We love you, Mei. ABBY: Hang in there, girl.Turning Red · 2022 — Chapter 3 of 13 · 6'39" · B1
Mei's Friends Have Her Back, Explained: once in a lifetime
Mei can finally control her panda, but her mother still refuses the concert. "It's them I don't trust," Ming says of the friends. The scene is really about whose love Mei gets to choose: the obedient daughter her mother knows, or the girl who sneaks out with the people she loves most. The girls refuse to give up.
What happens
Mei shows her mother that she can calm the panda by picturing the people she loves, then uses the trick to ask about the 4*Town concert. Ming refuses, and Mei's friends rally around her. They decide to lie about a sleepover, sneak to the show, and call it the first step into womanhood.
Listen for
once in a lifetimekeep it togetherbomb dot comwhipped up into a frenzy
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Phrase of the scene
once in a lifetime
extremely rare, possibly only once
美美想去演唱会，朋友说这是千载难逢的机会，错过不会再有。
This is a once in a lifetime chance to see them live.
Also in this scene
- keep it together
to stay calm and not fall apart
- bomb dot com
extremely good, in a playful way
- whipped up into a frenzy
被煽动得情绪沸腾
Everything marked in this scene
27 notes across 111 lines
liaison
We love you, Mei. ABBY: Hang in there, girl.Mom, I think I've made a breakthrough.The important thing is you tried. You spelled your little butt off.What a shame.Panda or no panda.weak form
How is this possible? What happened to your panda?It's easy. When I start to get emotional, all I do is imagine the peopleall ... do is plus bare verb
It's easy. When I start to get emotional, all I do is imagine the peopleI love most in the whole world.So now that that's settled, I just have one teeny tiny favor to ask.extremely rare, possibly only once
But this is once in a lifetime.Mei Mei, it's one thing to stay calm at home or school, but a concert...You'll get whipped up into a frenzy and panda all over the place.You saw me keep it in.flap
You saw me keep it in.Like I said.worth plus gerund
And it's not worth jeopardizing your life over. Right, Jin? Uh.Who do they think they are? Celine Dion?I was just about to call you.Be water. Be... [BOY GRUNTS] That presentation was bomb dot com.Mei, chill. Let's go, let's go.to stay calm and not fall apart
Dude, keep it together.that-clause after get
Why doesn't my mom get that I never ask for anything?I love it. Fight the power.Now we just got to raise the money for tickets.You are the cutest thing ever.Mei's Friends Have Her Back, explained
What's really going on
On the surface this is a fight about a concert, but the real argument is about trust and control. Ming frames her refusal around Mei's friends — "It's them I don't trust" — telling Mei that the people she loves most are exactly the ones her mother fears. Mei's counter-argument is not about music at all. She has spent her life being "her perfect little Mei Mei," doing temple duties, grades, violin and tap, and now asks why obedience earns no trust: "If they don't trust us anyway, then what's the point?" The friends answer that question by turning the concert into a ritual of growing up — "This is our first step into womanhood" — so sneaking out becomes less about rebellion than about being seen by the people who actually believe in her.
Theme
Coming of ageMei and her friends treat the concert as a rite of passage, their first step out of childhood into independence.
FriendshipHer friends back her when her own mother will not, comforting her and planning the trip together.
What you'll learn
- Use start to get emotional all I in a comparable exchange.
- Listen for the attitude around start to get emotional all I.
- Notice how the reply changes the scene.
Listen for
- Hang in there — liaison
- is this — weak form
- keep it in — flap
Why doesn't my mom get that I never ask for anything?Mei's frustration: she has always been obedient and undemanding, yet it has bought her no freedom from her mother's control.
If they don't trust us anyway, then what's the point?The friends' logic for sneaking out: if good behaviour never earns trust, they may as well act on what they want.
It's them I don't trust.Ming's real objection. It is not the concert she fears but Mei's friends — the very people Mei loves most.
This is our first step into womanhood.The concert reframed as a rite of passage, a way of declaring that the girls are growing up together.
Questions about this scene
Why does Ming refuse to let Mei go to the concert?
She says Mei can stay calm at home or school, but a concert will whip her into a frenzy and make her panda out. She also admits she does not trust Mei's friends.
What is the trick Mei uses to control her panda?
She pictures the people she loves most in the world — her friends. The calm shuts the panda down, and she shows this to her mother to win the concert argument.
Why do the girls decide to lie about a sleepover?
Ming has forbidden the concert, so they invent a sleepover to cover the trip. Mei calls it the perfect crime, and they agree her mother will never know.
Who catches Mei turning into a panda?
Stacy Frick catches sight of her and insists the panda in the bathroom was Mei, but the friends brush her off so the secret stays safe.
Turning Red · 13 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 4in the bagMing Refuses the 4*Town Concert
Chapter 1take advantage ofMei Turns Into a Red Panda
Chapter 2watch someone like a hawkMei Turns into a Red Panda
Watching · Chapter 3once in a lifetimeMei's Friends Have Her Back
Chapter 4in the bagMing Refuses the 4*Town Concert
Chapter 5fight the powerThe Girls Plot Their Concert Escape
Chapter 6keep one's mouth shutTyler Blackmails Mei for a Party
Chapter 7have a word with someoneMei's Family Takes Over
Chapter 8pin one's hopes on someoneMei Chooses 4*Town Over the Ritual
Chapter 9take advantage of someoneMei Attacks Tyler at the Party
Chapter 10make room forJin Explains the Panda to Mei
Chapter 11too good to be trueMei Refuses the Ritual and Bolts
Chapter 12it was all meMei Confesses to Ming
Chapter 13ride or dieMei Reconciles With MingChapter 3 of 13 · about 33 min to go