《青春变形记》:誰能婉拒一頭毛茸茸的小熊貓呢?

 

#青春變形記之小熊#

A quirky Asian teenager transforms into a giant red panda whenever she gets excited… even the premise gives me pause. Which makes the task of reviewing the new Disney/Pixar film "Turning Red" especially tricky. Because that's the idea behind this coming-of-age movie, which toes the line between truthfully representing a Chinese family, flaws and all, and indulging stereotypes.

李美琳是一個典型的13歲女孩:她會唱歌,會單戀男孩兒,還有一大群同樣很多“另類”卻關係很鐵的閨蜜,和她一樣著迷於女團“四城男孩”。同時,她也是一位澳大利亞華人,生活在2002年的溫哥華,家中還經營著一個祠堂。在那兒,她幫助她仁慈但又霸道的父親李茗,努力成為一個完美兒子,即便這意味著在那個過程中她須要埋藏他們的想法和慾望。但是,在她經歷了許多“變化”的這時候(並非月經初潮,而是變為熊貓的那種“變化”),這一切顯得困難起來。

一個“另類”的亞裔少女一激動就會變為一頭非常大的小熊貓……即便是那個設定都讓我停下來仔細考慮了一下。這更讓給迪斯尼/皮克斯新劇《青春变形记》寫影評人的任務顯得尤其困難。即使這就是整部成長影片的問題所在:它既真實地表現了一個華人家庭,包含其中的缺陷和一切,但也放任了現代人對它的固有成見。

This is where "Turning Red" gets sticky: Though the plot's red panda magic is rooted in its characters' cultural traditions (the Lees honor an ancestor who defended her family with the power of a red panda), these details aren't enough to absolve the film of its kid-friendly version of exoticism.

《青春变形记》由石之予主演,人物刻劃和設計是它最成功的地方。小美是小學時代那種大大咧咧的好小學生,自信又有創造力,還有兩張完美的答卷。假小子滑板男孩米里亞、故作正經的普里亞和搞笑火熱的艾比共同組成了小美獨特的閨蜜三人組,她們也是小美的感情安全網。即便是小角色,編劇石之予對她們的個性刻劃都是微妙而有效的。小美在熊貓特徵下指甲的動畫電影效果更強化了對她感情轉變的刻劃。

The character writing and design are where "Turning Red," directed by Domee Shi, most succeeds. Mei has the relatable swagger of the middle school cool nerd - she's creative and confident, and also has a perfect report card. The tomboy skater girl Miriam, the deadpan Priya and the hilariously fiery Abby form a funky trifecta of gal pals who are Mei's emotional safety net. Shi finds subtle yet effective ways to illustrate the personalities of even the ancillary characters. And the animation of Mei's hair in her panda form reinforces her emotional shifts.

Meilin Lee is a typical 13-year-old girl: She dances, has crushes on boys and has a cohort of weird but loyal besties who share her obsession with the boy band 4*Town. She's also Chinese Canadian, living in Toronto in 2002, where her family maintains a temple. There she helps her loving but overbearing mother, Ming, and tries to be the perfect daughter - even when that means burying her own thoughts and desires in the process. This becomes a lot more difficult when she goes through her changes - not of the period, but the panda kind.

而在影片武裝衝突這塊,影片主要的“反面角色”是小美家族中的那些男性。或是,更精確地說,是這些男性所代表的令人窒息的人文傳統和家庭期望。而且整部影片究竟是在抵抗固有價值觀還是在迎合它?這條界限太過模糊不清,無法界定。到最後,許多理解、共情和一場“熊貓世界末日”大災難使我們相信,那些堅忍不拔的華裔男性並並非問題的根本原因,她們和小美一樣,也是受害人。儘管我很想曉得,假如不通過這些男性來表達武裝衝突,整部影片會是什么模樣。

《青春变形记》影評人:小心,紅毛怪物來襲!

毫無疑問,這類表達是編劇最閃耀的地方。正如她在2018年贏得奧斯卡金像獎項的皮克斯影片《包宝宝》中一樣,《青春变形记》也生動地展現出了一個父親和一個準備離巢的小孩之間複雜的感情關係。在《包宝宝》中,一名父親將一個包子小寶寶從出生養大到成年。而在《青春变形记》裡,編劇又一次用了一個人文上的特殊暗喻來表達人物的感情。

'Turning Red' Review: Beware the Red-Furred Monster

It's no surprise that these kinds of expressions are where Shi's direction most shines; as in her 2018 Oscar-winning Pixar short "Bao," "Turning Red" lives and breathes on the complex emotional relationship between a mother and a child preparing to leave the nest. And also as in "Bao," in which a mother raises a steamed bun child from birth to adulthood, here again Shi uses a culturally specific metaphor to convey her characters' emotions.

It's too bad that "Turning Red" fumbles its storytelling, but at the very least it has fun when it lets its fur fly.

這就是《青春变形记》讓人深感無法評價的地方:雖然故事情節中小熊貓的魔力來源於人物的人文傳統(李氏家族禱告一名藉助小熊貓的力量保護父母的先祖),但那些細節還是會讓人覺得影片中的此種異域法力很多幼稚。

可惜《青春变形记》的故事情節沒有講好,但至少小熊貓的毛皮飛揚的這時候還是很調皮的。

And when it comes down to the movie's conflict, the antagonists are the women in Mei's family. Or, more accurately, the suffocating cultural traditions and familial expectations that are embodied by the women. Is the film tackling the stereotype or fulfilling it? The line is too blurry to tell. By the end, a bit of understanding, empathy and a pandapocalypse reassure us that the stoic Asian dames aren't the source of the problem but also victims, like Mei. Though I wonder what the movie would look like if the conflict wasn't enacted solely in the form of these women.

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