Riley In Inside Out

In the film, Inside Out, the audience follows Riley, an average girl from Minnesota who is forced to move to San Francisco when her dad’s job needs him on the west coast. From beginning to end we watch her adjust and cope, not from the perspective of Riley, but from the perspective of her emotions (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, and Fear). Not only does the audience watch Riley grow, they get to experience the development of her emotions and how it affects Riley as a person.

The main character is Joy. She is the first emotion introduced and experienced by Riley, and over time the others appear. Joy’s purpose is to make sure that Riley lives a happy life and she feels that she is the only one that can make that happen. Joy’s major flaw, is …show more content…
Though there are a couple of similar moments within the second act of the film, this one seems most likely because it is the first one and falls directly in the middle of the script. Bing Bong says he knows the way back to Control Central and Joy has a reason to be happy. She can get closer to getting back home and fixing everything that has gone wrong. For the first time in the film since the mishap, things are looking up. Rather than continuing to aimlessly wander the massive maze that is Long Term Memory, the pair now has a guide to aid them in their quest and are getting closer to their desired destination, …show more content…
This goal is very much commonly used in films, especially in children films, but what makes this take interesting, is the fact that this adventure takes place inside Riley’s subconscious as Riley’s struggle with adjusting to her new surroundings is more of a sub plot that effects Sadness and Joy’s journey. Throughout the film, these two emotions are tasked with overcoming the physical obstacles that are directly reflected by Riley’s internal struggles. Every time one of the remaining emotions at the control panel makes a wrong move that has a negative effect on Riley, a physical “personality island” in Riley’s subconscious plummets into a pit, preventing Sadness and Joy from simply crossing over back to the control center and forcing them to get creative and work together to accomplish their mutual goal of getting home. Through endless mazes, dark pits, scary clowns, pessimism, pride, they overcome all oppositions to find their way back home. And nearing the end, Joy comes to the realization that she needs sadness as much as Riley needs Joy. You cannot have one without the