Founder and lead pastor of V1 Church in New York City Mike Signorelli warned parents of “demonic” content in Disney Pixar’s “Turning Red” in his “Christian review” posted online.
Signorelli’s review of Disney Pixar’s latest animated film, which was uploaded to his YouTube channel and has since been taken down, used his theological perspective to assess the coming-of-age story of a teen who discovers her ability to transform into a giant red panda in the midst of puberty.
His review video, titled “Pastor Reacts To “Turning Red” – Is It DEMONIC?”, was also uploaded to his Facebook page with the caption, “Christian Review: should your kids watch Pixar’s new movie Turning Red.” It has garnered nearly 180,000 views, as of this writing.
The pastor, who says he holds an English degree and has taught journalism and English, believes that the film is not appropriate for children based on its menstruation references and coming-of-age story, but also because certain elements do not align with a biblical view.
“I believe that every parent — not just a pastor, but a parent — has a mandate to actually screen material because every single device you have in your home is a portal, either a window into the things of God or, unfortunately, things that I believe are demonic,” he told CBN News in an interview.
Signorelli claimed that the spiritual practices and ancestral communication depicted in the film are condemned by Christian faith. He also described the themes and ideals in the film as “a secular humanistic worldview that says there is no wrong or right anymore.”
“We know in Hebrews 9:27, it’s appointed once to live and then to die and we face judgment, and it’s strictly forbidden, in the Christian context, to communicate with the dead,” Signorelli said. “And so, even within the first eight minutes, you have chanting, communication with ancestors, and immediately a red flag should start to go off. Do I want my kid to be exposed to this as a gateway and into maybe future adult interactions and beliefs with something that the Christian faith condemns?”
In his review, he goes through multiple scenes he found disturbing, including one in which ancestors appear to have glowing red eyes and another involving a ritual towards the end of the movie. He also pointed out a scene that advocates to girls the mantra, “My body, my choice” – a phrase frequently used by the abortion-rights movement – referring to a similar line in the movie, “My panda, my choice.”
“There’s definitely a tipping point, and there’s a moment where you’re like, ‘They’ve gone too far,’” said Signorelli. “Now, if you extract the spiritual aspect of this movie, just on the basis of the content being about menstruation and this coming of age, it’s not appropriate for children.”
“I think what happens is we’re so desensitized that, over time, things that used to be offensive to Christians, unfortunately, I think that we’ve become accepting of them,” he added. “And we ignore it, and that’s really why I felt a burden to put the word out about this movie.”
