Inside: Inside Out

"Take her to the moon for me, Joy." This quote documents a very sentimental moment in one of the best movies I saw all summer: Inside Out. Inside Out is the newest Disney Pixar film that premiered in June of 2015. It takes place inside the brain of 11-year old Riley as she goes through a major transition period moving from her homey town in the Midwest to a foreign life in San Francisco. It is a definite breath of fresh air as it is unlike anything I have seen before. Disney does an amazing job of articulating a very complex concept (the human mind and emotions) for all audiences. Adults will get a kick out of it just as much as children and will understand it on a whole other level. The reason why this movie has such an impact is because it is relatable; we are all human and we all experience emotions, both good and bad. From the animation to the metaphors in this film, it is completely clever and creative.

The five emotions: fear, disgust, anger, sadness and joy are all given human characteristics and sit in a control room behind Riley's eyes. They see her life before her and adjust the controls according to how she should be reacting in certain situations. Joy is ultimately in charge, as Riley's goal in life is to be happy. Riley's memories are released from her brain as glowing balls, color-coordinated to her emotions. Her brain is an alternate world for the emotions to explore including places such as "the subconscious", "abstract thought" and her "islands of personality". The whole concept of the film is how Riley struggles when Joy and Sadness get lost outside of headquarters (which is where they control her emotions from). Controlling Riley's mind is left up to Anger, Disgust, and Fear. They are very lost on how to take control and result in Riley experiencing what seems like depression to her parents and new classmates. She dresses in black and has random outbursts of anger and disgust, but ultimately she is numb, lacking the two most common and important emotions we feel: joy and sadness.
This film is very psychological and gets into the real details of what we experience inside the head; some things we may not even be aware of. For example, "abstract thought" is a place in Riley's head where she thinks about concepts that are unreal or difficult to understand. When she is going through her rut, she has to comprehend the abstract thought of loneliness which is an unfamiliar situation after moving and losing her emotions.
Inside Out is sentimental film that depicts the themes of family, loneliness and the importance of feeling all emotions: even sadness. It is a breath of fresh air from other kids movies as it depicts life and emotions in a very realistic way and on a whole new level of maturity.

Boo.

Fear has always been a mystery for humans. What causes fear and why are we so interested in this? Fear is a negative sensation from a perceived threat. It is hardwired in our brain with the "Fight or Flight" response. Fear has been within the human condition as long as any other emotion.

This is a really odd reference but I like it anyway.

As much as we claim we hate being scared we still go to the movies to watch these heart wrenching films. It may be because of our morbid fascination to these things, our curiosity to the grotesque and the unknown. Stephen King explained that we love horror movies because it gives into our cruel impulsions.

We know why we find horror movies interesting but why are they scary to begin with? What makes a guy in a rubber suit scary or someone's arm being ripped off a hair raising experience? Instead of searching the internet for an answer I am going to try my best with my own explanation. Horror movies show us something that we usually do not see everyday, and sometimes shows us things we never want to see. The idea that a creature can enter your house at night while you sleep to drain all of your blood is terrifying. However even though the emotional side of our brain is paralyzed with fear our logical side can ease our mind with a rational explanation that vampires and werewolves do not ex

ist. That is why I think the more recent horror films do a better job with causing us fear. Movies like Hostel are scary because of a strong chance of them happening...well stronger chance than zombies knocking on your door for tea and cerebellum. What is scarier, a creature that can not physically survive in the real world due to scientific reasons or getting kidnapped in a foreign country then tortured to death?

Travel the world they said...

Just like anything else in our world, horror movies have evolved in order to keep up with viewers today. Our concept of fear has changed. Or maybe we have just become desensitized by traditional horror due to its over use. I think a crucial element of horror is the shock factor of some of the scenes, and the frankenstein monster can only be created only a certain amount of times before it becomes stale. As I stated earlier these new grotesque horror movies like Hostel or Saw show the viewers what they normally do not see, people getting tortured in sick ways. Thanks to special effects we can see a more realistic and brutal gore scene now without hiding in shadows and claymation.

Horror movies scare me for more than one reason, besides me being easily scared the future of horror movies can take an interesting turn. If what I said is true about the desensitization of fear than in the future we will see movies that will make Saw look like Nosferatu.

Now that's a scary thought.