From the clever title to the animation, the
script, and the actors, Inside Out is
a positive tale about how to deal with emotions. The primary thought coming through is that negative emotions
like sadness, anger, and fear are healthy and need to be expressed in order to
get the “bad” that’s inside neutralized or to use one (such as anger) to
accomplish a task. At one point,
Anger (Black) blows fire out his head to break a window in order to rescue Joy
and Sadness who have just been hurled splat against it from the outside.) Joy (Poehler), the leader of the group
instinctively learns how to deal with Sadness (Smith), which I recognized as
what a therapist will do with someone who is depressed (e.g., unfailing
encouragement, patience, and positive reinforcement for every successive
approximation toward self-confidence and effectiveness). Joy also discovers the value of
sympathy in comforting someone who has experienced a loss, as when Sadness
listens empathically to Bing Bong’s (Kind) woes and he begins to feel much
better. Upshot: Joy is not always the answer to an
emotional problem.
I am impressed that Pete Docter and Ronaldo Del
Carmen, directors, came up with the basic idea of having actors voice the
emotions that a little girl goes through from the time of her birth. Like an ego with executive functions,
“central station” (the embodied emotions) does what it can to orchestrate the
goings-on inside Riley’s (Dias) head, modifying Riley’s reactions and
experience to maintain balance. An
important memory bank is kept to pull out those that might be helpful in a
specific situation, and more complex “personality islands”—like “Family” are
also available.
This is a high tension film, and I was a bit weary
by the end with all the close calls and constant urgency to rescue Riley, who
has been traumatized by a move from the home she had always known to one that
is so different and strange. Her
parents (Diane Lane, Kyla McLachlan) are understanding, but overlook the fact
that she is having a difficult time adjusting. Understandable, in that the father’s business is high
stress, and the mother has to accommodate to a much smaller house (Minnesota to
San Francisco) and different ethos altogether, like broccoli pizza!
I am curious about how much of the principles
of this film get through to children and how much they are simply reacting to
the colorful characters and animation.
There was applause at the end of the screening I attended, but there was
also a lot of restlessness, noise, and babies crying while the film was
running. Presumably, it will
appeal more to those older than seven or eight; I would guess that children
younger than that will lose interest because so much of the film rests on the
dialog, which is more about abstract concepts.
A fascinating trip inside the brain of
a child.
Grade: A By Donna R. Copeland
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