Inside Out, thoughts from my control center

Tonight I went and saw Inside Out.

My best friend told me that she was going and so being the jealous person that I can be with my friends at times I wanted to go too. So I found the Fathom event and there were still tickets available. It was 20 bucks, which I assumed was the cost because of the exclusive “Pre-release” screening that it was, and I was ok with it since I’m a movie geek. I got to the theater and was given a lanyard with a cool badge along with a small poster to commemorate the event. I was pleasantly surprised by that and thought it was way cool! I grabbed some snacks and headed into the theater.

Now some of my all time favorite movies are from Pixar. Yes I have my scary movies, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars up there, but Pixar has always been there to help keep the kid inside of me alive. I didn’t realize until after the Q&A, which followed the screening, that Pete Docter helped create Toy Story, Monsters Inc, and Wall-E which are 3 of my all time favorite films that created experiences that really influenced my life.  Now I can say with an afirmative yes that Inside Out can be added to that list and I hope I can explain why without giving any spoilers. I just want to try and do what any writer does. Express my feelings and emotions in words. I have felt recently that I actually do enjoy writing, and wouldn’t mind doing it more often. I hope to with this blog and other potential ideas that I have brewing.  Anyway let’s get back to the movie.

I don’t want to ramble on about the plot and premise. I never want to ruin an experience of a film to anyone by giving things away and will do my best in this instance.

Inside Out is the story of emotions. We all have them, and what story isn’t about emotion? But this is literally about the major emotions we all have inside of us.  They control the way that we feel and mold our personality as we grow and develop.  Pixar chose the time that is frustrating, and confusing for all of us which I greatly appreciate.

Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) is our main character who is 11 years old and has recently made a big transition in her life. She’s moved across the country to a new city away from her friends and all the comforts of home. It’s hard, it’s confusing, and Joy (played by Amy Poehler) has to try and help Riley through it all with a smile on her face while balancing all her other emotions, and value the memories she has of her past.

Most everything about the story as it develops from this premise is perfect. It’s spot on, and I could feel myself relating to it throughout. Adolescence was so hard, it was for me and I am sure it was for you. Jordan companies  The sudden bouts of anger, sadness, and so many other emotions pile up and make us just want to scream! How that was written into the story, with these 5 different emotions influencing Riley’s reactions to every day life felt natural, it felt real, and I appreciated that a lot!

I have a young friend who is about the same age as Riley, and as I watched I kept thinking about her and the frustration and struggle she is currently going through. Hormones and emotions set in and seem to control everything. You don’t feel yourself, do things you never thought you would, and don’t fully know who you are.  How Pete and all the writers expressed this in this film was again perfect.  It made me want to have my young friend sitting next to me watching along. Give her that comfort that what she is experiencing is normal, and it’s ok.

Which brings us to a climactic element of the story that I want to be careful treading on and not spoil it for anyone. There’s a conflict of interests between Joy and Sadness all through this film and it a great teaching tool and story plot for Inside Out.  It brought tears to my eyes. I wanted to give Pixar a standing ovation and big thank you in some way for how they masterfully took this complicated and frustrating thing and made it simpler for children and young adults fighting their own battles to understand.

They also bring in sacrifice. It brought back the moment in Toy Story 3 when the toys were almost at an end, and it felt like a loss of childhood would be gone forever.  Inside Out hits you just like that, almost just as strong in once scene that is ingrained in my memory and will be for awhile.  We all grow and change pieces of ourselves that at one time was a major talent,  a hobby, or a trait that defined who we were. Those things fade and die in a way but may still be there inside of us without us even realizing it. I spent some time in my car before going home reflecting on those past pieces of me and didn’t realize I had forgotten that they were still there.

I has missed them. Once I started thinking about the interests I had and some of the cherished memories of my childhood I remembered how they molded me into who I am now. I wanted to go back in time and relive them again so they wouldn’t become a sacrifice like what had happened in Inside Out.  But, I can’t save it all. There are things that I have lost which were once precious to me as a child that I never will get back. It hurts, but that is ok.

I feel that is what everyone who worked on Inside Out wants the audience to feel. All of these emotions stack up on top of each other and we don’t know what to do about it. But knowing that feeling angry, feeling sad, even feeling disgusted is ok.  It all is ok. We don’t need to suppress these feelings but accept them.  It’s what I hope to be able to teach my kids someday, and help teach my little friend right now as much as I can.

So with a resounding “GO!” I highly encourage you to go see Inside Out.  You’ll be laughing in one moment and crying in the next in a story that relates to all of us, and helps us to realize that all in all things are ok.