Disney's movie, "Turning Red" represents a sisterhood between four young girls, Mei, Miriam, Abby, and Prita, who have different racial backgrounds. The main character is Mei, a Chinese American with the unique characteristic of turning into a red panda when she gets too emotional. The movie is about Mei’s journey of self-acceptance and empowerment. The movie, set in 2002, takes the idea of Girl Power, a slogan that encourages and celebrates women’s empowerment, independence, confidence, and strength. This research aims to explore how the Girl Power idea is manifested through the sisterhood formation of the four young girls in their search for identity. The data are taken from some selected samples from the movie, focusing on specific scenes containing ideas of sisterhood and Girl Power, which are analyzed by applying the semiotic theory of Roland Barthes. The research finds that the four young American girls form a sisterhood to overcome their native cultural background that they consider problematic. Focusing on Mei’s conflict with her mother as the embodiment of cross-cultural conflict between an American-born Chinese and native Chinese background, Mei develops her personality with the support of her friends to change the perspective of considering turning into red panda as a curse into a gift which should be accepted and celebrated.
