Recently, Pixar released "Inside Out." The movie following the emotions of Riley, an 11-year-old girl whose family moved to California. There are five emotions active in Riley’s life: sadness, joy, fear, disgust, and anger. Each play a vital role in Riley’s life and the formation of her personality. "Inside Out" and its portrayal of each emotion teaches an important lesson that we all need to learn.
Anger
Anger presented himself when Riley, especially at a young age, did not get what she wanted. He was not prominent until Riley began resenting her parents for their relocation. In his actions, Anger was drastic and did things without thinking. Although people like to think or believe otherwise, this is accurate for us all. Anger can lead us to say or do things that are out of the ordinary. This ranges from yelling, “I hate you!” to using someone’s insecurities against them in an argument. Anger is quietly hiding in the corner, waiting for an appropriate situation to show himself. Being angry is completely normal.
The lesson: don’t let anger control you. Letting anger take full control does not end well. It only ends in lots of hurt from all parties involved.
Disgust
Disgust represented our inner thoughts: the internal scoffs, snarky remarks that go unsaid, and general displeasure with the surrounding world. Disgust what the go-to when Joy disappeared, which shows that the opposite of joy isn’t always sadness. On some occasions, it could be disgust. She would often walk about from situations that she did not want to deal with.
The lesson: it’s okay to walk away from unreasonable situations.
Fear
While humorous, Fear played a large role in Riley’s life. He was consulted before Riley’s first day of school where he made a list of the worst things that could possibly happen. This speaks levels because it happens naturally when we are put in new situations. For Riley, it was the first day at a new school. It could be a first day at work, going shopping, or even something as simple as going swimming. We always think of the worst possible scenarios, which sometimes psyches us out of a decision. The one thing Fear never did was take complete control of a situation.
The lesson: fear is normal and natural. Despite this, never let fear be the only thing you feel in a situation.
Joy and Sadness
These two are grouped together because of the extremely large impact they have on each other. Sadness saw the worst in every situation. Joy grew frustrated because, in even the happiest moments, Sadness found a way to bring them down. Sadness was the person responsible for getting Joy lost in the memories. She made everything worse. At least, that’s what Joy thought until a daunting realization that is the explanation and lesson for both of these emotions. Without Sadness, there is no Joy. We would not know what happiness felt like if we didn’t break down and cry every now and again. It is not a sign of weakness. It is a necessary occurrence to bring you to the next point in life.
The lesson: Without sadness, there is no joy. Without joy, there is no sadness.
