Table of Contents
This is the beginning.
Inside Out movie review
An overview
Keywords: Emotion,Sadness,Psychology,Happiness,Emotions,Feeling,Depression,Riley Wuz Here
Inside Out was released in 2015 as an animated comedy/drama. The film was directed by Pete Docter. Docter started planning the movie in 2010 after noticing that his daughter changed as she got older. The film centers around Riley, an 11 year-old girl who had a wonderful childhood until her family moved into a new city. Riley’s emotions began to spiral out. Joy is the bubbly, optimistic, energetic character that everyone wants around them. Disgust is the coolest kid in school, she’s judgemental, and always on edge. Fear is a constant worry-wart, and is irrational. Anger is a harsh, hot-tempered person. The producers of the film interviewed many psychologists who study emotions. The final film was based on the 5 emotions most often agreed upon. Doctor understood that one would experience new emotions as they aged. Riley was born with only sadness and happiness, but by the time she turned 11, she had gained disgust, fear, and anger.
Inside Out film reviewThis movie has a theme that says “happiness doesn’t just mean joy”. Like the Chinese philosophy, yin-yang which suggests that there are good and bad in everything. These forces, although they appear to be opposites, are complementary and interrelated. Joy and sadness go hand-in-hand. In order to feel true happiness, it is important that we embrace sadness rather than shy away. Joy, at first, wanted Riley happy all the time. She would only let sadness in when necessary. As the story progresses Joy realizes the importance Sadness has and they both take over Riley’s feelings together. The result is a mix of happy memories and sad ones. Joy made Riley temporary happy to make Riley happy. However, when Joy did not control the console Riley felt empty. She was sad and missed friends and her old home. It might have been better for her to cry to express how she felt to her parents than to try and hide it. Why do we feel better after we cry? It’s because tears contain leucine-enkephalin which is a natural painkiller. This may explain why we feel better after crying. She would not have had to endure all the painful days or even the thought of leaving home if she allowed herself to feel sadness sooner.
In the same way, Riley’s journey through emotions was my own. Watching this on screen helped me control my emotions. It made me realise that it was ok for me be sad or cry and move on. The film brought to light so many fascinating concepts. One of them is that we all have so many different memory bubbles. Once they aren’t visited, they disappear and are replaced by other memories. In the movie, we were all represented by islands, which are our personality traits. Riley, for instance, had friendship, family and goofy islands when she was 11, and gained more as she aged. As we get older, our personalities change. I certainly have. In my younger years, I was very open and spontaneous. As I got older and became a teenager, this changed. Riley was less sarcastic and dishonest as she became more unhappy. Our experiences change our personalities. The film was a reflection of how each personality is treated, as the five emotions personified.
Positive people are praised and celebrated in today’s society. Depressed people are ridiculed. Joy, for example, was bubbly and positive, and everyone looked up at her. They believed that she was the one who knew best what Riley needed. Positiveness made her appear more attractive to others. Sadness on the other had a negative impression of her because everyone rejected her. She was always pessimistic. Since she thought the worst and was always pessimistic she didn’t believe in herself and her abilities. This made her more depressed. It’s true that happy people prefer to be with others who are also happy, but unhappy people will attract other unhappy people. It is true that people can and should help these unhappy people, but ultimately it is up to each individual to find happiness. It’s a two-way street. Society must make these people understandable, but they also have to do their part to achieve happiness. The director was trying to illustrate how human emotion can influence and affect relationships. Riley’s distress and unhappiness affected the relationship she had with her family and her bestfriend. Riley became rude, dishonest, and distant towards her mother and father. She was also angry and jealous with her best friend. This illustrates the power of negative emotions to cause a rift. The director wanted viewers to be encouraged to pay attention to the behavioural patterns around them.
We can only understand and communicate with others better if we study and understand their behavior. Leo Barraclough said in 2015 that “the movie was made so there would be a distinction between the human and real worlds, despite them both being animated”. Leo Barraclough (2015) stated that “the film was made to have a differentiation between real world and human world even though both were animated”.
Colours were used to evoke emotions. For example, Joy was yellow and it screamed cheerfulness and happiness. Sadness, which was shown as blue all the way down to her feet, was a colour that was used from top-to-bottom. Green was a symbol of disgust while red represented anger. They used a scaling camera to show Riley’s growth and perspective, which was more real and engaging for the viewers. The movie’s lighting is bright throughout to give it a positive feel. Except for when Riley is running away from her home. It was edited to be gloomy to show that she has changed emotions. The animations used in this film are so good that it is not just for children but also for adults.
SummaryThe film shows that just as happiness is vital in our life, so is sadness. This was the only animated film that had a real impact on me. It made me think about why I felt what I did and how I should react and respond to different situations. Animation films can be a hindrance to presenting concepts, as they are often seen as childish or not taken seriously. Inside Out, on the other hand, was a well-thought out film. The makers paid attention to every detail, which made it a relatable movie.
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