Thread by @EVYSTADIUM

like mei, i grew up keeping my two lives very separate. there was “home life” — being a perfect kid to bring honour to family vs. “outside life” where i hid anything “too chinese” to fit in like lizzie mcguire. here’s why “turning red” made me feel seen
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school was a culture shock — from weird looks to questions about the food i ate and where i was from. i wanted to fit in and hoped to by watching "lizzie mcguire" or "gossip girl." but quickly, i realized that people like me were never the main character
thestar.com/entertainment/…

the reality is lizzie or blaire waldorf don't have to constantly prove they belong. it was easier as a kid to do what was expected of me at home and at school, separately, rather than having to explain myself when i didn't even have the vocabulary for it.
thestar.com/entertainment/…

what this movie gives a main character, a teen, dealing with cultural identity while wanting to define ourselves. mei rebelled (for me it was box hair dye) while still wanting to make her family proud. but eventually, those lives came together and thrived
thestar.com/entertainment/…

through the relationships mei shares with her mom, her grandma and aunties, it's also a starting place for dialogue between my mom and i to share our cultural, generational differences, why we are the way we are and how we can learn to accept one another.
thestar.com/entertainment/…

turning red gives me hope that those struggling can embrace those weird, awkward times. that both so-called “worlds” can live together — even if it feels like a giant red panda that sticks out like a sore thumb. and be, like mei, unapologetic about it
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and thank you, as always, to masterful editor @SincerelyPriya for helping me condense my raging and conflicting thoughts... that will still work on embracing.

'in #TurningRed i finally saw myself reflected in a main character" #InTheirOwnVoices thestar.com/entertainment/…

if u landed here by searching “turning red” to hate post, to that i say wes anderson exists and that even i found ways to romanticize white middle/upper class life lmfao so just take it in and learn hear a new perspective. issssssa empathy 🤌🏽