Amber C

This movie was an amazing creation by Disney that analyzes the relationship between a mother with exceedingly high expectations of her daughter and her daughter going through her pre to teen years including all the fun factorials of experiencing puberty like boys, crushes, the ins and outs of friendship, middle school, embarrassing parents, miscommunication, and my personal favorite: learning to acceptance of oneself. In case you're looking for the controversy about this film here it is (spoiler below). At one point in the movie, the mother starts to have the "period" discussion with the daughter and brings in pads and tampons at some point. Some parents are upsetti spaghetti that their 8 and 10-year-olds are being introduced to a discussion that most schools aren't required to do nor do most parents teach their children properly about. Oh no! Your precious child gets to learn about something extremely natural and common in a non-judgemental setting so they're able to function around this topic appropriately. Someone call the church, the apocalypse has begun! Please, *insert eye roll here*. Some people are also upset at the fact that a movie is centered around Asian family culture and the unrealistic expectations that many mothers have for their daughters, (a value that can exceed culture and race, but just say you're lucky and go off I guess). Shockingly, some people are upset that Disney has been creating characters that don't look like them or exist outside of their culture. I mean it's not like there isn't a giant list (everyone in Cinderella, 90% of the little mermaid cast, Ariel, everyone in Beauty & the Beast, Belle, Snow White, Tinkerbell, Wendy, Alice, 90% of the Prince Charmings, the Evil Queen, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Merida, Cruella De Vil, Hercules, Tarzan...) of that already, but go off I guess. And that's it. That's the entire controversy. The idea that periods exist (not new at all) and the fact that some people believe that Asian American culture isn't universal to the entirety of Asia or cultures in which mothers and motherly figures have incredibly high expectations of their daughters. This movie is incredibly relatable and I'm very sorry for Sean O'Connell's lack of empathy or care for anyone's life experience outside of himself.