Saturday was gorgeous.
It was a sunny, breezy day with zero humidity, and – I was headed to the movies.
Off to see ‘Inside Out 2’ with my daughters and their friends.
I am not a movie critic, but there are some films I have to write about. Here’s my take.
If you saw the first ‘Inside Out’, you'll remember Riley's emotions – joy, sadness, fear, anger, and disgust. Now twelve, she has new emotions that challenge her sense of self. In this sequel Riley starts to experience –
anxiety,
envy,
embarrassment,
boredom
a roller coaster of emotions that are hard to navigate – certainly challenging when you're 12.
Here are the movie lines that hit me the most. Even pulled out of context they highlight the challenges that deeply resonate with a human experience.
“We can’t help her without her sense of self.”
“How do we be our new self, if our new self isn’t ready yet?”
Pixar nailed it with this question.
How do we be our new selves when we're still working to get there? As an adult doing inner child and shadow work, this movie had so many threads to creating new neural pathways. Another question asked, “How do we keep the bad memories from bad beliefs?” The answer: rewiring past beliefs. “We can’t even find the back of our own mind.” Ugh, I know it's hard.
New scene: Anxiety is spinning out of control with all the things that could go wrong. Joy starts to challenge all Anxiety's what-ifs for the worst, with all the what-ifs for the best.
Joy – “Positive projections.”
Anxiety – “The mind police are on their way.”
Joy – “Don’t listen to anxiety!”
Anxiety — “We need to be prepared.”
Anxiety acts as a protector and needs to be managed. And competing emotions are real.
This movie showcased emotions that impact Riley’s interactions and self-identity as a teenager. It shares relatable struggles and the complexity of our emotions —
What we remember
What we forget – and
The rewiring within us.
AND THIS LINE –
“We love all of our girl—every messy part of her.”
‘Inside Out 2’ captured the emotional depth and adventure of finding our true sense of self.
It’s touching and incredibly real.
I hope you watch it!