Does “Inside Out” Also Make You Cry?
Does “Inside Out” also make you cry?
“Inside Out” is one of my favorite Pixar movies and somehow also always manages to make me cry. Whether it is (spoilers), the scene where Bing Bong sacrifices himself so Joy can continue on her journey or a later scene of Riley getting on that bus to Minnesota, both manage to find tears in me I didn’t know I had. Why is “Inside Out” so emotional? And why are we discussing it on a therapy blog? Because “Inside Out” incorporates so many components throughout the movie that touch on the topics of trauma and depression.
“Inside Out” utilizes the concept of core memories - these memories are the ones that make Riley who she is, with many of them coming early on in life. These core memories can be thought of similarly to trauma memories in that they have the potential to shape the remaining years we have even if they take place when we are very young. If we have negative experiences such as abuse, neglect or even times of shame these can contribute to how we present ourselves to the world and define what is important to us for years to come. For example, Riley had an internal core part of her called “Family Island”, and it’s integral to the movie from the concept of family being a factor she could always depend on and utilize to create her sense of self. Had she not come from a supportive family, she may not have that “island” and may have thus created alternate support systems to rely on instead like a “Friend Island” or even, inversely, an island that was built on the concept and narrative of people and family being untrustworthy in general!
Depression – In incorporating depression and how “Inside Out” makes this concept relevant to its plot, Riley goes into a depression in response to a traumatic event that occurred after she moves from Minnesota to San Francisco, in the process experiencing a lot of loss (e.g., her friends, her home, and a loss of her routine and hobbies). She then attempts to “be happy” and push down her sadness. Rather than being able to compartmentalize her feelings in an appropriate way and using adaptive coping skills to react to these changes and her depression, instead, Riley ends up losing the ability to feel happy or sad and goes into an apathy. In her apathy she is unable to function as she previously could because she is shutting off parts of herself via removing the sadness. Like depression in the real world, she ends up losing interest in previous activities and even lashes out at her friends and isolates. This part of the movie is the saddest for me because it is her losing her identity and going into a dark place. I cry every time she loses one of the connections to her core memories and the corresponding internal island shatters because it correlates so well to the mental health journey each of us goes through and can relate to. These feelings of pain, hurt and depression can cause confusion and despair leading to feeling unsure about your own identity or who you are. Can anyone else relate to this?
Anger – Anger, disgust, and anxiety take over. When we do not know how we feel, this can sometimes result in feelings of anxiety and anger. Anger many times can be a protective emotion and be a cover for shame or sadness. In “Inside Out”, when Riley was not connecting to her true emotions, these other emotions took over resulting in a confusing and dysregulating time for Riley.
The overall message of the movie – Try as we might, we cannot just push our emotions and trauma down. We need to feel our emotions to work through and process them in a healthy manner, INCLUDING negative emotions such as sadness. Without sadness, Riley was not able to heal and as she also felt unable to confide in her parents, she felt she was alone managing her trauma. By talking about it and allowing herself to connect with that sadness she then was not sitting in confusion, hopelessness, and anger any long and was even able to make new connections. After her trauma, the core parts of her identity may have undergone some changes, but this isn’t inherently a bad thing. The parts of her that were important such as her value of family remained but other core values and “islands” were formed as she had new experiences in life and navigated through new challenges.
