After almost 10 years since the first release, ‘Inside Out 2’ is finally out in theaters! As one of the most anticipated movies of 2024, over a billion dollars has racked up making it the most successful film of the year so far. The newly released film returns to the mind of a girl where she finally hits the big 13. Throughout her adventure of being a teenager, she is exposed to new emotions: Anxiety, Envy, Ennui, Embarrassment along with a bit of Nostalgia. None of which she experienced initially in the first one.
On June 19th of 2015, ‘Inside Out’ hit the big screen. The movie features a girl named Riley where she is forced to adapt to a new life in San Francisco. She faces emotions every child has at the start: Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust. The motion picture raised $858.8 million in box office along with many awards such as the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and MTV Movie Award for Best Visual Performance.
Besides it’s incredible achievements in entertainment, the film provides a great message about mental health. This is very relatable especially to Generation Z which has 42% of it’s population struggling with mental health.
One of the many lessons this movie has given us is that anxiety is an emotion that needs to be balanced. Anxiety is seen as a negative emotion at most times. While creating ‘Inside Out 2’, Anxiety was supposed to play a villain. But we actually see this awkward and smiley side of her in the movie showing Anxiety can also serve as a positive emotion. She can be helpful in small doses such as helping Riley plan for the future which was always her main goal. Anxiety also has the ability to imagine every possible mistake Riley can make so she can plan out ways to overcome them. But Anxiety also tries every way to make Riley perfect for hockey tryouts and for her to fit in with the Red Hawks. Riley then starts to lose her sense of self because of this and starts to betray her friends and make up lies. Anxiety really is a two-faced emotion so it is important we try to maintain it before it gets worse such as panic attacks. This brings up another lesson: You don’t have to pretend when you're with the right people.
The way Riley acts towards the Red Hawks, aka the popular girls, is completely different than how she is with her best friends. When she’s with the people who know her better and care about her, she’s silly and funny while being the best version of herself. But with the Red Hawks, she tries to impress them and be someone she’s not. During the movie, the whole team has some streak of red shown in their hair to portray they’re name. Riley then does the same thing thinking the team will like her more. She also lies about where she's from and her music taste. She was so focused on trying to get on the team and be a part of them she didn’t know who she was anymore. This resonates with most teens and students wanting to fit in. We always try to follow what everyone else is doing, wanting to be cool. But you don’t need to be like other people to have friends. As cliche as it sounds, always be yourself. Find people who you can be comfortable with. With them you will be accepted no matter who you are or what you like.
Inside Out 2 has done a great job of portraying the mind of a teenage girl into such a fun and action filled film. It gives us so many lessons that everyone should learn, including adults. This movie is very much family friendly and was definitely worth the wait.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kamal, Nathan. ““Inside out 2” Changes Story, Cuts Controversial New German Emotion - inside the Magic.” Inside the Magic, 21 Apr. 2024, insidethemagic.net/2024/04/inside-out-2.
“Inside out 2.” Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3638199041/.
“Pixar Animation Studios.” Pixar Animation Studios, www.pixar.com/feature-films/inside-out.
“Inside out 2.” Disney Movies, movies.disney.com/inside-out-2.
College, Pacific Oaks. “Gen Z’s View on Therapy and Mental Health | Pacific Oaks.” Voices Digital, 4 Mar. 2024, www.pacificoaks.edu/voices/blog/gen-z-view-on-mental-health/#:
Comments