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Analysis Of The Movie ' Inside Out '

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Inside Out
I always look forward to the summer blockbuster films, especially the films that have a deeper message behind their storyline. This summer, the film Inside Out was one of those films that had an innovative and imaginative way of giving its audience a chance for self-discovery and reflection. Pixar does an exceptional job incorporating psychology in the film Inside Out because it brings five major emotions to life, explains how core memories define a person, and helps us understand how all emotions are important for mental health. In two reviews I found, one by Janina Scarlet, and one by Dacher Keltner and Paul Ekman, who are psychologist themselves, describe in detail how this movie relates to psychology.

The film introduces an 11-year-old girl named Riley and the five emotions that live inside her head. The five emotions are Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, and Fear. These five emotions live in ‘head’ quarters and control the way Riley feels. For the most part, Joy is in charge and micromanages the rest of the emotions in Riley’s head. Disgust keeps Riley safe from being poisoned, Fear keeps her safe from a disaster by imagining worst case scenarios, Anger guards her from others, while Joy certifies that Riley is happy. Scarlet states that Joy fails to see the importance of sadness in Riley’s life (Scarlet).

The film also illustrates how the five emotions color and organize memories and how core memories define a person. Keltner and Ekman explain that

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