Inside Out – Analysis: The Epitome of Expression

Inside Out is a fun movie that satirizes what happens inside our brains, with a meaning so deep, one could argue that it is destined for kids and adults alike, in order for them to find the path to embrace the true nature of their emotions.

Pixar always appeals both kids and adults for its ability to deal with deep and important themes. Watch our Toy Story analysis here.

Joy can sometimes feel like the antagonist of the movie, usurping Sadness attempts to work and let Riley experience other emotions. Joy’s intentions are such, so Riley always stays happy. What she needs to learn, is that emotions are more complex than what she gives them credit, and that being joyous all the time is not the answer to all the situations life puts us on.

It is obviously good to always try and see the bright side of things and stay optimistic, but sometimes, the situation demands a different kind of reaction, one that allows us to stay emotionally healthy. One must allow oneself to feel and let emotions burst from the inside out when needed.

Emotions are meant to be expressed, not suppressed:

• If it’s joy, live the moment and make it last
• If it’s anger, play a sport or find a way to let out the steam
• If it’s sadness, cry it out and release the pain

One theme throughout the movie is change, and how growing up is all about change in behavior, complexity, taste, personality, etc. This change is represented as the growth into maturity, which also is best illustrated with the changes in the control panel that resides in each one of the brains or consciousness, as an Inside Out metaphor about how complex neuroscience actually is and how we visualize, understand and react towards other’s emotions via our empathic capabilities.

Throughout all the movie we are led to believe that the emotions running things around become missing or make decisions basing themselves in what each believes it’s right when in reality Riley’s own decision making and awareness is the trigger. And yes, the emotions are Riley’s drivers, but that’s to provide characterization and to drive the plot. To further explain let’s take a deeper look at some key moments in the movie:

Joy and Sadness weren’t missing because of their feud becoming an accident, but for the same reasons, Riley explains to her parents about her behavior. She thought her parents expected a specific behavior from her so she herself suppressed her emotions as a coping mechanism. She doesn’t come back from the bus station because Sadness and Joy arrived in the nick of time to the control panel, but from her own realization that she is behaving immaturely and finally lets her emotions run out.

We experience Riley’s growth through Joy and as Riley matures, her emotions do it as well. The key to matureness is to know how, why and when to express our feelings; how can they adapt and combine with one another for more complex feelings while shaping our personality. This is what Joy finally understood by being stuck with Bing Bong. She learns by example, that sometimes other emotions like are the answer to life’s ever-recurring problems and how the different and most meaningful moments of our lives are a combination of feelings.