With the first Inside Out film, I couldn’t imagine how Disney Pixar could make sense of, much less create entertainment out of, the processes of the human brain.
Within a storyline about a preteen girl’s existential crisis, Disney shook me as a parent and reminded me as a teacher of the impact we all have on each other in the form of childhood “core memories” (a phrase that jumped out of medical textbooks and into the vernacular thanks to the film).
Inside Out 2 follows the development of the adolescent brain and all of its cringy complexities. Riley, the main character, now 13 years old, experiences huge hormonal swings, loses executive control of her emotions, allows one emotion to override the others, and disconnects from the sense of self-developed by her childhood experiences.
Meanwhile, her poor parents are left baffled by her volatile emotional range and lack of control. I see you, Jill Anderson.
The first Inside Out showed us that joy, sadness, fear, anger, and disgust develop early in childhood, and who we become is based on the emotional responses to experiences that become memories. Some memories sustain; some shift into the nether regions of the brain.
The film made me rethink my own memories and their impact on adult me, the memories that my children will carry forward, and how and what I teach young people.
For example, I now completely avoid memorization as a tool for teaching content that is wholly unnecessary for adult life functions lest all content end up like the list of presidents in the first movie– “Just keep Washington, Lincoln, and the fat one”–Why was I making kids waste valuable neural connections on lists that could be Googled?!
In the new film, Riley’s central nervous system unexpectedly has a new control panel, and additional emotions assist in running it. My middle school colleagues and I have witnessed these overnight “puberty attacks,” when an invisible switch inside of a child flips, and they’re a new person, with a different voice and uncharacteristic demeanor, in the span of a weekend.
A deviation from the first film, Riley’s Family Island becomes a fraction of the size of Friend Island, a reminder of how strong the influence of peers is. In my field, I often see young people swept up in the current of following the crowd. You can help identify their “people” early and cultivate intentional relationships with people you know they need in their lives.
But within 15 minutes of the film, I was reeling at the addition of “Anxiety” as a new character on Riley’s team at such a young age. Before we even knew who she was, I recognized the significant shift in Riley’s mindset as her sense of regret and self-hate grew.
My heart broke, realizing that she was already so consumed by this confounding and debilitating element of my own wandering mind.
So, I was particularly struck when Disney highlighted that it was her imagination—that happy place of childhood and the source of so much beautiful creativity—that bred her anxiety. Highlight reels of worst-case scenarios started in her creative space and emerged into her consciousness to interfere. Maybe if we had more productive creative spaces and opportunities, we could quiet our anxious minds.
Riley becomes very self-involved or self-focused, and not just because she’s the main character. Self-awareness and survival are the overwhelming nature of adolescence, and it is exhausting for our children and teens. Many cannot see past their own problems, which are magnified in their minds.
As parents, we should highlight the moments when a young person chooses others over self and celebrate intentional empathy when it shows up in our young people because it is not the natural response in this stage of life.
There’s one element that this secular film misses an important point on. The movie reminds us that core memories lead to beliefs, which lead to an individual’s Sense of Self. Riley’s immature Sense of Self is not strong enough on its own to hold her true to the values her parents instilled in her. As I watched, I recognized that Riley’s Sense of Self was missing Faith. Without Faith, we watch as her self-created sense of who she is shattered.
While many young kids won’t pick up on the scientific nuances, and some adults might not get why we even have to “go there,” this over-analyzing, worst-case-scenario-predicting, middle school veteran teacher-turned-chaplain LOVES how they make me rethink thinking and process the processes that are underlying within us all.
Target Age: Appropriate for all, but particularly GREAT discussion points for 5th-7th grade. The main character is 8th going into 9th. My almost 16-year-old and I had some great laughs over the parts we have already survived together (ahem…Zelda Breath of the Wild).
Awkward Moments: None, really. Puberty is the overarching theme, but it is more about the growth and change of the cerebral cortex and nothing of the physical changes, although Riley sports an obvious chin pimple for the entire film.
Family guide for discussions:
- In IO, Riley has Family Island, Hockey Island, and Friendship Island. What do you think your “islands” are?
- What beliefs do you hold? Why do you believe them?
- As you develop your sense of self, what memories have made you who you are?
- How can I help you hold on to your sense of self as you go through new stages?
- Do you recognize the changes your brain is going through? Can you recall a time when you thought of something new for the first time or thought of something in a new way?
- How does your brain handle anxiety? Does it take over the control panel, or does it exist in harmony with your other emotions?
- Riley seems to suffer a panic attack in the film. What helps her calm down? What would your calming thoughts be? If you saw someone experiencing anxiety, what would you look for, and how could you be a helper?
- In both movies, the imbalance of emotions creates problems. How can we help each other stay in balance? How can I best approach you when I see symptoms that you may be headed towards an imbalance?
