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But perhaps its greatest achievement has been this: It has moved viewers young and old to take a look inside their own minds. As you likely know by now, much of the film takes place in the head of an year-old girl named Riley, with five emotions—Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust—embodied by characters who help Riley navigate her world. But they are conveyed strongly enough to provide a foundation for discussion among kids and adults alike. Some of the most memorable scenes in the film double as teachable moments for the classroom or dinner table.
So for parents and teachers who want to discuss Inside Out with children, here we have distilled four of its main insights into our emotional lives, along with some of the research that backs them up. And a warning, lest we rouse your Anger: There are a number of spoilers below. But by the end of the film, Joy—like Riley, and the audience—learns that there is much, much more to being happy than boundless positivity.
This reflects the way that a lot of leading emotion researchers see happiness. The authors of this study suggest that feeling a variety of specific emotions may give a person more detailed information about a particular situation, thus resulting in better behavioral choices—and potentially greater happiness. For example, in a pivotal moment in the film, Riley allows herself to feel sadness, in addition to fear and anger, about her idea of running away from home; as a result, she decides not to go through with her plan.
Her parents inform her that the family is relocating to San Francisco, California, and suddenly a lot of changes are in play. Riley realizes she must live in a small, older house in the city, go to a new school, make all new friends, and try out for a new hockey team.
The stressor of moving is not traumatic, but it is undoubtedly disruptive to her functioning, particularly because she is 11 going on 12 years old. This is the time where major emotional, behavioral, and social transitions occur and last through teenage years. Further in the film, we begin to learn that interactions between emotions are telling. Try to avoid sadness. Again, we ask ourselves, are we better off—safer, happier, better human beings—when we avoid sadness? A note about how Sadness is treated here: When we have depressogenic schema, we are constantly thinking negatively about ourselves, the world around us, and our future.
Sadness exhibits some of those exaggerations in thinking; rather than trying to make things better or look on the bright side like Joy, she focuses on the worst aspects. Many of us have fallen into these blue moments, some may dip into depressive episodes or even chronic depression. Just like with Sadness, those dire predictions are sometimes seen by others as burdensome, displeasing, and even annoying. This negative attribution style is why youths who are depressed tend to have difficulty making or maintaining friendships.
Something called prospection how we think about the future is a significant determinant in the development of early-onset depression. For instance, the prospective styles that are more likely to lead to clinical depression include poor generation of possible futures i.
Not surprisingly, thinking in this rigid, closed-off way can lead to more feelings of hopelessness, which generates even more negative distortions. Amidst the onset of multiple negative emotions—the sadness of leaving her best friend back in Minnesota, the anger she feels with her father being caught up in his work, the disgust at how run-down her new house feels, and the anxiety of starting her first day of school—Riley encounters a singular distressing event.
She is called on by her new teacher, who asks her to introduce herself to her classmates. Riley is horrified that this happened to her in front of everyone. That memory orb glows blue. She believes that a core memory formed out of negative emotions is bad for Riley. Only joy-filled memories could possibly make Riley the spunky, gregarious, talented young girl that she is.
But this part is brilliant: Consequently, she is withdrawn, apathetic, and bitter…and downright unrecognizable. Her parents begin to worry. Irritability, rather than sadness, is often the predominant mood in depressed youngsters. Instead of extreme melancholy, youths often present as grumpy, hostile, easily frustrated and are prone to angry outbursts.
They need to get back to Headquarters, but their attempts are met with dead-ends.
As they persevere, Joy and Sadness are challenged to expand their emotional capacity: Joy finds herself struggling with disappointment, frustration, and hopelessness for the first time. Sadness realizes that her pessimism and passivity are not going to help her get back to the control center. Bing Bong is a nomadic traveler with the face of an elephant, tail of a cat, and a cuddly body that resembles cotton candy. His ridiculously silly appearance matches his innocently carefree, zany personality.
And while his quirky personality is lighthearted and childish at first blush, he ends up helping Joy and Sadness realize their full emotional potential. Devastated, Bing Bong flops down and cries. Bing Bong realizes that he, too, is lost, and that Riley may never remember him again. In typical form, Joy attempts to inspire cheerfulness, jumping quickly to reframe the moment into something more positive.
Quietly, she sits by Bing Bong, first allowing him a moment to shed his tears. She watches him cry. It takes the bad to understand the good. Every emotion needs the others to help give it context and poignancy. Sadness simply exists to emphasize joy, and Joy realizes she shouldn't be fighting Sadness but embracing her role. In the end, Joy allows Sadness to touch all Riley's core emotions and give them the complexity she now understands is crucial to overall emotional understanding.
Riley will be able to appreciate joy more fully if she experiences tinges of sadness. Inside Out suggests what most psychotherapists preach: A witness is generally required for this to debrief the lost soul.