Inside Out – Understanding Emotions

(In partial fulfilment for SocSc 11 – Understanding the Self)

Inside out is an animated movie released in 2015. The movie revolves around Riley and her emotions Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, and Fear. It personifies the 5 emotions and highlights the relevance of each emotions throughout the film especially Sadness, the apparent “underdog” of the film.

This blog entry serves as my reflection regarding the film through the guided question presented by my SocSc teacher, Ms. Avegale C. Acosta.

Reflection on the film “Inside Out”

Question 1: Identify at least 3 parts of the film that struck you. What made you choose that? What do these parts say about emotions?

Moment 1: Bing Bong’s death

“Take Her To The Moon For Me, Ok?

Bing Bong

Arguably the saddest scene in the movie. The death of Riley’s imaginary friend, Bing Bong represents what everyone will eventually encounter as we mature. We all have that stage when we let go of our childhood imagination like Bing Bong in pursuit of something more realistic. Although an essential and unavoidable part of life, it is still sad to see people giving up part of themselves in order to grow up.

Moment 2: Recognising the importance of sadness

The story concludes with Joy handing over the core memories to sadness. This scene is relevant because it recognises the importance of sadness. We often try to ignore our sadness, a thing the movie showed through the circle of sadness that joy drew. By recognising that we are sad, we begin to empathise with others, understand our self and as sadness says so herself, “Crying Helps Me Slow Down And Obsess Over The Weight Of Life’s Problems”.

Moment 3: Riley meets that boy in the end

I like this for comedic reasons.

Question 2: What did I learn about myself and others?

I learned that all emotions are important. We shouldn’t ignore an emotion if we feel a certain way. Addressing our emotion helps us understand who we are and by understanding ourselves, we are able to develop more as our own identity.

The same also holds true in regards to interacting with one another. Acknowledging all emotions helps us enjoy our time with others, empathise with others, get angry at/with others, and many more. It allows us to connect with other people which is the goal of social interaction in the first place.

Question 3: How can I apply this learning in my life?

I can apply this learning in my life by acknowledging that all emotions are important. I must never ignore my feelings and I must stick true to them. If ever I feel a certain way, I must address it in order to further my understanding of myself and others.

Conclusion

The animated film Inside Out teaches people the importance of all emotions. It presents the harm of ignoring what one feels and the significance of recognising all emotions whether positive ones or the negative ones. It is only by recognising what we feel can we grow as well-rounded individuals.