Turning Red did many things differently from past Pixar movies, and it might have the studio’s second LGBTQ+ character thanks to Priya, one of Mei’s best friends. Inclusivity and representation of the LGBTQ+ community in film and TV have been highly debated topics in recent years, and even though many writers, directors, and studios have worked towards better representation of this community, there’s still a long way to go. Family-oriented studios like Disney and Pixar have also worked towards this (though not always successfully), and Turning Red might be the latest example of LGBTQ+ representation in a family-friendly movie.
Directed by Domee Shi, Turning Red follows Meilin "Mei" Lee (Rosalie Chiang), a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian student who one day discovers that, whenever she gets too excited or stressed, she turns into a giant red panda, but she can turn back if she becomes calm. This transformation is a family curse and it can be contained by performing a special ritual on one specific night, but that night coincides with the concert of Mei’s favorite boy band, and to further complicate everything, Mei also has to deal with her overbearing mother, Ming (Sandra Oh). Luckily for Mei, she counts on the support of her best friends Miriam (Ava Morse), Abby (Hyein Park), and Priya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan).
Mei’s friends help her accept her red panda and even use it to get the money they need for the tickets for the concert, and they are Mei’s support system, so much so that just thinking about her friends helped Mei stay calm. Mei is also very supportive of her friends, and the best example there is of this is a brief but very significant scene at Tyler’s party where Priya is dancing with Goth Girl. The camera quickly turns to Mei, Miriam, and Abby happily staring at Priya and Goth Girl and cheering on their friend, which has led viewers to wonder if Priya is queer, making her Pixar’s second LGTBQ+ character, and Turning Red’s cinematographer has already supported this.
Mei, Miriam, and Abby are very expressive, but Priya is the deadpan friend of the group, and one of the few times she’s shown expressing some emotion is at Tyler’s party. The girls are playing charades to keep the guests entertained until Mei arrives, and Goth Girl is the one who guesses Priya’s word correctly, making Priya smile. When Mei and the panda arrive and everyone’s dancing, Mei brings Goth Girl and Priya together, and Mei, Miriam, and Abby cheer on them and share a complicity look. This scene was quickly picked up on social media and questions about Priya being queer quickly emerged, and Pixar cinematographer Andreagoh shared on Twitter that she was proud of that moment and “asked for a slice of queer representation anyways”. This makes Priya Pixar’s second LGBTQ+ character, the first one being Onward’s Office Spector.
Turning Red addresses various topics that aren't typically seen in Pixar movies, such as generational trauma and puberty, and at the core of the story is the journey of finding out who you are and being your most authentic self. Mei, Miriam, Abby, and Priya all come from different backgrounds – Miriam is Jewish-Canadian, Abby is Korean-Canadian, and Priya is Indo-Canadian – but at the end of the day, they are finding balance between their family backgrounds and traditions and being themselves, and they get to this by freely expressing themselves through the way they dress, talk, and the things they like. Priya being queer is an important part of the process of knowing, accepting, and embracing oneself, and it’s made even better by her friends being happy for her and rooting for her to be herself.
Disney is currently at the center of controversy due to the studio’s response to Florida’s "Don’t Say Gay" bill, with Pixar accusing Disney of censoring LGBTQ+ representation in its movies, sharing that “nearly every moment of overtly gay affection is cut at Disney's behest”, so there were, unfortunately, more moments of queer representation in Turning Red and other movies that have been left aside. Turning Red’s representation of the LGBTQ+ community through Priya might have been brief but it has had a major impact and has been praised by viewers all over social media, which will surely give the studio the push to continue working towards more inclusive stories and better representation in future projects.