I decided to take a different approach to my critical film review. “Inside Out” is a recently new film that does not actually have an identified therapist or client. However, the main themes of the movie have many parallels to the content that we have been learning in class. “Inside Out” is a Disney Pixar movie that brings to life the five emotions (Joy, Anger, Disgust, Fear, and Sadness) of 11-year-old Riley. Life is seemingly going smoothly for Riley and her emotions. She is excelling in hockey, has a best friend, and is creating “core memories” which generate her personality “islands”. Everything runs amuck when Riley and her family move to California and Joy (Riley’s main emotion) and Sadness get trapped outside of the main control center
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Sadness has often been pushed to the side because Joy can’t really find a purpose for her. Through a series of adventures throughout Riley’s conscious and subconscious Joy discovers that Sadness is essential so that Riley can feel Joy. At the end of the movie, Joy and Sadness make it back to the control center and Riley can once again feel her entire range of emotion.
As a psychology major, this film really intrigued me. I was a generally happy child like most, but I was also fortunate enough to have parents that taught me that it is ok to cry, get angry, be envious, fear things – so long as I had a balance. On the contrary, I know that there are children who do not realize this. Immediately after watching this movie, I thought about what a great educational tool this movie could be for children. If this film were to be used in a therapy session as a tool I think the therapist would most likely be practicing Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT). CBT emphasizes the role of thinking about the link between how we feel and what we do. Just like Disney identified …show more content…
A psychologist named Paul Eckman did a study of universal emotions and found that there is a set of six emotions that are recognized by humans regardless of region, culture, or age. As humans, we express and recognize these emotions (happiness, anger, fear, envy, sadness, and surprise) the same way. “Inside Out” covers five of these six emotions. These emotions let us know when to be empathetic, excited, and even laugh. Thinking back to the humanism perspective and one of the basic assumptions being that humans are born trusting other humans, the movie captures this perfectly by also showing the emotions of Riley’s parents as well. Riley can trust that her mom or dad is feeling sadness because they have an actual physical expression that tells Riley they are sad. That is why I think this movie also aligns well with Gestalt psychology. Gestalt psychology stresses living as a congruent being and living in the here and now. The movie’s message about the importance of emotional congruence for optimal mental health captured what Gestalt psychology is about. I think about when Riley first moves to California and her mom tells her “keep the smile on for dad”. Although Riley is not enjoying her new town and the move, Joy encourages the other emotions to remain positive – even putting Sadness in the corner in a little circle instructing her not to touch anything. Almost mirror to this, in the “Gloria” video, when Dr. Perlz was
Sadness has often been pushed to the side because Joy can’t really find a purpose for her. Through a series of adventures throughout Riley’s conscious and subconscious Joy discovers that Sadness is essential so that Riley can feel Joy. At the end of the movie, Joy and Sadness make it back to the control center and Riley can once again feel her entire range of emotion.
As a psychology major, this film really intrigued me. I was a generally happy child like most, but I was also fortunate enough to have parents that taught me that it is ok to cry, get angry, be envious, fear things – so long as I had a balance. On the contrary, I know that there are children who do not realize this. Immediately after watching this movie, I thought about what a great educational tool this movie could be for children. If this film were to be used in a therapy session as a tool I think the therapist would most likely be practicing Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT). CBT emphasizes the role of thinking about the link between how we feel and what we do. Just like Disney identified …show more content…
A psychologist named Paul Eckman did a study of universal emotions and found that there is a set of six emotions that are recognized by humans regardless of region, culture, or age. As humans, we express and recognize these emotions (happiness, anger, fear, envy, sadness, and surprise) the same way. “Inside Out” covers five of these six emotions. These emotions let us know when to be empathetic, excited, and even laugh. Thinking back to the humanism perspective and one of the basic assumptions being that humans are born trusting other humans, the movie captures this perfectly by also showing the emotions of Riley’s parents as well. Riley can trust that her mom or dad is feeling sadness because they have an actual physical expression that tells Riley they are sad. That is why I think this movie also aligns well with Gestalt psychology. Gestalt psychology stresses living as a congruent being and living in the here and now. The movie’s message about the importance of emotional congruence for optimal mental health captured what Gestalt psychology is about. I think about when Riley first moves to California and her mom tells her “keep the smile on for dad”. Although Riley is not enjoying her new town and the move, Joy encourages the other emotions to remain positive – even putting Sadness in the corner in a little circle instructing her not to touch anything. Almost mirror to this, in the “Gloria” video, when Dr. Perlz was