Symbolic Characters In The Film 'Inside Out'

In the directorial work of Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen, the Disney Pixar film Inside Out (2015) expresses a comical tale of symbolic characters to represent a child’s inner emotion. The character Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) exhibits five main emotions: Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), and Disgust (Mindy Kaling). The adventure begins when the emotional beings inside her mind meddle with her core memories. This action sends Riley into a roller coaster of emotional loss and personality alteration. Her mental motherboard becomes altered through a traumatic experience of losing Joy and Sadness. The characters inside her mind must come to a congenial agreement to share memories together and accept imperfections. Inside Out embodies Riley’s emotional development, which is visually depicted in an adventure of her main five emotions; however, the film ultimately expresses …show more content…
It challenges the theory of everyone should be happy and if one is not, then that person would be considered unstable. Riley’s mind is led by the character of Joy, who often overlooks the other emotions. When Joy and Sadness leave to retrieve Riley’s core memories, her personality begins to deteriorate. The child appears to fall into a depressive state with a lack of control. In her society, those around her notice her change in personality. In hockey, Riley lacks the vivacious playing skills and passion she once had. The act of Joy neglecting the other emotional characters reveals how Riley’s expressions are influenced by societal standards of what she is required to feel. Throughout the film, Joy must learn to accept the other emotions. This secondary imaginary plot line parallels Riley’s realistic struggle with the new environment and lack of relationship connection to peers and her