Disney finally has its first young plus-size heroine, and fans across the Internet are in high spirits.
"Reflect" is a short film now on Disney about a young ballet dancer named Bianca who struggles with her body image. In the short(短片), Bianca doesn't want to but has to look at herself in the mirror, checking her posture. Always feeling depressed to find herself fatty and ugly, she almost gives up dancing ballet. Though body positivity and self-acceptance can be easier said than done, eventually, she overcome her negative feelings and dance freely.
Though the film was first released on the platform in September, many social media users are now celebrating "Reflect" as a win for representation among the young.
"16 year old me needed this Disney short before I quit ballet because I didn't want to be the fat girl in class anymore," one user on Twitter said. "I'm glad little ones (小朋友) will have this. 10/10(10 分满分评级) for Reflect!" "I don't think you all comprehend, this is my Ariel," a TikTok user said in a video, titled "Disney, you really got me in my feelings."
Making the film from the perspective of a dancer, director Hillary Bradfield explained, felt natural. "When people watch the short, I hope that they can feel more positively about themselves and how they look, and feel okay about the tough parts of their journey," Bradfield said.
Chinese singer Gong Linna released her new song, titled Return Home, which describes the overseas Chinese people's longing for their homeland.
Performed in Chaoshan dialect, the song is part of Gong's music project, which has the singer perform songs in different Chinese dialects. "It is very challenging to sing in Chaoshan dialect, which is a new language to me, and thanks to the songwriter Danny Sim and the song's producer Wesley Tan, who speak the dialect, I received intensive training and practised very hard," says Gong. "The beauty of dialects lies in telling stories of different places. It's like a music al map, allowing me to explore different places through dialects."
The idea of the song came from Qiaopi, a unique form of mail that served as both a letter and a remittance (汇款) sent by overseas Chinese people to their families in provinces of Guangdong and Fujian in the 19th and 20th centuries. At that time, many of those emigrants, particularly from Guangdong and Fujian, sent money back home to support their families, as well as communicating with their beloved ones and expressing their longing to be reunited.
"Dialects are a source of knowledge, traditions and the country's cultural heritage. When I listen to a song performed in a dialect, I feel the local culture instantly even though I never go there and know nothing about the place," says Sim, who wrote lyrics for the song, adding that there are a growing number of musicians in China performing in dialects, which allow listeners to get an emotional touch.
"Chaoshan dialect links people from the region. However, like many languages, it's dying. Many young people, especially children, rarely speak the dialect, which is a sad thing." Sim says, explaining why he is keen on writing songs by using the dialect, "I love my hometown and by writing songs in the dialect, I feel close to my home. Maybe that is, culture identity."
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), hundreds of marine(海洋的) species across the world come under endangered and critically endangered categories. Some of the endangered and recognizable marine species are named here.
Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle
The Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle, also known as the Atlantic Ridley Sea Turtle, is endangered as the rarest and smallest sea turtle.
Distributed throughout the Gulf of Mexico and U. S. Atlantic seaboard, they gather off the coast in northeastern Mexico and come ashore in large groups to lay eggs every year. As marine reptiles(爬行动物), they are threatened by oil spills, lack of food and marine pollution.
Vaquita
As a rare marine mammal, Vaquita is on the edge of extinction only a half-century after its first sighting.
Extensive fishing in the Gulf of California has endangered this marine species, resulting in a gradual drop in population since the 1940s. According to reports, there are only a dozen of these marine mammals left in the world since the percentage of dec line in their population was as much as90% since 2011.
Whale
Fin Whale is the second-largest mammal on the planet after Blue Whale and it is also a victim of hunting. According to estimates, the global population of Fin Whale ranges from below 100,000 to around 119,000.
Humpback Whale, another whale species, has also been listed as an endangered marine species. Before the introduction of the whaling moratorium (暂停) in 1966, the species was hunted for its fur, while the population dropped by 90%. Currently, around 2,500 Humpback Whales survive in the world.
Hawaiian Mon k Seal
A native of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Mon k Seal is one of the earless seals who live on warm beaches, unlike other seals.
According to recent research, only 1,400 Hawaiian Mon k Seals remain on the Islands. These seals are mainly threatened by predators like tiger sharks. Besides, other reasons like habitat loss and food limitation also contribute to their critical situation.