Takeaways from Inside Out 2: A Therapist’s Perspective
First of all, if you haven’t seen the movie yet, I highly recommend doing so. It’s a beautiful demonstration of the complexity of emotions for kids and adults. I can attest to this, as my 30-year-old self was already tearing up in awe within the first 5 minutes. Of course, this happened periodically throughout the movie, which (if you know me) was to be expected.
*Spoilers below!*
This movie introduces us to a handful of new emotions: Anxiety, Embarrassment, Envy, and Ennui (boredom/tiredness). We get to see how they impact Riley’s life and coexist with the existing emotions: Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust. The creators of the film also depict the development of beliefs and sense of self, as they related to emotions.
There is SO much to be learned from this film, but I will focus on a handful of reflections I had while watching Inside Out 2.
Growing Up is Complex
As I watched the film, I was reminded of the complexity and chaos of growing up, especially into a teenager. Puberty wreaks havoc on Riley’s mind and body, just as it does for all of us. The depiction of renovating Riley’s emotional headquarters was hilariously relatable. The movie shows the transition through puberty incredibly well. It shows us the increased emotional sensitivity and reactivity, as well as the desperation for friendship and belonging.
Overall takeaway: Being a teenager is HARD.
Bottling Up Emotions Doesn’t Work
The metaphor that we all know, “bottling up emotions,” took on a literal meaning here. As an attempt to control the narrative in Riley’s life, Anxiety contains several emotions (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust) in a glass jar and kicks them out of headquarters. Anxiety uses the opportunity of no interruptions by these emotions to move Riley toward various actions that are intended to help her have friends in the future. This was a stressful part of the movie for me, as I watched Anxiety slowly transform Riley’s belief system from Joy-centered to Anxiety-centered.
Overall takeaway: Anxiety may be trying to help us, even if it’s not doing a great job.
Development of Beliefs
As Riley’s experience as an early teenager continues, we see how her emotions have influenced her memories, which then impact her beliefs about herself and the world. For example, as a result of Joy’s influence Riley believes, “I’m a good person.” As the story continues and Anxiety takes over, Riley’s beliefs sound more like, “I’m not good enough.”
The previously bottled up emotions eventually make their way back to headquarters, finding Anxiety in overdrive. For those who have experienced Anxiety in their own lives, this scene is especially difficult to witness. We see Riley’s panic attack in action, as Anxiety has tried and tried and tried to help Riley be good enough, and now Anxiety is stuck. Anxiety is finally able to release control when Joy allows Riley’s sense of self to include all the emotions, instead of only Joy.
Overall takeaway: Each emotion needs space to exist, and they can even work together.
A Flexible Sense of Self
Toward the end of the movie we get to see how Riley has developed an evolving sense of self. We see that her sense of self now includes various beliefs and emotions that may sometimes even contradict each other. But this shows the reality of how complex we are as humans. We might believe we are incapable of something one minute, and then remember that we have shown how capable we are before. Our anxiety might lead us to believe we have to plan everything out, and then our joy might allow us to feel at peace with any outcome.
Overall takeaway: We are complex enough to hold many beliefs and emotions.
