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Recently, I re-watched Inside Out. I last watched it when it had just come out, in the hospital with my sister. I saw it then, at a really hard time in my life. And I loved it. But on the rewatch, it made me tear up. Because I realized something then. This kid's movie is the perfect metaphor for mental illness.
My eight old sister thought it was pretty sad too, but didn't get what I was getting so worked up about. But as someone who had quite the mental health journey these past few years, this movie spoke to me - in a way that few movies meant for adults on the topic seem too.
Summary
Inside Out is about a tween girl named Riley. She is carefree, fun & infectiously happy. She is close to her parents & surrounded by friends. Her parents pick her up & move her across the country - which is where the trouble starts.
Inside Out goes inside her head, with emotions each taking center stage at the controls when Riley needs them. Joy is in charge, directing them all. There's also sadness, anger, disgust & fear.
Ok, after that very brief summary, I'm going to be exploring how Riley's journey in Inside Out coincides with mine & other's journey with mental illness.
Please note that this is just my personal opinion. I'm not a licensed therapist or any way qualified to talk about mental illness, aside from my own personal experiences. Everyone with mental illness has their own unique journey.
There will be full spoilers up ahead. If you would like to avoid those going in, please check out this masterpiece of a film first.
The begging - remember when we used to be happy?
Like in every story, there seems to be a point in everyone's life when things were simple, uncomplicated. When you used to be happy. When everything seemed to be ok. For many who suffer from mental illness, this was just the point before they realized just how fucked up everything was.
And in a way, for many people, this is entirely imaginary. We like to see our childhood as an idyllic, carefree time - even when it wasn't. And certainly, most of us are better at shutting things off as children - though that often comes back to bite us.
Riley, the main character, actually does have an idyllic childhood. She has perfect parents. She is loved & adored by them. She is surrounded by friends. But then...
Everything isn't ok anymore
There's that moment. Maybe it's when everything just gets to be too much and you just want out. Maybe it's when things just all start going haywire. Maybe it's when you become a teenager and realize how not ok things are.
But, you just can't find your joy anymore. That spark of hope that kept you going, no matter what. And you suddenly find yourself in ways that you never would before.
It's like your joy goes missing - in Inside Out, Riley's joy literally isn't there. And all her other, emotions take over and she starts acting in ways she doesn't like. Her inner world starts falling apart. Her memory islands start to collapse, her core memories get taken over by sadness. And then begins...
The very long, winding road to recovery
Something's wrong. Riley isn't acting like herself, her memory islands are falling apart, sadness is touching things she shouldn't be for reasons she herself doesn't understand & destroying core memories.
Joy and sadness go on a journey to try to help Riley by finding out what's wrong & fixing it. And so they embark on the long, winding, confusing road to recovery.
They get lost countless times. They find all the things she had forgotten. They lose & destroy things along the way. And they have to leave her stuffed animal friend behind - because some things need to be left in the past to move forward.
And along the way, joy finds that she needs to work together with sadness to repair the core memories. Because when confronting mental illness, I realized that I need to go to those deepest darkest parts of myself. That I needed to accept all my emotions. Not to go numb. Because we only get to happy by confronting and dealing with the things that make us sad - all the traumas, all the pain.
And at the very end, there's a button on the control room that says puberty. A big, red button that lets the audience know pressing it will mean plenty of turmoil for Riley, maybe another journey in her brain. Because you're never finished the fight against mental illness. But you can use the tools & lessons you learned along the way.
In conclusion...
Inside Out is a great movie that made me feel all the things. I felt sad as I relived my own journey that mirrored Riley's, albeit a less polished version. And I felt joy and hope at the end as Riley found her happy again. And it reminded me that I too can keep finding my happiness - as complicated and winding as the path to it may be.
So I think it's a great watch for anyone who struggles with mental illness or just human emotions. If you got through this entire review without watching it (like I totally would, I see you), then watch it here. I truly loved this video. And who knows? Maybe you will too.
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