Last evening, my sister and I went to see “Inside Out.” I’d been awaiting this film with excited anticipation. My sister hadn’t even watched a trailer – so had no expectations. This film is rated PG, so the previews for upcoming attractions were appropriately rated films. They were awful! (“Uh oh, was I misled about Inside Out?”). But I knew that “Inside Out” is not a kids’ movie, even though it’s animated and created by Pixar for Disney. Well, “Bug’s Life” and “Toy Story” weren’t exactly kids’ movies either :-).
First there was a lovely Pixar “short” called “Lava.” (One of Pixar’s landmarks is a short film before each full length film. The earliest one I remember is “Geri’s Game,” where the two old men are playing chess in the park. Turns out it’s one old man, playing both sides of the table.) Anyway “Lava” is basically an animated Hawaiian love song between two volcanoes. “Things are looking up for the full-length feature!”)
“Inside Out” is the story of the life of a young girl named Riley – from birth to puberty – from the point-of-view of her emotions. Specifically, Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust, each of which is uniquely personified and color-coded: Joy is yellow (though her hair is blue and her dress is light green); Sadness is blue; Anger is red; Fear is purple, and Disgust is broccoli-green. In true Pixar style, each emotion is given voice by well-known personalities.
Although Joy is in charge of keeping things upbeat and happy for most of the first 12 years of Riley’s life, when the family moves from Minnesota to San Francisco, things get difficult for Riley, and Joy and Sadness are literally sucked out of her consciousness. Now Joy and Sadness must find their way back to “headquarters,” so that Riley isn’t left with just Fear, Disgust, and Anger (the emotions that cause her to sink into the pit of despair, steal her mother’s credit card and get on a bus back to Minnesota).
As it turns out, Sadness, not Joy comes to Riley’s rescue. Which is one of the most brilliant insights of the movie. Joy is a big stretch from despair. Sadness is a higher vibration than despair. Anger is higher than sadness. So Sadness can be a stair-step to joy. And we need the contrasting emotions to be full and feel complete. You really wouldn’t want to be happy all the time!
This wonderful movie isn’t just a delight for the eyes, but it is a fun way to see our emotions, memories, and how the ASPECTS of our personality are formed.
This movie has been out for two months already. But for some reason, it just came to my local theater. I highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it.
