Inside Out

‘Inside Out’ is a movie I’d been waiting for so long. Once again, Pixar did not disappoint me. It's a very smart and realistic movie.

I connected with this film on a deeper level. This movie is something that explores the feelings of emotions, how we react when we feel something and how do we emote that feeling. I find that it's so much more about us within, different from many other films that are about the characters, plots, themes etc. This movie could possible relatable to yourself. I'm happy it relates to me. :)

Warning: some spoilers of the movie ahead.

The movie is about an 11-year-old girl, Riley, originally from Minnesota, who moves to San Francisco with her parents. The leading characters of the movie, however, aren’t Riley and her family, but Riley’s primary emotions – Fear, Sadness, Joy, Disgust and Anger.

These characters demonstrate what it might be like in the mind of an 11-year-old girl who struggles with having to move to a different city, away from a familiar and comfortable place and pretending to be happy for her parents. These characters live in Headquarters, the control centre inside Riley's mind.

What’s really powerful about this film is how accurate it is to our real life universal emotions. All these emotions are present in every culture and presented in the similar way through the similar facial expressions around the world. 

I love how Pete Docter displayed the conversion of short to long-term memory. When a memory is seen relevant or when it has been repeated enough times, our brain ensure the long-term encoding of that short-term memory.

Of all the emotions, Joy seems to be the leader, she keeps the others in check but reminds the viewers that all of them have an important function. She states that Disgust keeps Riley safe from being poisoned, Fear keeps her safe from a catastrophe by imagining worst case scenarios, Anger protects her from others, while Joy ensures that Riley is happy :) . However, Joy fails to see the importance of Sadness and tries to shoo Sadness away from anything Riley-related, forbidding this emotion in every way possible. She even draws a circle on the floor and makes Sadness stay inside it, forbidding her to leave or to touch any of Riley’s memories so as not to taint them with sad memories.

Unfortunately, Joy’s good intentions backfire when Riley is unable to receive the support she needs. She has a hard time coping with her move, she withdraws from her parents and old friends, she misses school, and even tries to run away. By being unable to experience her sadness about all these changes and pretending that she was ok, Riley ends up being angry, anxious, and irritable, getting into a fight with her parents and her best friend, before shutting down altogether. 

What messages I think this movie is trying to deliver?

Our emotions are all important, every single one of them. They all serve an important function and we cannot selectively feel some but not others. It’s an “all-or-none” deal. If we numb sadness, we also numb joy. We need to experience all our emotions, and that includes sadness, even though it's painful sometimes. Sadness allows connection; when we see someone else feel sad, we might feel sad too (empathy) and might want to show them our compassion. When we share our emotions together, it can produce a healing experience. That is exactly what we see when Sadness comforts Riley’s imaginary friend, Bing Bong, and also when Riley is able to share her sadness with her parents.

I love the ending! The movie ends with a bang by reminding us that we can experience multiple emotions at the same time, such as happiness and sadness. The movie also shows that everyone, including animals experiences these emotions. 

Overall, ‘Inside Out’ was amazing. I highly recommend it!

All photos are taken from google image.