What Disney-Pixar's 'Inside Out' Can Teach Us About Mental Health | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Entertainment

What Disney-Pixar's 'Inside Out' Can Teach Us About Mental Health

'Inside Out' is more than just a kid's movie.

10162
What Disney-Pixar's 'Inside Out' Can Teach Us About Mental Health
Inside Out / Walt Disney Pictures

Everyone loves Disney-Pixar's smash hit, "Inside Out." Small animated emotions living inside our heads, how cool is that? It benefits children, adults and everyone in between to watch this film. It offers so much more than an escape from boredom for an hour and 40 minutes. "Inside Out" has a much deeper meaning, and yes, it is even deeper than its most apparent lesson of the importance of opening up.

Riley, the main character, is an 11-year-old girl who grew up in a loving and warming environment in Minnesota with her parents and hockey team. However, when her dad lands a new job in San Francisco, this causes Riley to uplift her roots and move there. Leaving all of her friends, hockey team and hometown behind is hard enough for a preteen, but with her parents stressed out with the move, new home and new jobs, Riley feels alone and abandoned. The five emotions that dictate her head -- Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear -- all go into this spiral along with her. Then in the midst of all of this, Joy and Sadness disappear from the Control Center and are now lost somewhere inside Riley's head and have no way of making her feel joy or sadness.

"Inside Out" is clearly a movie about depression and how quickly it can develop. This movie clearly exemplifies the quick progression of depression, how depression does not discriminate and how crucial it is that society starts becoming OK with talking about mental health. In society today, any type of emotion is seen as ridiculous, and a lot of people are found wishing they did not feel anything at all. Disney-Pixar shows how dangerous it can be to feel nothing and how scary it is to feel nothing. This movie is an outcry to society, basically screaming for us to give into our feelings and to stop fighting them. Riley does not talk to her parents or open up about what is going on inside her head because she cannot. She has basically shut down and cannot feel joy or sadness. To show this, the characters Joy and Sadness disappear from "Mission Control," which controls all of Riley's head, leaving her to only feel Anger, Disgust and Fear. Without the ability to feel sad, she cannot open up about her true feelings which causes her to slip into a further depression and to then start feeling almost nothing.

This movie is a wake up call for society about the importance of talking about mental health and explaining it to the younger generations as well. It shows the younger audiences that it is OK to talk about feelings, even if they are not always happy. This movie is an effective way of explaining mental health to younger generations who can not quite understand it in adult terms just yet. It also shows kids that it is OK to feel the way they do and that there is not anything wrong with feeling sad, angry or anything else.

This movie also shows the importance of feeling sadness. Now I know, no one likes feeling sad, but, it is important because there are things that happen in everyday life that we need to feel sad about. Sadness helps Riley cope with the move and the readjustment, just as sadness helps everyone readjust to new situations that are mostly unwanted.

Let this movie become the bridge between society and mental health, making it OK to talk about mental health and illnesses. With mental illnesses becoming more and more apparent in society, it is crucial that we start acknowledging it and talking about it.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
students
Sophia Palmerine

Dear High School Friend Group,

My sweet angels, where would I be without you guys. We all grew up together because we either met in middle school or high school and watched each other grow up and get "old." We got to go to prom together and then graduate together. Then watched each other as we continued our lives in college, joining sororities and meeting people who will impact our lives forever. It all has happened so fast.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

College In Gifs

Because we are all sad Jim Halpert

933
head on desk
Wise GEEK

Oh college, we can’t live with you, but we can’t live without you. It’s a love/hate relationship, really. College is an experience that no one can ever prepare you for, and maybe that’s a good thing. You never really expect any of the things that college encompasses until you are there. College is fun, but don’t have too much fun. C’s get degrees, but they don’t get you into graduate school.

Keep Reading...Show less
Blair Waldorf

The "Gossip Girl" series may be over, but Blair Waldorf's iconic character lives in our hearts forever. Blair was the queen of the Upper East Side, and a character you either loved or hated. She taught us everything we needed to know about life, love and of course, how to score a Chuck Bass. So the next time you feel a bit lost and are in need of guidance, look no further than to the Queen B herself.

As I spend my Sunday avoiding my homework and other adult responsibilities, I realized that I've watched this series over and over about a million times. Sadly, there isn't a Blair quote I don't know, so I came up with a list of a few favorites. You know you love her...xoxo

Keep Reading...Show less
class
Odyssey

College is an endless cycle of crappy, sleepless nights, tedious, boring lectures, and hours of never-ending piles of homework.

Keep Reading...Show less
two women enjoying confetti

Summer: a time (usually) free from school work and a time to relax with your friends and family. Maybe you go on a vacation or maybe you work all summer, but the time off really does help. When you're in college you become super close with so many people it's hard to think that you won't see many of them for three months. But, then you get that text saying, "Hey, clear your schedule next weekend, I'm coming up" and you begin to flip out. Here are the emotions you go through as your best friend makes her trip to your house.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments