The Disney movie, "Inside Out" was one of my favorites. There are so many emotions throughout this movie, and I don't mean the emotions controlling Riley. Not only does "Inside Out" show the different emotions felt by the characters, but it also shows how emotions are controlled within yourself. It also makes you think about times in your life that you felt the same emotions as Riley, and how you handled it. These are the times the emotions from "Inside Out" related directly to my life.
Anger.
Oh anger, my favorite character in the movie because of his sarcasm and funny comments. Everyone feels anger at some point, but maybe about different things. For example, nothing makes me angrier than people who don't signal when driving. Sure it's a minor thing, but it's also a minor step people have to take when switching lanes or exiting the highway. I'm pretty sure fire shoots out of my head every time someone randomly brakes in the middle of the road to make a left hand turn.
Fear.
My second favorite character in the movie. Everyone fears different things, such as clowns, heights, and snakes. Every time fear has fear in the movie, he faints or runs in circles. I can say with all honesty, I am fear when I see spiders. I know they can't hurt me, but I hate them. The worst are huge fuzzy spiders that jump and run fast. It's creepy and grosses me out.
Disgust.
As sarcastic and witty as Disgust is in the movie, I would have never really identified any emotion I had as disgust, I would have probably just said, "Ew" and thought, OK, I don't like that. But Disgust relates to the emotion of "ew." In fact, I think "ew" can be categorized under different levels of disgust. For example, I cannot watch anything with blood and gore, so you can find me with my eyes closed through any of the "Saw" movies, or watching cute puppy videos instead of "Untold Stories of the ER."
Sadness.
Sadness (or Phyllis from the office) is the Debbie Downer of the movie. Nothing makes Sadness happy, even happy moments make Sadness sad. It takes a while for Joy to realize that Sadness is just as important of an emotion as she is. Riley is filled with emotions about her move to a new town, but without feeling Sadness, it is impossible to feel Joy. For example, people feel Sadness at funerals, which is only natural, but most of the time, remembering the good times with the person brings Joy, which in return helps with Sadness. When I am really upset about something, it is hard to see anything joyful. I remember back in middle school I didn't make the school softball team, and I was very sad about it. It took a few days, but I reminded myself I could play for a different softball league, which made me happy I would still be a part of the sport I loved. At the end of the movie, Sadness and Joy must figure out how to balance each other out, which is what we do every day -- we balance out our emotions and control how we portray them.
Joy.
I love how much of a positive influence Joy is throughout the movie. She's always positive she can make everything a happy thought or action, and can make Riley feel better. Though the message I got from "Inside Out" is that Joy is not the only important emotion that someone can feel-they are all important and it's impossible for someone to always be happy. I feel that it's okay to be sad or mad about something, but Joy is there to help make the angry and sad situations seem not so bad at the end of the day, and helps to remind you that things will get better and there is always a silver lining to the not-so-joyous situations. That is what makes Joy so important. It's not so much to keep a person happy all the time, but it is to help a person feel better through the tough times.
