For those of us that have seen the movie Inside Out, we know it is about an 11-year-old girl named Riley, who struggles to adjust to the changes in her life after moving from Minnesota to San Francisco. Helping her adjust are her five main emotions, known as Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Anger, and Fear. 
To the viewer, it seems as if Joy plays the leading role amongst the five emotions in Riley’s head. Scientists wrote an article in the NY Times regarding the movie and suggest “studies find that our identities are defined by specific emotions, which shape how we perceive the world, how we express ourselves and the responses we evoke in others”. From this information, we can assume that Joy is not always the “main character” in everybody’s head, simply based off of how people act.
Some may feel as if Sadness plays the biggest role when it comes to examining Riley’s emotions. As Riley is going through these changes in her life, Joy is trying so hard to hold back the sadness, but in the end, we see Sadness come out to help Riley feel better about her situation.
One lesson to take away from the movie is “emotions organize rational thinking” (NY Times). Dacher Keltner and Paul Ekman, the scientists who wrote the article for the NY Times, believe that “emotions guide our perceptions of the world, our memories of the past and even our moral judgments of right and wrong, most typically in ways that enable effective responses to the current situation”. Throughout the movie, we see flashbacks of Riley’s childhood, and we see how Sadness has shaped them, proving the importance of Sadness to the audience.
Is it bad to be sad? Nope. Not at all. From Sadness, Riley recognizes how she has changed from the past, and is able to redefine herself. People always think you should go through life with positivity, but sadness helps define who we really are.
I liked reading this post because I thought “Inside Out” was a cute movie and I like seeing the effect that it is having on the way our society views negative emotions. I remember reading that psychologists are now using this movie to explain to patients how even “bad” emotions such as anger or sadness still have their rightful places in our daily lives. “Inside Out” resonated with audiences of all ages because it shows us that no one can be happy all the time, and that’s okay. Sadness and anger can often lead to later happiness. I think the message of this movie is extremely valuable and I’m glad it is being taught to both kids and adults across the nation.
I liked reading this post because I thought “Inside Out” was a cute movie and I like seeing the effect that it is having on the way our society views negative emotions. I remember reading that psychologists are now using this movie to explain to patients how even “bad” emotions such as anger or sadness still have their rightful places in our daily lives. “Inside Out” resonated with audiences of all ages because it shows us that no one can be happy all the time, and that’s okay. Sadness and anger can often lead to later happiness. I think the message of this movie is extremely valuable and I’m glad it is being taught to both kids and adults across the nation.
I truly believe that our emotions control a big majority of how we see the world. This could be through past memories, expectations of events, our moral judgment, etc. I like the last little blurb you added. It is true that our emotions help to define us. Many people grow and learn from past feelings towards something. I want to see this movie! Looks cute. 🙂
I truly believe that our emotions control a big majority of how we see the world. This could be through past memories, expectations of events, our moral judgment, etc. I like the last little blurb you added. It is true that our emotions help to define us. Many people grow and learn from past feelings towards something. I want to see this movie! Looks cute. 🙂
I truly believe that our emotions control a big majority of how we see the world. This could be through past memories, expectations of events, our moral judgment, etc. I like the last little blurb you added. It is true that our emotions help to define us. Many people grow and learn from past feelings towards something. I want to see this movie! Looks cute. 🙂