"Inside Out," Disney/Pixar's newest animated film was a box office hit, critics raved about it, and several articles were even featured here on The Odyssey about the film as well. However, as the popularity and craze around the film has started to die down, I want to make an appeal to Disney/Pixar to continue the conversation of mental health that they began with "Inside Out."
Dear Disney/Pixar,
My name is Lauren and I went to go see "Inside Out" twice in theaters and will be purchasing it when it comes to DVD. Each time I saw the movie I found something new and raw and important. I myself struggle with mental illness and find Riley's loss of Joy to be very similar to parts of my own journey as well as countless others around the world. I found your film to be a ground-breaking and eye-opening look at mental health as well as emotional intelligence, and as a psychology student and future therapist, I knew that there was a future importance and use for this film in the mental health community.
"Inside Out" is one of the first animated movies that portrays mental health in a non-stigmatizing way and gives everyone, children and adults, an approachable look at what millions of people around the world struggle with everyday. I find myself thinking that children who feel the way Riley did in the film can use the movie to better describe how they are feeling, such as "Joy ran away and I don't know where to find her," or, "I feel Fear is in control of me right now." In these examples, children finally have a vocabulary to talk about mental health so that if an individual is struggling, they can get help sooner rather than later.
In my own experience with anxiety, I found myself clearly relating to Fear in the movie, trying to figure out everything that could go wrong in a situation, as well as being very scared at the thought of things being out of order or out of my control, and thinking that if one thing goes wrong, the whole day is ruined. This film helped me to better visualize my own struggle with anxiety in a new light, I now can see that when I'm anxious, Fear is just taking the reins for a while, but I know that soon Joy will be back, and that gives me more hope.
My plea to you Disney/Pixar, is to keep the momentum about this movie alive, and to keep the conversation about mental health open. I think the movie was a great start to destigmatizing the topic of mental illness, but I think there is so much more to be done. Please try to work on community outreach or pair up with mental health organizations to promote mental health for everyone, or better yet, do a sequel or a series of shorts with the characters and show what happens when Anger or Fear is in control for too long. Overall, I hope that in the future, because of your work with mental health and "Inside Out," someone will tell you that they found their Joy because of your efforts.
Thank you,
Lauren
