“Inside Out” to Explore Emotions

Feeling what you see - Colours

Exploring How Emotions and Brain Processes with the Movie of Inside Out

by İnci Dobrucalı

Do you have difficulty describing your feelings? Sometimes it’s easier not to express your feelings than to confront them. Do you feel nervous when you sit in the psychologist’s chair? What if I told you that watching a movie could help you better understand and manage your own emotions?

Emotions are an integral part of our lives, influencing our thoughts, behaviors, and interactions with others. Yet, understanding and managing our emotions can be a challenging task. This is where the power of movies comes in. Films have the unique ability to evoke emotions in their viewers, and in some cases, can even provide a platform for emotional self-discovery

and growth. One such movie that has resonated with audiences in this way is Pixar’s “Inside Out.” Released in 2015, this animated film takes viewers on a journey through the inner workings of a young girl’s mind and her five personified emotions: Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust. Through this journey, “Inside Out” offers valuable insights into the complex world of human emotions, making it a valuable tool for emotional learning and self-exploration. In this article, we will explore how “Inside Out” can help us discover and better understand our own emotions.

Team of emotions

© whatsondisneyplus

The definition and interpretation of emotions and the examination of their effects on people’s lives constitute one of the points of great importance in terms of psychology. Emotions, which are examined by different subfields of psychology, appear as an important element in many films. The brain, which constitutes a person’s behaviors, enables the emergence of emotions, recording and storing memories, and basically organizing all the functions of the individual, can be considered as our most important organ.

Discovering the Emotions

The movie begins with the birth of a girl named Riley. We enter Riley’s brain and meet the characters named Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Fear and Anger. Guided Riley throughout her childhood; our quintet, who in a way manages her relationship with the world, ensures that the little girl has a happy childhood. But tough times await our characters when Riley moves with her family from Minnesota to San Francisco; because this new life does not develop as the young girl imagines. The struggle that started between Joy and Sadness in order to ensure her happiness brings the necessity of the two to act together over time.

The two interconnected narratives of the movie are formed as what goes on inside Riley’s head and what happens around her. Although the quintet, which manages the positive and negative reactions of the young girl towards her environment, consists of completely unrelated characters, Joy acts as a catalyst and tries to overcome every negativity with a positive perspective. Meanwhile, the film produces creative ideas about the working principles of the brain and memory. For example, while family and friendship relations are organized in regions called “Mind Islands”, the moments that affect Riley are recorded as core memories. In a way, there is an effort to increase core memories and protect the islands.

Does Joy Rule Everything?

In the movie, Joy thinks that only happy moments should be experienced and tries to prevent other emotions from being experienced and suppresses them. She thinks everything will be alright by suppressing it. But even if she wanted to, she can’t stop it. This is actually a defense mechanism that we use unconsciously. By suppressing, we shadow the emotions we actually feel. We often suppress our negative emotions and get the impression that we only need to experience positive emotions.

Joy

© Pixar

Joy comes across as an emotion that tries to manage everything. In fact, when we look at our daily life, we can see the reflection of this. Namely, there is a perception that we should be happy at all times, under all circumstances; we should never be demoralized. What is there to be upset about, crying, etc., in the slightest depravity? We see such reactions. There is an imposition to be happy all the time. Through the figure of joy, it is told that everything must go well in our lives at all times, and the pressure to be happy all the time. Sadness, on the other hand, looks for a bad side in everything, unlike joy. Even in the happiest-seeming moments, he can find a sad side and remembers that memory sadly. Although this is called absurd by Joy, when we think about it, it is something that happens to everyone in daily life. When we think of a memory that has taken a good place in our minds after a long time, we can remember sad details.

Our Inseparable Part “Sadness”

It was surprising for many viewers to realize that the main key is Sadness as the entire movie actually revolves around the leadership of Joy. But I think that’s what makes the movie really good. I think the message to be conveyed is given very clearly in the finale. Sadness is an indispensable part of our life. When a piece of the puzzle is missing, whatever you put in that place, it is not complete. Every emotion has its place for us. Experiencing each one opens new pages about life for us.

I think this is the main point of psychological resilience. Psychological well-being is not only achieved by living an easy life, but by experiencing every emotion. We should not forget that no event awakens only one emotion on its own. Of course, there may be dominant emotions that will take place in our memory. Whatever happens to us, whatever we experience, whatever we feel, we must allow it. We need to make room for every emotion in our lives. Sometimes a seemingly negative emotion can open the door to a positive emotion.

Sadness

© Pixar

Functions of Emotions

Questions such as what emotions are, how they can be classified, whether there are universally felt emotions in all people, whether emotions are innate or acquired through socialization, are questions related to evaluations and examinations about emotions. It has been discussed for many years in fields such as philosophy, sociology and psychology. (Mark Manson, How to Understand Your Emotions)

The functional benefits of emotions in the face of life events constitute the main message that is tried to be given throughout the movie: no emotion should be considered as an unnecessary, insignificant emotion that should be eliminated. Every emotion has a protective and supportive function in our daily life. In particular, Joy’s understanding that Riley was able to receive support from her family and friends thanks to Sadness, and that she understood she was valued and that she could have memories where she felt happy, created the scene in which this main message was revealed in the clearest way.

Every Emotion Is for Us

We have the right to experience every emotion. Let’s start by being aware of this. The way we call life; sometimes rugged, sometimes rainy, and sometimes sunny. All we have to do is to be aware of how to walk on the road knowing this. Because unfortunately, there is no option in front of us saying I want to skip this phase. As a requirement of being human, some of our negative emotions are perceived as a problem by the environment. However, it’s all for us. When instead of getting rid of these feelings, we accept their existence; then we can continue walking on bumpy roads. Of course, no one can guarantee us that we will not fall. Because this is one of the necessities of life. In short, falling down and getting up are for us. These are the main messages that the movie evokes.The film is a thought-provoking exploration of human emotions, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging and expressing our emotions, seeking help when needed, and understanding that it’s okay to feel sad, angry, or fearful.

Anger is taking the control

© Pixar

The Success of the Movie

In addition to being a successful growth story, I can say that Inside Out, which successfully reflects a brilliant idea to the big screen, is an animation that plays big and achieves its goals. The film, which was also appreciated by the critics, received the Best Animated Film award at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards. It also won Best Animated Feature at the 88th Academy Awards and was nominated for Best Original Screenplay. After the premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, it was released on 19 June 2015. The film received a standing ovation for 8 minutes after its opening at the Cannes Film Festival.