The Drama Surrounding Turning Red Explained

The controversy kicked off when CinemaBlend posted its review for "Turning Red," which was penned by Sean O'Connell, the site's managing director.

The now-deleted review criticized the movie for being grounded in the particularities of an Asian diasporic culture and read in part, "By rooting 'Turning Red' very specifically in the Asian community of Toronto, the film legitimately feels like it was made for Domee Shi's friends and immediate family members. Which is fine—but also, a tad limiting in its scope." In a Tweet promoting the review, O'Connell wrote, "Some Pixar films are made for a universal audience. #TurningRed is not. The target audience for this one feels very specific, and very narrow. If you are in it, this might work well for you. I am not in it. This was exhausting" (via CBC News).

The review triggered widespread backlash, in which many called the review "racist" and "sexist." Screenwriter Gennifer Hutchison tweeted, "Tired of white people (and lotsa dudes) looking at movies and shows about people who aren't white (and aren't dudes) and being like 'I just couldn't connect with it' (esp. when the movies and shows are dealing with universal themes and emotions). It's just a huge bummer."

After many similar criticisms, CinemaBlend pulled the article. Editor-in-Chief Mack Rawden also tweeted a statement: "We failed to properly edit this review, and it never should have gone up. We have unpublished it and assigned to someone else. We have also added new levels of editorial oversight. Thank you to everyone who spoke up."