Inside Out
The Disney Pixar movie, Inside Out is an absolute masterpiece. Not for its witty humor, cleverness, or impressive animation. While those things are great, what makes this film truly remarkable is its ability to portray the intricate and magical way the brain works. If you’ve never seen it before, allow me to set the scene with a brief summary.
The story follows the adventures of five primary emotions that live in preteen, Riley’s head. Joy, Anger, Sadness, Disgust, and Fear control her brain… literally. There are brilliant depictions of long term memory, hidden traumas, abstract thought, etc. Daily memories can be seen in headquarters where the emotions work. Every memory is a colored orb that correlates to the emotion attached. For example, if she got to eat ice cream, that memory would be yellow for joy. If she got into a fight with a friend, it would be red for anger. Most of her memories are yellow, including all of her core memories. In the film, Sadness accidentally turns one of Riley’s core memories from yellow to blue. Or in other words, from happy to sad.
Riley is faced with a series of circumstances that cause her to fall into a depression. There is a distinct moment when you can see the lights go out figuratively in her eyes and physically when her islands of personality go dark. Joy and Sadness are inadvertently swept into the far reaches of Riley’s mind as they try to find a way to get back to headquarters. This is important because if Joy isn’t up there, Riley can’t be happy.
On their journey, they bump into Riley’s imaginary friend from childhood, Bing Bong. He’s a quirky side character that in my opinion, has the greatest story arc in the whole movie. My connection to this playful being is a powerful and unique one. Let me explain… Bing Bong has a red wagon with rockets on the back that shoot out rainbows and allow him to fly if you sing a special song (remember, he’s completely made up from Riley’s young imagination). Something happens that causes him, his wagon, and Joy to fall into what’s called the memory dome where memories are forgotten for good. Joy knows she needs to get out, so she and Bing Bong decide to fly out of the pit with the magic wagon. They try several times but aren’t able to make it all the way to the top. Right before their final attempt, Bing Bong has the realization that the wagon will never make it with both of them in it; he’s just too heavy. With that knowledge, they sing the song one more time at the top of their lungs and at the last second, Bing Bong jumps out, allowing Joy to reach the top. Joy is ecstatic that she made it out when she notices that Bing Bong isn’t with her. With a heavy heart, she peers down into the memory dome to witness Bing Bong jumping up and down and shouting with glee, “Go! Go save Riley.”
That scene makes me ugly cry every single time. Even just thinking about it gives me goosebumps. I can’t help but make the connection from Bing Bong to my own alters. Like Bing Bong, my mind created my alters to protect me and in a way, they sacrificed themselves for me too. When it came time to fully integrate, my alters knew they were no longer required so they fell into my metaphorical memory dome. And just like Bing Bong, they loved me so deeply they were able to acknowledge that I would be better off… happier even without them. Bing Bong knew he played his role when Riley needed him but that his purpose was through. He offered himself up willingly to help her get her joy back. Imagination literally saved her. It saved me too.
Another beautiful message in the story is that happiness cannot exist without also experiencing sadness. At the end of the movie, Joy realizes that it’s not she who can “fix” Riley like she thought. Joy urges Sadness to take control and really allow Riley to feel her pain and sit in her devastation. As Riley succumbs to her feelings, a tear rolls down her cheek as her parents hold her in an embrace. In that moment, Sadness grabs ahold of Joy’s hand, leads her to the controls, and takes a step back. There is finally room for happiness after heartbreak. The whole time Sadness thinks she’s the problem. When in reality, she is the solution.
Let your emotions hold hands and co-exist. Permit yourself to feel everything you’re feeling; and deeply. Remember the parts of you that sacrifice themselves to save you. And while you’re at it, please, go watch this amazing film… it might just change your life.