With last week's release of Inside Out on Blu-Ray, (which, of course, I had to buy the day it came out), this seemed an appropriate time to bust out a long overdue blog post that's been gathering dust in my notebook since summer.
There was a time when I believed that Pixar Animation Studios could do no wrong, but I have to admit that it's been a good few years since the last time I really looked forward to one of their movies. So it was exciting to see advertisements for Inside Out and feel that anticipation that I've been missing. I was sure that, for the first time since Toy Story 3, maybe even before that, I'd get to watch a Pixar flick that truly tugged at my heartstrings the way the old classics did. As it turned out, I got quite a bit more than what I bargained for.
My boyfriend has developed this uncanny ability to know when I'm crying during a film, even when I'm trying my best to hide it. I know this, because every time the silent tears start streaming down my face, his arm instinctively wraps around my shoulders and pulls me in close. I spent a very large percentage of Inside Out with my head resting on Kevin's shoulder, so much so that my neck felt a little stiff by the end of it. And every time I had a break and thought it was safe to sit upright, it was only a matter of minutes before his arm was around me again. Inside Out made me cry more than any Pixar movie every has, (and anybody who has ever seen almost any Pixar movie knows that's saying something).
I felt like Inside Out just got me. I know all too well how it feels to be out of control of my emotions, to have random feelings taking over without me being able to figure out why. I've been at that place of feeling like I was losing parts of my personality, and letting myself shut down because I couldn't get a handle on my emotions. I understand wanting nothing more than to find joy when it feels like sadness is overtaking my every thought. Even the tag scene, which already provided a wonderful bit of levity after such an emotional roller-coaster of a film, was especially hilarious to anyone who has ever witnessed a cat flipping out at the drop of a hat for apparently no reason at all. So for me, a cat owner struggling with emotional turmoil, Inside Out seemed perfect. It even got better the more I read about the inspiration behind the story, or people's in-depth analyses of its little details.
Given my intense emotional reaction to the movie, you can imagine my surprise to find out how many people were thoroughly unimpressed by it. I understand that people have different taste in movies, but this was something else. A lot of people really didn't like it. Some claimed it was uninteresting or went on too long. Others were upset because their kids didn't like it. What shocked me most, though, was who didn't like it. These opinions were coming from people whose taste in things I usually respect, and often share. So why was I lauding this movie as a genius piece of cinema while so many others were so "meh" about it?
This isn't to say I'm alone in my undying adoration of Inside Out. There are a fair few people who have the same enthusiasm for Pixar's latest gem, one of them being my friend Sarah, who studies child psychology, and found Inside Out to be brilliant and fascinating. Since she saw it, she has been posting all manner of articles and reviews on social media. It's because of one of these articles that I realized why I had such a strong reaction to the movie, and perhaps why others didn't.
The article highlighted the fact that Inside Out might have the potential to start important conversations about mental health. It's a visual depiction of how it can sometimes feel to experience anxiety and depression. For those of us who have had a hard time finding the words to explain our feelings, Inside Out puts it all right there on screen for everyone to understand.
The problem was, I think, that people who haven't had those thoughts and feelings couldn't fully understand what they were looking at. Friends of mine were correct in pointing out that it wasn't much of a kid's movie, because a lot of kids, especially little ones, might be too young to understand its emotional complexity. Or, as was the case with at least a couple of people I know, their kids felt upset by the movie without being able to figure out why, and there was never a super bright and cheery payoff to make up for it.
For my adult friends more mentally sound than I, it makes sense that they weren't that engaged or entertained. And it makes even more sense that many of them were confused by the actions of the characters, Several friends of mine found themselves frustrated, wondering why Sadness kept touching memories when Joy told her not to, or why Joy couldn't just touch memories to make them happy again. My friend Cassie also pointed out that not everyone who has anxiety or depression experiences those things in the same way. While I felt like I related to how it was shown, it didn't speak to everyone like it did to me.
The more I talk to people about Inside Out, the more I realize that it appeals to a pretty limited demographic. And while I would typically sit in silent judgment of people whose opinions in film differ from mine, that's not the case here. These are all valid concerns, particularly where kids are concerned. Most people would go into a Pixar film with the expectation that it will be light-hearted and entertaining for kids, and to be presented with such heavy material instead must feel to some people like a huge let-down.
I won't try to convince everyone that they should watch it again and try harder to enjoy it, because if you, personally, don't relate to it, it likely still won't appeal to you. Kevin hasn't lived with anxiety and depression, and so Inside Out didn't resonate with him quite the way it did with me. However, he still had a deep appreciation for it, at least in part because he was there to see my reaction to it, and because he's been with me long enough to fathom at least a bit of how my anxiety affects me. In fact, he was the one to suggest that we write conjoining blog posts about our reactions to the movie.
If you know someone who is like me, or especially if you have a child beginning to struggle with emotions that he or she can't verbalize, Inside Out might be worth a second look, even if just to get a better grasp on what they might be feeling, which might make communication much simpler. It may never be your favorite Pixar production, and that's okay. But hopefully I've been able to give you a deeper appreciation for what it could mean to the people you love.
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: "The Joy of Credits" - Michael Giacchino (Inside Out - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
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