question that was asked, but because those provinces were mentioned I think the question that was asked was "What are the prairie provinces of Canada" which was something I did have to learn in middle school in Saskatchewan

@mr.playandc

2 жыл бұрын

That was my very first thought when I heard that lmao. Definitely something I've been taught as an Albertan

@KeyDash753

2 жыл бұрын

You went to middle school in SK? There was only elementary (K-8) and high school (9-12), at least in Saskatoon back when I was there.

@kaylopop2168

2 жыл бұрын

Yo sk 306? It's cool getting recognized In big movies I'm up Northern villages tho

@misscrackwood

2 жыл бұрын

The infamous ''ALSAMA'' trick to remember in which order they are on the map x) That memory was stored way back in my mind x)

@katherinegilks3880

2 жыл бұрын

@@KeyDash753 We still call grades 6-8 “middle years” officially and often colloquially call the grades and associated ages “middle school”. We just don’t change schools (or in some cases, we move to the high school around grade seven).

This movie is unrealistic because it depicts people being happy living in Toronto

@calebb7012

2 жыл бұрын

Anytime the rest of the world acknowledges Canada, it's always Toronto.

@mbogucki1

2 жыл бұрын

I'm happy living in Toronto 🤷🏽‍♂️

@dzhellek

2 жыл бұрын

People in Toronto are happy because they're not in Edmonton.

@JollyOldCanuck

2 жыл бұрын

The only day that people smile on in Toronto is payday.

@SomeOrdinaryJanitor

2 жыл бұрын

I'm happy because i don't live in canada. That's a Joke lads.

As someone who watches a lot of movies, I think the biggest indicator of a movie being set at a place or about a place is whether or not that place is being treated as a player in the plot. For example, if the location changed, how drastic would the story change? National Treasure would be a very different movie if it took place in France. Many romantic comedies are the exact same even though they're in different places. It's always a joy to see a place represented in fictional media, but ultimately I think it's just that and that's ok.

@icarue993

2 жыл бұрын

My favorite Pixar movie to use setting was Coco, as it wouldnt exist in any other country (though I am bias). There are a lot of nods and reference to culture and history. May favorite being Frida since they do depict her as the super avand guarde artist she was.

@TheAlexSchmidt

2 жыл бұрын

Isn't the first part of The Da Vinci Code pretty much National Treasure in France?

@samp6641

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheAlexSchmidt I haven't see The Da Vinci Code but if that is the case, it proves my point. It's not National Treasure. It's The Da Vinci Code.

@TheAlexSchmidt

2 жыл бұрын

@@samp6641 I haven't seen (or read) The Da Vinci code either.

@XXXX-yc6wv

2 жыл бұрын

The problem is that Turning Red constantly references location, but location isn't a plot element. Through visual cues, it creates in the viewer's mind an unintended plot thread that goes completely unresolved.

I actually think it's one of Pixar's best films - in so many regards of being a teenager. I was a teen girl in the 2010s, from an Azeri family who left after the Soviet breakup. And yet I could feel the the 13 year old in me enjoying every moment. From puberty and generational trauma, through just what it's like being a teen girl. I was seen here. Not trying to point fingers, but from what I've seen and heard - almost every girl who's seen it has loved it and felt it to the core, yet many boys feel like it missed a beat. And you know what? So many movies have been and are made specifically with a male point of view, and it's about time we get more feminine points of view. If this movie had a specific audience who'd love it especially - it's anyone who was ever a teenager girl. But just like I can watch a film about a teen boy and enjoy it, so can men enjoy watching films about women.

@greyham181

2 жыл бұрын

Me and all of my also male friends watched it together and loved it. Genuinely don’t understand all the “limited scope” criticism.

@RandomYouTubeGuy-El-Hechizado

2 жыл бұрын

@@greyham181 same here i loved it as well

@IsaacMyers1

2 жыл бұрын

The only part I would say I CANNOT relate to, not having been a girl teenager and probably because I am asexual, is the boy band stuff. Not the being into the music and dance part, but the teenager “oh my god!” squeal stuff.

@matthewbless3335

2 жыл бұрын

@@greyham181 agreed. My wife and I watched it together and we both really enjoyed it. Even though I'm male, I still could definitely relate to a lot of things, even to the hysteria that the boy band culture caused for people I knew, as well as just the general idea of growing up and finding who you are, as cliche as it sounds. As for the other plot critiques, I found them odd. I felt like the general conflict of the plot (generational differences in a different culture) was very similar to that of Encanto, and I felt like Turning Red handled the conflict in a much better and more satisfying way than the former. Both good movies, but I couldn't help comparing them in terms of their plots and conflicts, as well as the resolution of said conflicts.

@konglight4070

2 жыл бұрын

This movie was targeted to females because it was written by one, if you want to have more films based on a woman's perspective, get to write one.

As a female who immigrated and grew up in Canada in the early 2000s I can say that this movie was very relatable for me. I'm from an Eastern European background and things like generational trauma and the certain expectations your family has of you to do better then them is real regardless of where you come from. When 9/11 happened I had no memory of it but I do remember how much it affected the world I ended up growing up in and honestly I see way to many movies and shows that depict that. I want escapism. And that's what Turning Red did for me. I appreciated the fact that the movie was made by an actual Canadian rather then an American who was playing on Canadian stereotypes even if it was Toronto centric. It's like how a lot of movies are set in NYC. It may not represent all of the US but to the rest of the world it's a representation of who the country is. On a less serious note, I now want a Red Panda onesie...😊

Was describing this movie partially about female puberty as a "period piece" a happy accident, or the best thought of pun in many years, definitely well worth an award.

@ARCtheCartoonMaster

2 жыл бұрын

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it was intentional on the filmmakers' part, since "stealth puns" are not unheard of in animated films.

@chaoticneutralcosplay1070

2 жыл бұрын

this movie is about periods and period embarrassment. Its no wonder OP cant relate.

@comradewindowsill4253

2 жыл бұрын

@@chaoticneutralcosplay1070 who is the OP you are talking about here, I'm confused

I find the “setting” argument completely ridiculous. There are hardly any critical reviews that comment on the setting in any given movie, but it is ALWAYS mentioned when it is a Canadian movie. People never question why a generic romcom takes place in NYC, but a Canadian setting consistently provokes questions of “why Canada?”

@lieeeleeee

2 жыл бұрын

It seems like just Americans placing themselves at the centre of the universe. American settings is the default for them, and because Canada is so similar they don’t understand why something veered from the default. I’m Australian so we have a similar excitement at something Hollywood being set here, it rarely happens. I think it’s great to have such a personal story, it’s almost more relatable they aren’t in some movie-fied idealised location just a normal city that could be my own.

@chey6073

2 жыл бұрын

@@lieeeleeee As someone who grew up in New Jersey, which is right next to New York, Im pretty sick of romcoms set in NY. Also, this movie had a crowd against it from the beginning. This movie about a Chinese-Canadian girl going through puberty that has a cute “bean-mouth” art style was getting criticism months before it even came out. I think some people decided to pick on the location just as because they were looking for more things to hate. This has nothing to do with Americans feeling alienated because there are plenty of Disney movies not set in the US. It’s all about dunking on Turning Red and picking it apart for no reason.

@lieeeleeee

2 жыл бұрын

@@chey6073 I agree entirely the backlash towards the movie is an intersection between racism and misogyny. This video kind of ignores that so I was more looking at the “why is this set in Toronto” idea, not the critics and idiots on Twitter being pissy a movie doesn’t cater directly to them. I can’t remember much about why people complain about the cal arts style but that was a huge thing, the way this movie is stylised and stylises girl characters which promoted backlash.

@margaretwilson8736

2 жыл бұрын

@@lieeeleeee As someone from Pittsburgh, PA, very few movies are overtly set in Pittsburgh (though Gotham from Batman is us). Pittsburgh is too industrial and gray to be the setting for most movies lmao There are plenty of US states that have essentially no movies set in them. We get tired of New York, too. T_T And Americans may acknowledge that the US has a similarity across it, but someone from California isn't going to see a movie set in New York and feel patriotic. Someone in Georgia isn't going to see a northern city as an inherently American one. TL;DR New York is New York and most Americans don't live there or directly relate to it. I live in the state next door and even still most people have never been to NYC.

@MihaiRUdeRO

2 жыл бұрын

@@lieeeleeee Or Maybe American movies pick American settings because their target market is American audiences? Sure, foreigners watch American movies too, but that's not who they're targeting for their movies. Australia is far too small of a market for an American studio to fund a project for, unless the plot for whatever reason required it. Australian settings should be made by Australian studios, it's not America's responsibility to include you. I'm not even American but I understand this fairly straightforward concept.

5:12 “kid friendly version of exoticism.” I don’t think that works when even non-Chinese-Americans (particularly girls) can relate to the movie just fine, regardless of the magical elements. All of the characters are human and down to earth, even if the red panda lore isn’t. Idk, I’m just a 25 year old white woman giving my 2 cents, and I’m not saying I can relate to every single aspect of the movie (obviously, all movies and characters are different). I’m just saying I think the bones of the movie are universally relatable. Lots of people know what it’s like to prioritize family obligations over friends, and to struggle to break free of that. Lots of people know what it’s like to get along with a parent for so long that you don’t know how to reject them or set boundaries when you need to. Everyone has gone through growing into your own person and having to make your own decisions even when your parent(s) disagree. Like, it’s not Pocahontas (low bar, I know, but bear with me). The core message of the story isn’t something like “listen with your heart” or “balance with nature” or “bring honor to your family.” The core message is a universally applicable and human message; “the best thing for you and your loved ones is for you to live as your authentic self, even when they don’t like it.” Maybe there’s something I’m missing, but I feel like there’s a very big difference between using mythology as magic in your story for fun and making a story based on stereotypes about a culture.

@alanna5609

2 жыл бұрын

Right? I'm black, When I was a preteen and teenager. We did what they were doing in the movie with some minor differences. The magic just adds a twist to it to becoming your own person when you're a preteen. I just feel people want to rip at this movie or find something wrong with it. It might be because it literally focuses on the puberty of a girl in almost a realistic way. It also is for a specific type of people who have experienced fandom culture at a young age. Also, The movie is made by an Asian woman so kinda bothers me that people went there with the exoticism. Just because it goes on the fantasy side of anicent chinese culture. So I'm going to need a deeper explanation of why certain people feel that way. Overall the movie isn't bad at all. I think it is just for a certain taste of people and there is nothing wrong with that. This video was a weird hot take on the movie for me personally.

@fucentauriel7202

2 жыл бұрын

@@alanna5609 I didn't think this video was any kind of take on the movie, I kind of just saw it as reporting on other people's takes, and how different they are, and whether or not they're valid or applicable (ex. criticizing a kids film for not acknowledging 9/11 is a take worth unpacking. Not necessarily bad, but definitely a can of worms). I also don't think it's a movie with a very niche audience; teenage girl fandom is a pretty broad audience, especially when you include people who are no longer teenagers, but like the movie for nostalgia. I do agree that it focuses a lot on girl puberty, and I kind of respect it for that. As far as the exoticism thing, I think we agree, and I think I'm basically repeating myself, but IF Turning Red is exoticizing Chinese culture, then Percy Jackson is exoticizing Greek culture, Encanto is exoticizing Colombian culture, Coco is exoticizing Mexican culture, Brave is exoticizing Scottish culture, etc. etc. etc. I think we can acknowledge that certain cultures are more exoticized than others, and still catch ourselves reading exoticism into something just because it's about a certain culture. I.e., is Pixar being racist and exoticizing Chinese culture in a kids movie, or are we being racist and assuming that any movie featuring Chinese culture is automatically a form of "exoticism"?

@alanna5609

2 жыл бұрын

@@fucentauriel7202 Nice response, especially about the exoticism part. I think referencing 9/11 would be interesting to see. Since the movie only takes itself seriously with the mom and daughter dynamic. Mei never faces any consequences for her being a red panda in public or attacking the boy as one. I mean the mom just straight up destroys a concert and the stadium as a giant panda and no real consequences happen. It was just seen as a "crazy" night that everyone remembers and the family might be paying damages. So I'm having trouble seeing how they can tactfully talk or mention 9/11 in this film. I think that the problem with the movie it has a little problem with world-building in that expect. Everyone is so accepting and there is little to no reason for it. It is almost like she is not the only person that can transform into an animal in this world but we don't get any confirmation about it.

@chaoticneutralcosplay1070

2 жыл бұрын

This movie displays menstrual period embarrassment. OP says he can't relate because he doesn't have to relate; since he has never felt that embarrassment.

@CmonPlay123

2 жыл бұрын

@@chaoticneutralcosplay1070 this - yea seriously - it seems OP is just low key male gaze about the whole thing.

In storytelling, often the more specific the details are, the more universally relatable the story is. For example, The Office is very clearly set in Scranton, PA, but because it’s so specific it’s so real and relatable, even to people who have never been an office worker in Pennsylvania.

@JJMcCullough

2 жыл бұрын

That’s interesting, so it’s like a balance. What would be a good example of the opposite?

@TheAlexSchmidt

2 жыл бұрын

The show was filmed in California though and I don't think the writers knew that much about Scranton firsthand. They did at least make sure they included references to local places and stores but apart from Dwight seeming to come from some sort of PA Dutch Anabaptist family nothing's really based on the location. I think Scranton was mainly chosen since it gives off the same "depressed middle-class town" vibe as Slough in the original UK version. (I'm speaking as someone from fairly close to Scranton).

@TheAlexSchmidt

2 жыл бұрын

I think people in Scranton still like the show though, it's made them world famous since it's not otherwise all that interesting.

@MrAsianPie

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheAlexSchmidt Scranton has Steamtown USA, which is what I commonly associated it with

@joeleblanc

2 жыл бұрын

@@JJMcCullough The early 00's Queer As Folk series. Set in Pittsburgh, but filmed in Toronto. The producers were trying to set it in a city as similar to Manchester, England as possible. They constantly referred to the fact that they were in Pittsburgh, but never had any of the culture, landmarks, brands, or geography of Pittsburgh. It felt unrealistic and contrived, which is really sad, because it was such a groundbreaking series. I wish they had just set it in Toronto where they filmed it.

I have to wonder why Luca, Pixar's previous film that also leaned heavily into the portrayal of a modern people and ethnicity of a place (in this place, northern Italy), mostly because the director grew up there, the press didn't react nearly as enthusiastically/skeptically towards it? Luca's portrayal of "Italian things" seem a lot more overt: they all love Vespa scooters, pasta, and half of them are secretly sea monsters (that last part may be a stretch). I'm guessing it was easier to portray them in that film, since many Italian icons aren't brands or trademarks. Of course, the Mouse has been trying to make more ethnically diverse films with mixed success. Encanto, set in Colombia, went over a lot better than their previous effort, Raya and the Last Dragon, which felt like walking through a couple of "Asia" pavilions at a theme park, more than being set in anything that felt much like far East. Pixar has been a little better at letting new directors, FROM these places these films purport to be set, actually MAKE these films, though. A few Canadianisms left out of Turning Red leap to mind, however: no one eats poutine? There's no pineapple on pizza? It's set in Toronto in 2002, and they don't go anywhere near Honest Ed's? No one watches Sailor Moon reruns on YTV? There isn't a scene where it snows a couple centimetres and the entire city panics? Also, has anyone ever said "hosers" since, like, 1991?

@JJMcCullough

2 жыл бұрын

The hoser thing really struck me as gratuitous. It was like, they were doing the final edit and someone was like, quick we need to stick in some Canadian slang! Uh uh what do Canadians say??

@UberMan5000

2 жыл бұрын

@@JJMcCullough To be fair, I didn't notice the line until you pointed it out. The last time I heard anyone on a cartoon call anyone a "hoser" was Homer Simpson, about two Canadian contestants on the Japanese game show in "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo" in 1999. So even by then, the term was more of a dusty Canadian cliche than, like, anything anyone actually says. 🤔

@Croz89

2 жыл бұрын

Now I'm imagining Mei's transformation done magical girl style. Can imagine that wouldn't have gone down well though! I think with Luca, a lot of people focused on the idea that it was Pixar trying to "copy" Studio Ghibli's style, but kind of threw in too much Pixar esque frenetic action for it to really work. That's pretty much the main criticism people seemed to have, and I think most of the other discourse got buried by that.

@rps932

2 жыл бұрын

It's 2002 Toronto. There's no decent poutine back then. A Quebecois would probably argue there no good poutine even now.

@themoviedealers

2 жыл бұрын

It was probably a cliche when Bob and Doug Mackenzie said it in 1983. (Non Canadian SCTV fan here.)

I think films are generally not ‘about’ their settings, especially if their creators just think the setting is just ‘normal’. Like, to use an example I recently watched, I don’t think _Kramer vs. Kramer_ is ‘about’ New York, even if the setting is very conspicuous-unless I’m mistaken about the pecularities of New York State family law, I don’t think there would have been any reason it couldn’t have taken place in plenty of large cities with similar laws and attitudes towards women and divorce. Still, if I consider what you probably mean, I can think not of a film but of a book: YA fantasy novel _Murderess_ by Israeli author Daya Marnin. The author was a teen girl who was a fan of _Harry Potter_ and _Doctor Who_, so the first third of the book takes place in the UK, but other than the stereotypical boarding school setting, the use of trains and the tube, and existence of snow in London in 2011, there is little to no acknowledgement of the setting, to the point the main character (who, granted, is generally very apathetic and misanthropic) doesn’t even acknowledge Christmas or how unusual the kind of snowfall depicted is for London in general. (I translated the book to English, and you might still find some info about it online, but the author is now a little embarrassed by this bit of juvenilia, so it’s no longer available for sale.)

@R41ph3a7b6

2 жыл бұрын

Agreed but I never watched Kramer vs Kramer or read murderess but I can agree that a movie, book or tv show’s setting can be left for the viewers to decide it unless it is said that it is in say, New York or New Mexico also these are examples

@XXXX-yc6wv

2 жыл бұрын

Turning Red goes out of its way to remind the viewer that it is set in Toronto, Canada. The problem is that it does nothing pertinent with that fact, so it is redundant, and good storytelling loathes redundant elements.

@sundalosketch4769

2 жыл бұрын

@@XXXX-yc6wv I'd say it's just a way for the creators of the movie to show their pride of where they live. It's the same as nearly any musical-like movie being set in New York having people shout to the skies how much "We love NYC!!" or how a lot of Mexican movies have specific stereotypes just so you're aware it's located in Mexico. We see the redundancy of people loving their current living spaces all the time irl. Seattle being a prime example for how proud most people are of their region-specific sports team: The Seahawks. Seahawk USA flags, people wearing numbered Jerseys- heck when has there been a movie filmed in/about Paris France without the Eifel Tower being in the background just... Because? It's the amount of media like that that make me not see this as a big deal as people are making it out to be.

Honestly as a Canadian myself I'm pretty happy with subtle Canadian inclusion. I think that might be the best approach for what this movie is. :)

@Moey_idk

Жыл бұрын

As a Canadian I’m just happy we were mentioned in a form a popular media like pixar that’s not just making fun of us for saying sorry a lot, eating Tim Hortons, or “speaking Canadian”. Like we speak English just like you Hollywood the only difference is we have a u in colour.

"Ontario only" practice of selling milk in bags?!?!? Me, a New Brunswicker with bagged milk in her fridge: *confusion*

(disclaimer: not Canadian) I had heard that when Scott Pilgrim busts Matthew Patel in to coins and only get $2.10 which is "not even enough for the bus fare home," this was a reference to a recent and unpopular hike to a previously long standing bus fare and had this fight happened pre-hike it would of been enough to get home. If that's true that's a pretty damn niche Toronto in-joke.

@Theoutlander94

2 жыл бұрын

Raised to 2 dollars in the 90s and 2.75 in 2006 so around the time the comics were being released and a few years before da movie

@connormcgee4711

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah I remember that, I live in Toronto. It might not seem like a big deal, but that it was 40% hike in prices! I went from spending about 1000 to 1400$ on transit per year lol

This "movie" made me disgusted at the fact that it made me acknowledge that Canada exists. I was so thoroughly grossed out that I actively began supporting Quebecois independence midway through the movie.

@tomrogue13

2 жыл бұрын

No one calls it Canada anymore. It's North Montana.

@thearea51raidwasboring

2 жыл бұрын

@@tomrogue13 Do you know Sam Gunderson?

@jordanbrown3109

2 жыл бұрын

@@tomrogue13 What are you talking about? It's actually North Minnesota.

@lucasharvey8990

2 жыл бұрын

@@tomrogue13 Little do you know that Canada is just the upper-upper peninsula of Michigan.

@brianbarker2551

2 жыл бұрын

lol that fell flat too

I live in Michigan, and one of the interesting reactions I've noticed to watching this movie is that it was Canadian enough to prompt people here to realize they haven't been to Toronto in a while and consider visiting again soon. I only live 4 hrs away from Toronto, so it's not a major trip. I don't know how many people from further away would have the same reaction. I did get a kick out of the Toledo/Toronto confusion.

Is no one going to talk about how JJ made essentially the same point that got Mr Enter mocked and got away with it?

@RayOfTruth

2 жыл бұрын

It wasn't the same argument. JJ questioned it and waved it away, while Mr. Enter used it as serious criticism to say the movie was bad.

It's kinda funny how often Canada is used as a filming location to represent any and everywhere except Canada. personally I'm kinda all about the direction they took of not trying to turn Canadian themes into memes to just try and make sure non-Canadians could laugh at silly exaggerations about Canada.

@mg9681

2 жыл бұрын

Exactly about the filming location! I wouldn't be too excited about seeing movies (and TV shows like Orphan Black) set in Toronto if I hadn't had like 20 years of watching things obviously filmed in Toronto but being told it's Chicago or Detroit or New York or Vague American City. I'm kinda surprised that JJ didn't touch on this, especially since so much filming also happens in Vancouver (and Montreal). Instead of "why is the CN tower in every shot" it kinda feels like "finally a shot where they didn't edit out the CN tower in the background".

@jac-attack

2 жыл бұрын

It took me like well into Being Erica before I realized they were actually in Toronto because it's used as a fake america all the time. I think someone said "soorey" and I was like wtf. They did more Canadian things after that and it was clearer. Toronto seems like it could be hard to make super Canadian when it is often a stand in for generic North American city.

I love the 'Allen Tsai' parody there; so accurate! 8:12

0:45 I don't think anybody thought that 'South Park' was a flattering or 'nice' representation of us. I think we all laughed alongside it because nobody, including us, take us and our 'Canadian-ness' too seriously.

@agirlhasnoname6637

2 жыл бұрын

And if you do you should probably just hand in your "Canadian" card 🤪

I recognize a lot of Canadian things in the movie while watching, but it’s not because I’m Canadian- it’s because I watch a *lot* of Total Drama, which is an early 2000’s to mid 2010’s tv show that was made in and takes place in Canada.

It's funny how you mention Scott Pilgrim as the other major Toronto-based American movie, as both films revolve around intense anime fantasy action taking place downtown, with regular Toronto inhabitants not caring much about it. Guess Toronto people really are used to everything.

@timcombs2730

2 жыл бұрын

As an American one of the pieces of media that set my impressions of Toronto was a cult TV show from the 1990s called Forever Knight. Which was about a 400 year old vampire Who was a detective on the Toronto police force. JJ says he’s never heard of it

@SynGirl32

2 жыл бұрын

@@timcombs2730 That sounds super interesting, I'll check it out.

@timcombs2730

2 жыл бұрын

@@SynGirl32 KZreadr Alison Pregler who has some Channel Awesome ties does a pretty great retrospective of it. It’s a little miscast but well written. Think all the episodes are on KZread kzread.info/dash/bejne/pqBqxq9wnpy0YLQ.html

@brianbarker2551

2 жыл бұрын

oh, nothing amazes us anymore. Oh, guy cracking a beer on the subway in rush hour, that's just Toronto.

@g8kpr3000

2 жыл бұрын

Doesn't even mention Strange Brew :)

Hotel Transylvania is an animated movie that is set in a specifiic place (21th century Romania), but as far as i can tell it does not depict Romania at all. I am romanian and i watched the movie, and even though i paid attention to details, nothing striked me as particularly romanian besides of some buildings and some names. No romanian traditions, no monsters based on romanian folklore, etc. In fact, the movie was quite american in all but in name.

@David_Box

2 жыл бұрын

Maybe the Hotel itself has been inspired by the Bran Castle, but that may be a bit of a stretch.

@normanclatcher

2 жыл бұрын

It's based around the Halloween monster movie canon more than anything else, so I'd say you're right.

I see this guy is mad that it's not about Vancouver. As a Torontonian, raised in that time, I find it relatable and uniquely Toronto, especially the people there.

to be completly honest, you can see the CN tower from pretty much anywhere in toronto

I needed JJ to explain the Canadian language in this movie, I couldn’t even begin to decode it

@OHOE1

2 жыл бұрын

Bing chilling in here

@hadriel1228

2 жыл бұрын

@@OHOE1 lao gan ma

@xnopyt22

2 жыл бұрын

@@hadriel1228 It’s a joke

@hadriel1228

2 жыл бұрын

@@xnopyt22 what?

@xnopyt22

2 жыл бұрын

@@hadriel1228 Bing chilling is a meme

It'd be nice if something was set in a city other than Toronto or Vancouver. But I'll take this anyway. As for other movies that have very distinct settings, I would say Pixar's Inside Out. Going from the cold Midwest to San Francisco. Portrays some of the culture she longs for and depicts San Francisco pretty accurately, without going too stereotypical. You know, surfers, techies, hipsters, tourists, etc. They are all there but they're mostly background noise for the sake of showing changes that the main character has to navigate.

@hannibalatthegate3384

2 жыл бұрын

Wat other city??🤣🤣

@ItsJustMe0585

2 жыл бұрын

@@hannibalatthegate3384 Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Winning, Ottawa,? Maybe not do a major city at all? Highlight the maritimes or Newfoundland? Hell, the two most famous live action TV shows, Letterkenny and Trailer Park Boys are set in Northern Ontario and Nova Scotia. They could even highlight Inuit culture in the territories and make a movie about that? There's so much more to Canada than freakin Vancouver and Toronto.

@hannibalatthegate3384

2 жыл бұрын

@@ItsJustMe0585 but does anywhere else matter??🤣🤣🤣

@ItsJustMe0585

2 жыл бұрын

@@hannibalatthegate3384 eh, Toronto doesn't matter.

@hannibalatthegate3384

2 жыл бұрын

@@ItsJustMe0585 I’m just playin but besides Canadians no one know about there places lol. Our closest neighbour know pretty much nothing of us of it was for the truckers most Americans probably wouldn’t even know who our PM is

The only film I can think of, in relation to my nation (Australia) is Finding Nemo. A lot of the jokes really worked in different ways - like the scene with the seagulls. To us Australians, the seagulls are very clearly saying "mate", but it turns out that everyone else in the world is hearing "mine". Even if you look that particular scene up on KZread, you will see comments saying "mine!", but then you'll also see comments from Australians saying "what on earth are you hearing? They're saying 'mate'". The Mad Max franchise surprises me as it did so well overseas and it is very much an unapologetically Australian franchise. A lot of the language used in those films is heavy Australian slang, and a lot of it is fictional, enhanced slang (similar to how slang was used in A Clockwork Orange). If you have a rudimentary knowledge of 20th century Australian history, the movies will make a lot more sense. When the 1970s oil crisis hit, it apparently only took a week before murders occurred and vigilantism started, guns were still prevalent then, Britain and Australia had developed and tested nuclear weapons in the outback only a few decades earlier, and there was a strong fear that communism was going to spread from China into South East Asia and eventually into Australia meaning a guerilla war would ensue.

@ARCtheCartoonMaster

2 жыл бұрын

I'm Australian, and I always heard it as "mine".

@Rico-oz4ct

2 жыл бұрын

Uhm, they ARE saying "mine" and not mate, you know that, right? "Mate" in the context of the scene wouldn't make any sense at all and it doesn't really sound like "mate" at all.

I think choosing a place that’s related to the creators origins is great. We write about what we know. Giving it a setting she was familiar with, Domee Shi was able to give it a personalised touch. Although, on the surface, the film may seem to be about periods (or puberty in general), I took the outright identification of that idea in the beginning of the film as an indication that it’s about a lot more. The Red Panda can be a metaphor for any sort of differentiation one goes through throughout their life. It might relate to leaving the religion of childhood, expressing gender or sexual identity, parenting differently than one’s own parents, or a myriad of other things. Anything that sets one apart in a way that feels innate. I personally think it’s one of Pixar’s best, but really appreciated your thoughts! Have a great weekend!

Specificity makes the place feel more real and helps with the willful sense of disbelief necessary for fantasy and animated cinema.

There's more to Canada than just Toronto. Call me when they make a zombie film during winter in Winnipeg.

@phildragonbleu

2 жыл бұрын

Québec Producer just made a zombie movie setting place in Québec. Winnipeg can try to. Make their own Zombie movie!

7:44 I love how completely gloss over the maple leaf shaped maple syrup on the left shelf. Are you even trying? Also that convenience store is a stylized version of an actual specific convenience store in Toronto, the same one from the beginning of the movie "Half Baked." Also the neighborhood Mei lives in was instantly recognizable to me as being old-china town around Gerard and Broadview, but again stylized. Also as to the CN tower being in the background of so many shots I would say that is accurate. You can see the CN tower from almost anywhere in Toronto. Also Milk in bags is not Ontario only. Growing up in Nova Scotia we had bag milk as an option as well.

@uriurw8630

2 жыл бұрын

Québec too!

@agirlhasnoname6637

2 жыл бұрын

I live 2 towns over and I can see the CN tower!!!

@nicenoise2829

2 жыл бұрын

Interesting, I thought it was Dundas and Spadina Chinatown because of how wide the streets were. Either way I agree with your critiques

7:44 “There’s surprisingly little in jokes” YOU MISSED THE LEAF SHAPED BOTTLES OF SYRUP THATS AS CANADIAN AS IT GETS

@acetronaut

2 жыл бұрын

But... Maple syrup comes from a maple tree, so many of the bottles are maple leaf shaped. It's not a specifically Canadian thing

@JessicaKennedy367

2 жыл бұрын

@@acetronaut Canada produces approx 75% of the world's maple syrup, and our flag features the maple leaf. Maple leaf bottles of syrup are sold as souvenirs basically anywhere Canadian souvenirs are sold. It IS VERY Canadian. Just because something is also made elsewhere, doesn't mean it isn't mostly associated with a specific place.

@acetronaut

2 жыл бұрын

@@JessicaKennedy367 but maple syrup is packaged in a leaf shaped bottle in other countries, that's all I'm saying

@Moey_idk

Жыл бұрын

@@acetronaut You know why it’s shaped like that. It was most likely made in Canada. Don’t you come dishonoring our maple syrup expertise it’s the one thing we have.

@acetronaut

Жыл бұрын

@@Moey_idk don't try to tell me I'm disrespecting my own country

I think someone made a very good point about the film "If it wasn't made by Pixar, there wouldn't be nearly as much criticism". Pixar has built this reputation of highly emotional films with universalist appeal, and anything that deviates from that tends to be seen as a bit of a second rate release in their library. In other words, I see the criticism of Turning Red as part of a wider criticism that Pixar seems to be losing its way, or at least becoming less consistent in their quality and vision. It comes after the rather forgettable Onward, and the "Trying to be Studio Ghibli and making it halfway there" Luca. Both aren't really bad films at all (though I think onward had a lot of wasted potential, I found the story a little bland), and neither is Turning Red, but people have such high and specific expectations of Pixar, that it doesn't take much to fall short. Of course, you still get hits like Soul and the surprisingly well made Toy Story 4 (seriously, being able to make a fourth sequel to a franchise that is arguably up there with the first film is very impressive for any studio) but perhaps it feels like the hits aren't coming as thick and fast as they used to.

@JJMcCullough

2 жыл бұрын

I just personally feel Pixar films shouldn’t be about middle class American life. They should be about non human characters in a fantasy setting. That’s what made them famous and what they’re best at imo

@Croz89

2 жыл бұрын

@@JJMcCullough To be fair, you could argue films like Inside Out and Toy Story sort of had middle class American settings, even if they weren't really the focus of the film. Andy's house and family couldn't get more suburban America if it tried, it was like something from the Sims, and Inside Out was set in San Francisco, even if it didn't spend a lot of time there. And of course the Incredibles is a pastiche of silver age American superheroes. Cars is kind of interesting, because it's more of a mirror universe with vehicles as humans, and the first one is very much steeped in old fashioned small town America nostalgia. But then again, Cars has sort of been seen as the black sheep of Pixar, as it was their first real flop and the sequels did poorly. I do get where you're coming from, none of them have really put the human aspects of their world (if any) before the fantasy before, and Turning Red might feel like the first one to do that, where the fantasy element services the human story rather than vice versa. Then again, maybe you could say the same about Brave, or Luca. I guess this is a case of YMMV.

@CountryLifestyle2023

2 жыл бұрын

I agree with JJ on this. I prefer more fantasy focus. We live our ordinary lives, when we pay to see a movie we want something that draws us into a new world. It can have that middle class suburban undertone to it, just not the focus. Even in Toy Story, I was aware that this was a family similar to my own, but never thought about it, it was just subtly In the background. But this is all just my opinion. And it's a movie, will never be perfect. Let's just be happy the creator likes it.

@norik434

2 жыл бұрын

@@JJMcCullough Obviously "what they're best at" will always come down to tastes, but is it really what made them famous? Toy Story was Pixar's first truly iconic hit and it's one of the most aggressively middle-class movies of its decade. Middle-class Americana has continued to feature prominently in every era of Pixar, with highlights such as The Incredibles, Up, and Inside Out. Curiously, it's deviation from this mold that has produced some of their most polarizing works, such as Wall-E and The Good Dinosaur. I think I agree with Ralphie that the Pixar brand has been less about setting and more about very emotional movies with universal appeal. I would add to that a central emphasis on the theme of family, which again has only been absent in more polarizing Pixar films like Cars and Wall-E.

@andrewg.3281

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, Pixar is known for their very high quality of movies, so it gets treated differently when one of their movies is just solidly good. I think the criticism is pretty unwarranted though. I think this criticism for Piaxar these days is just new=bad which isn't very fair as they're just different nowadays. Same for Disney, Ecanto is a phenomenal movie, but it is clearly different from movies like Lion King or The Little Mermaid. Also let's not pretend that every earlier Pixar is a smash hit. Cars 2 anyone? Also, Toy Story 4 is complete and utter dogshit.

I'll be real I'm Asian American and i related to this movie pretty hard other then the setting being a city in Canada i didn't really notice the Canadian stuff all that much

@gohanssj48

2 жыл бұрын

Another confirmation of JJ theory that American and Canadian cultures are the same, even for their minorities.

@fangirl7914

2 жыл бұрын

@@gohanssj48 I would say most Canadians agree that our culture is nearly identical to that of the USA's.

I think my take on growing up as Hong Kong immigrant in Toronto area, is that the movie depicted the culture of Chinese in Canada pretty accurately....we don't really care we are in Canada or embrace 'Canadian' culture. Despite spending my teenage years here, I never had much connection with the Canadian culture besides being expose to it at school with friends of other cultures, I live in a Chinese ethno-hub (like Mei) and we are still extremely tied to our roots. I enjoy the nod of watching 80s wuxia drama on the TV and then a Canadian ad comes on, that is very accurate, and having random touristy Canadian items around like the moose head is accurate as well.

In the US there’s definitely the phenomenon too when a movie takes place in a city that’s not LA or New York the city has a lot of pride for that movie. An example would be the movie Rain Man which take place partially in Cincinnati, which residents take pride in but the movie really doesn’t have much to do with the city and is only the setting for the first act.

@sneebysneeb

2 жыл бұрын

Fargo is also a good example of this phenomenon

@ARCtheCartoonMaster

2 жыл бұрын

Funny you mention Cincinnati, considering _Turning Red_ briefly mentions Toledo. It's funny how Ohio is sort of in that mid-tier when it comes to US state representation in media - it's *occasionally* mentioned and shown, but not *that* often. And man, I bet a lot of Cincinnati residents must be embarrassed that the movie _Airborne_ is set there (if they even remember that movie; it's so forgettable).

I loved that Allen Tsai impression when pointing out the Canadian references.

@reddykilowatt

2 жыл бұрын

who?

@TheTimoprimo

2 жыл бұрын

@@reddykilowatt He's the guy doing the movie fact shorts, and he runs the Omeleto channel.

JJ, milk in bags isn't just an Ontario thing- Quebec and the Maritimes do it too. Also I think a big issue with "Canadian" movies is kind of like what you said, most of English Speaking middle-class urban Canada is quite (US) Americanized so I hand that to you, it would be difficult. However also Canada is still very regionally diverse in areas, but I don't see Disney making a movie set in a more culturally divergent Indigenous, Quebecois, or Newfoundland settings anytime soon since it might be "weird" or unrelatable to American and international audiences or passively annoy Anglo-Canadian ones at home... Whereas Toronto is admittingly a "safer" place to make a Canadian movie since it is ethnically diverse and Canadian in imagery but punching through the surface differences- still quite American.

@devoncartwright89

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah whenever I hear him complain about milk bags as being only an Ontarian thing, my brain just hears “I’ve never been east of Manitoba and I have no interest in changing my formed opinion.” He’s quite set in his thinking on this, despite 6/10 provinces having milk bags haha

@terribleauthority

2 жыл бұрын

I'll one up you. Milk bags are also a thing in countries other than Canada. And I'm not talking about France. Surprise surprise.

@AnUnsuspiciousBox

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, even if you only look at Ontario and Quebec. Together they have about 60% of Canada's population and they drink milk in bags It really feels like a hill JJ wants to die on

@jac-attack

2 жыл бұрын

@@devoncartwright89 he did a whole video where he called up grocery stores across Canada and asked if they had bags or jugs.

@devoncartwright89

2 жыл бұрын

@@jac-attack yes I’ve seen that one, but if you paid attention, he only called stores in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba… nothing further east. So not all over Canada, just the western parts where he knew they wouldn’t have it.

something else i find really fascinating is that one of the students had an insulin patch on their arm. Its cool because insulin was discovered by a Canadian surgeon Sir Frederick banting. :)

"Depicting Canadianness as something subtle and easily ignored may be the most Canadian thing about this movie." Great line! I'm a Canada-phile. Though I'm American and live in Colorado, I have many friends in the Great White North and have adopted many Canadianisms. It's a running gag with the people around me that I'm Canadian. It's a silly thing to adopt the identity of what is essentially Luigi to the US Mario, but I have really grown to love and appreciate Canada, and I celebrate Canada Day and October Thanksgiving with genuine pride (Wooo! Two Thanksgivings!) When I learned that this movie takes place in Toronto, it made me want to see it, and I enjoyed the Canadian references throughout. She earned every last loonie from her classmates to see that concert at the SkyDome (NEVER Rogers Centre!)

Then there's the "Shot, produced or edited in part or wholly in Canada, but specifically set not in Canada, in order to get government grant money" kind of movies that Canadians seem proud of in a weird way. How many movies set in Chicago or Philadelphia had a key scene with Sam the Record Man's neon sign spinning in the background? All of them? :)

8:45 can’t believe you didn’t take the chance to say “this is because Canada learns from their mistakes”

As a Canadian I was soooo happy that this movie takes place in Canada

Can I just say there's something about his tone and cadence when he speaks that's very unique and bordering on asmr for me?

It's mainly a "notice meeeee!" moment for a lot of Canadians. (Doubly so for people who were teens in the 416 area in the early 2000s, even more so for some than others) Nostalgia and remembering just the good things is a part of Canadian mentality. I'm not going to watch this film, but I'm not going to be upset with anyone who does and enjoys it. Be happy people. The world is crazy. Find a slice of it that makes you smile!

Holy hell that Allen Tsai reference killed me

@majedal-baghl5108

2 жыл бұрын

I did not understand the Allen Tsai reference until I googled him. Is this Tsai man famous?

I’m not Chinese or Canadian but I was a preteen girl during this period and I gotta say I found some elements of this movie super relatable. It was nice to see that time and experience crystallised into a movie that will live on and be watched by children and adults alike for years to come.

As someone who lived in Ontario for a decade I find it hilarious that they added the Infamous plastic milk bag reference in the movie.

I think your comments regarding stereotypes or common portrayals of cultures & ethnicities in media deserve a full video itself! It's beginning to seem like no matter how they're portrayed, someone will criticize it as lazy/dated, take offense to something or even hint at underlying racial biases of society as a whole. Even though the story was written by the actual life & family of a real Asian-Canadian & her family, many people likely have no idea & quickly assume it's Hollywood just playing to lazy stereotypes again. But that's where I think a more detailed conversation could be had... What's so wrong about a Chinese family practicing traditional Chinese things or leaning into the mysticism aspects of the culture? How is an Indian man wearing a turban offensive? How about a family being very focused on their child's academics? Critics will often say "not EVERYONE does these things, so why portray them that way?" without even recognizing the problems with that reasoning either. Just as you discussed regarding the difficulty with making something more overtly Canadian without it becoming a caricature or silly, people still become giddy & excited when their location or culture is referenced, but how do you do it without highlighting the more unique & distinct elements? On top of that, acting as if there's something wrong with things common in a culture is insulting in itself. Imagine being mad seeing a Mexican family eating traditional Mexican food in a movie... Ok, not all Mexicans eat Menudo or Tamales, but would showing them eating McDonalds be better? Imagine being mad at seeing the favelas in Rio de Janeiro or Carnival in a portrayal of Brazil... would it be better to just show some American-style single-family housing unit in the suburbs & someone playing a video game? These things are a part of millions of peoples' lives & showing them in media isn't a racial stereotype. It's insulting to me that others act like we should be offended seeing our cultures portrayed in ways that display their more distinct sides, simply because "nOt EvErYoNe dOeS tHaT!"

@shaina8947

2 жыл бұрын

exactly! 😭 it seems people don't want the "embarrassing" parts of their culture to be portrayed on the big screen... but the thing is, these things really exist, therefore it isn't "playing into stereotypes", when simply showing the writer's reality. those that complain really need to check their biases :/ if it's too specific some people mad, yet when things are too broad (like the stories of aladdin & raya) people also get mad

@TheBiggestMoronYouKnow

2 жыл бұрын

The difference is that this was genuine, but people are hurt so they’re quick to try to defend it. I appreciate it, as a very obvious minority it’s nice when people collapse around you to try to protect the very last few vestiges of your identity. Idk I’d rather have hurt people who are trying than a conservative on my side 🤷🏽‍♀️

A film set in a particular place but not about that place: “Anatomy of a Murder” set in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the 1950s.

The other popular way to make media distinctly Canadian is to focus on the small town culture. Trailer Park Boys and Letterkenny are my favorite pieces of Canada related fiction because of that

OMG JJ YOU DID NOT JUST MAKE AN ENTIRE SECTION PARODYING THOSE MOVIE TIK/TOK / KZread SHORTS 💀 you were way too dedicated to that bit, I had to pause and catch my breath

A detail that I love is that in the first scenes, Mei’s band is playing the Canadian national anthem written on the chalkboard

When you say less ambitious relating to animating a normal world instead of a fantastic one... It's actually harder to make real worlds in 3D animation in a lot of respects and Pixar has included plenty of reality in their movies, but it's usually minimal compared to the fantasy because it just hasn't been as easy to get right.

Finland and Canada are quite similar actually. Both are cold, love hockey, and go ballistic when they are mentioned in a movie or a movie takes place in their respected country.

That happy feeling I get when I see Canada represented in movies helped me understand how POC must feel when they see representation. You realize how pitifully rare it must be when you get so amped about seeing the CN tower in a movie. I know it's not the exactly same thing, but I can see their point nonetheless

9:14 the father looks like the grubhub guy

The part about Canadian social and cultural in film being too heavy a topic for kids’ movies made me think a film taking place in pre-colonial Canada might be interesting, especially if it covers tensions between Inuits and First Nations, even if in a kid-appropriate way.

@Croz89

2 жыл бұрын

I think after Pocahontas, Disney won't touch any colonial stuff with a 10 foot barge pole. Brother Bear was quite sensibly set in the distant past.

@NeelLLumi-AnCatDubh

2 жыл бұрын

@@Croz89 Hence the ‘pre’ part

Gotta love people saying there aren't enough films about and by poc to try and sound liberal only to criticize every inch of the exact kind of movie when it comes out. Nothing like calling someone's own interpretation of their culture racist!

@crazydragy4233

2 жыл бұрын

For real lol! And why do POC need to exist with agenda and an essay of explanation? Double standards much? Same people complaining about how everything is about race will make race a primary component of being a human...

I actually went to lester b pearson for middle school, and it was super cool seeing the same school that i went to, being represented

as an Ontarian, as much as I loved this movie, I was expecting to see more obscure references

I feel this movie speaks more to First Generational Immigrants and the lives that they lived growing up than just Asians.

@konglight4070

2 жыл бұрын

@@Viennery if the people are as fluid as that, are they a people at all?

@kookiekommenter

2 жыл бұрын

@@Viennery depending on which definition you use, she might be second generation (she's born in Canada, but at least one of her parents was born somewhere else). You're right, she's full Canadian and has that experience, but her life is also significantly influenced by growing up in an immigrant family. There are a lot of shared experiences to growing up in an immigrant family in a western country, regardless of race. Of course, the movie should still be even more broadly relatable because either you have a friend from an immigrant family like Mei Mei, or you relate to the shared experience of going through adolescence (so yes, either way it's pretty annoying that some people can't handle non-white characters)

@smileheee1587

2 жыл бұрын

@@Viennery THIS!!!!

Here in Québec, we have been using bagged milk forever. I got no idea where you got the idea that it's a Ontario thing! I though the movie was very relatable and I liked how they where selling maple syrup in that classic touristy maple leaf shaped bottle in the supermarket.

Another Canadian thing you didn't include (understandably so, I initially missed it because it's so second nature to me) is that she says "this is grade 8" instead of "this is 8th grade" during her introduction

Ahh Tim Hortons, back when they actually baked the donuts in the store and they were crispy and delicious and not soggy and questionably flavored.

JJ parodying that tiktoker who tells you things about films killed me 😂😂😂😂😂

As an American I felt like I really related to mei and shared similar experiences as a middle schooler, I've watched it three times already. I didn't have a tiger mom nor am I Asian but I felt mei's cringe was an honest portrayal of puberty

Personally the film was so relatable! Growing up in a Chinese-Filipino environment Mei's whole arc was something I and a lot of my friends personally experienced.

I can't speak to how things were in 2002, but even as someone from the border of Queens in NYC, when I went to Toronto I was struck by how diverse the city was and in particular how racially integrated friend groups were. I imagine this was less of the case in 2002, particularly for Sikhs who got the butt end of a ton of Islamophobia in the US. That being said, I feel like it would be near impossible to make you super happy with anything that tries to be overtly Canadian bc your channel gives off the vibe that you find Canadian pride to be ill-conceived and tedious, and a particular resentment for when Ontario is used as as stand-in for all of Canada. I think a lot of semi-autobiographical fiction tends to have very specific settings without them being all that related to the themes of the actual thing. On a different note, The Amityville Horror is set in a very specific small town on Long Island but is not really a Long Island movie. Long Island isn't really a place known for its religiosity or superstition and the Indigenous burial ground thing could be so many places in the Americas and the northeast was so thoroughly anglicized so long ago that it feels less fitting there than a lot of other regions.

@edmondarmstrong1834

2 жыл бұрын

What you mention on the issue of friend groups, it was like that when I was a kid in Toronto in the early 90s.

i just lost it when u went into movie shorts mode AHHAHAH

When I was new here in Canada, I made sure to inform my friends and family back home in the Philippines that Canada is a different country and not part of the US. The similarity in culture of Canada and the US made me protective of what I know Canada is and now I understand why many Canadians are excited about this movie even if they’re not from Toronto.

Your question at the end reminds me how the TV show suits was set in NYC but was filmed in Toronto and the unfamiliar were none the wiser to the trick