Inside Out Movie Focuses on the Importance of Emotions

The new Pixar movie Inside Out is Disney’s latest masterpiece for children and parents alike, with a deep and powerful message that emotions matter. The movie is an entertaining and insightful 90 minutes of fun with meaning — pretty good for a children’s Pixar movie.

Inside Out tells the story of 11-year-old Riley, who has a strong and established sense of self — that is until she is uprooted from her life and cast into a new one overnight, literally. At first, she tries to adjust by assuming her joyful persona, even attempting to make her conflicted parents happy, (Yikes, that does not work, ever.)

The movie takes place through the eyes of cartoon characters who are her emotions inside her head — Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust. These emotions compete for airtime, and depending on what’s happening in Riley’s life, they more or less get it. When they take over, they literally push buttons — her buttons.

The message is that when Riley doesn't allow herself to be anything but joyful, she can't adjust to her move. All emotions — positive and negative — must be experienced in order for growth to happen.

Here seven teachable messages from the movie:

1. If your family is undergoing a major transition, don’t pretend you’re not. In other words, don’t act like Riley’s parents. Riley’s parents moved, and although her mother was sensitive at times, how Riley was feeling wasn't a priority and it should have been. Both parents expected her to adjust to school and new sports as if it were just another day in her life. That always backfires, because kids need transition time just like adults and parents.
2. Accept feelings. Many times parents tell children, “Don’t feel angry or disappointed or even sad.” By doing this, they are basically saying, "You know that 'down' part of you? It’s not important. Just get over it or pretend it’s not there." Yet that doesn’t make the feelings disappear; it only makes them bigger and more problematic. And besides, when parents say "don’t feel such and such," it’s too late anyway because the child already feels that way. What also happens is that the child can feel disapproved of and alone without help of an adult to process difficult and painful feelings.
3. The self is made up of several components. The movie nicely depicts the self as being comprised of a variety of events, experiences, relationships, and places that are colored by the emotions that are associated with them.
4. Emotions color and shape experiences. When Riley lost her hockey game and her team sought her out to comfort her, she associated joy with losing, not sadness and shame, because she had support from loved ones. Therefore negative emotions can bring people closer.
5. Sadness is underrated. Expecting children to be happy all the time just makes them want to run away literally. Whereas acknowledging and even embracing sadness allows kids to connect to all their emotions resulting in a connection to others and a return of joy.
6. Memories are central to the development of self. Imagine how you’d view life differently if you didn’t have memories that make you who you are. Core memories, as they are called in the movie, are the foundation for which people frame their experiences.
7. Kids are resilient. Kids more than any other age group can embrace change and adjust easliy with proper support and perspective.

The movie portrays a simplistic view of emotions that is easily understood by children — and that’s its aim. It introduces memories as a way to refocus negative emotions — however, even without memories, the healthiest people often process and then redirect negative emotions into positive actions rather than dwell on them.

Inside Out makes a statement to parents and children alike. It says that emotions are important and need to be validated and understood as part of a child’s development. Parents can form deeper connections to their children and understand them better by accepting first their own and then their child’s emotions.