Riley, through no fault of her own, is driven to react with anger and run away from home. Ultimately, experiences are depicted as meaningless as soon as they are forgotten. (So much for the history of human experience, culture and civilization. Imaginary friends like the elephant-teddy-bear Bing Bong are depicted as ridiculous and incredible.Ībstract thought is depicted as imaginary (!!). Personality “Islands” are depicted as unstable they shake and fall and crash to the ground. When Joy and Sadness go missing, everything goes haywire. Our personalities are shaped by memories which influence our response to what we perceive as or experiences day-to-day. Our core memories shape our realities, which are presented as simply a reflection of our perceptions accumulated and understood over time. These are not the same thing.Īnother problem with the film: even memories are cast as amenable to reordering, disposal and forgottenness. Problem with the film: the film conflates joy with happiness and joy with love. But the film makes it look as if we are controlled by emotions, and it is circumstances which control us through our emotional responses to them. “There’s absolutely no reason for Riley to be happy right now,” states one emotion mater-of-factly to another.Įvery experience may be an opportunity for either joy or sadness. This misplaced emphasis on externals is surprising, given the professed aim of the film: to look at human experience from the inside out. They are simply responses to external stimuli, not the least of which are the emotions of her parents. Here emotions are presented as a good thing-when, in our not-so-distant classical history, emotions were presented as unstable and destabilizing.Īlso important is that all of Riley’s emotions are purely reactive. Also curious in this arrangement is that, unlike in the case of Plato or Aristotle, Kant or Hume or Locke, in this film there is no reason. It is emotion-not Riley-who in this movie primarily feels and thinks and does. Anger is there to protect Riley’s rights.īut by what right should Riley (or any of us) have Anger-or Sadness or Fear or Joy-when they exist for no apparent reason but to mirror reality through Riley’s semi-self-conscious brain? They are simply in control. Fear is there to protect Riley from hurt. They have three companions in the Control Center of the brain: Disgust is there to protect Riley from pain. Joy is there from the very beginning to greet Riley’s world at birth. At least, that is how the plot of this 2015 film starts out.Īll we know is that every “good” sensation is categorized as such by the ever-optimistic Joy. Originality is the result.Ĭall me late to the draw, but this two-year-old film Inside Out has me more upset than its preteen protagonist, Riley. Emotions are where playfulness meets productivity. Emotions are the feeders not only of passion with all its disruptions to daily living, but of imagination and imagination’s creative urges. I am not writing this because I hate emotions. That is one reason why I am reacting the way that I am to Doctor’s recent film, Inside Out. Not every person is emotional-at least, not every person feels or expresses emotions in the same way. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails. Although most of the content is appropriate for elementary schoolers and up, younger kids may need a bit more explanation about what's going on, since there are references to abstract thought and the subconscious, and it can be a little confusing when other characters' emotions are shown. Ultimately, Inside Out has important messages about needing to feel - and express - all of your emotions, whether happy or sad. Parents are likely to get hit hardest by the film's heart-tugging moments (bring tissues!), but anyone with empathy will feel for Riley as she experiences life's ups and downs. ( Spoiler alert: One key character also permanently fades from existence that and scenes in which it seems Riley is "borrowing" her mom's credit card and running away are definitely upsetting.) Some of Riley's fears are also on display, including a giant, scary clown. Told primarily from the perspective of the feelings inside 11-year-old Riley's mind (brought to life by the voices of Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling, Bill Hader, and more), the plot has many moments of peril/tension - including bridges/islands crumbling, a train tumbling over a precipice, and characters falling into a deep, dark pit. Parents need to know that Inside Out is an outstandingly original, heartfelt story from Pixar about growing up and learning to handle your biggest emotions.
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