Having not seen the trailers I thought I had no preconceptions or expectations of what the story would be about. The only things I knew of the film was that there are creatures inside the head of a human that control a human somehow and the name of the film was Inside Out. I had seen this idea before executed in the style of a Pixar animated film in the student project and an Oscar-nominated short film called Brain Divided. So I thought Pixar had bought the rights to make it into a feature film (since the short film was finished 2 years prior to Pixar’s picture). Even though I thought I knew nothing about the film, I actually knew–or should I say assumed–a lot. What I did know was that the film was about creatures-controlling-a-human-Avatar and it was called Inside Out. So the film must be about these creatures inside the head of this human breaking out of the head and entering the real world and struggling to survive. Working on such little information, it’s the only story I could imagine, but I knew to watch the film with an open mind. Unfortunately, this misconception tainted my experience. I ended up watching the whole film wondering, “why is it called Inside Out?” And to be fair, the film never gave an answer. Or at least not explicitly. I thought maybe it was that Joy and Sadness were pushed out of main control and into the brain area. So they used to be on the inside and now they’re out in the larger world of the brain. But that wasn’t good enough for me. It took me three whole days of thinking to finally figure it out.
By chance fortune I ended up reading an article by Ted Elliot, co-writer of Aladdin, Mask of Zorro, The Pirates franchise and others, called Title Search written over a decade ago. In the article, he analyzes what makes a good title for selling a spec screenplay. It’s part marketing (simple, less than five words to fit on a marque, catchy, and suggests the whole premise/primary source of conflict—and sometimes the film’s message) and part inevitability (which is more complex and artistic: it feels as if there could be no other title because the film’s premise/conflict/message are summed up in the title so perfectly while still have a nice original or clever ring to the words used). He gave the example of Ghostbusters and Back to the Future. Both films suggest what the film is about and its core conflict: fighting ghosts and getting back to the future. He also argues that good film titles are also an art. Sometimes you get film titles like “Hobo with a Shotgun” and “Snakes on a Plane” which sum up the film and its core conflict but feel like exploitation films (though this is arguably the primary marketing pitch).
It made me question harder if Pixar was going full marketing and forgetting the artistic edge of a good title that sums up the core conflict and the film’s message. After contemplating it deeply I figured it out: It’s called Inside Out because there are emotions in your head and sometimes, you have to let them out. Sometimes (often times) it’s healthier to express those feelings rather then bottle them up and keep them on the inside. You have to let your the voices in your head out. Holy crap. I think I got it, but that took some work! Plus I needed to watch the whole film and quickly understand (as a mature adult) the moral of the film (preteen kids didn’t get it, my theater was full of kids asking what was going on when the girl was crying at the end of the film). A good title feels inevitable after watching the film, but it’s supposed to also feel like it couldn’t be called anything else. The title did not suggest to me anything close to “let your emotions out.” In fact, Inside Out is so generic that you can’t glean anything from it, but it’s a nice catch phrase that everyone can recognize (it has that ring to it that you can’t explain) and from a marketing stand point the name alone is worth $10 million at the box office. Hell, it got me in theaters!
But when it came time to make the trailer, someone in marketing didn’t get the memo. Wait, let’s be fair, a team of marketing experts recognized that marketing “let your feelings out” is not marketable (to be fair, they possibly worried if it would ruin the poignancy of “getting the film” or tread on the territory of being too “Oscar-grabby” or “sappy”). So they went with the catch phrase: “We all have little voices in our head. … blah-blah-blah-blah-blah… See the world from the inside out.” Wow! What a cop out! But all the power to them. Having watched the trailer (only after watching the film first) I can see the overarching story and primary conflict of the film much more easily than actually watching the film: the voices inside this girl’s head lose some core memories and must get them back to headquarters. Even the name of the film is explained, albeit in a lackluster fashion: “See the world from the inside out.” Had I watched the trailer, I would have had a much greater appreciation of the film. I would have been able to recognize where the film was going and not wonder 15-20 minutes into the film (I checked my watch) what the inciting incident was. Then I would have been able to keep watching the film not second-guessing if the film was simply about getting the core-memory MacGuffins back to headquarters. I would have been able to appreciate the film more deeply when I found the “second meaning” of the film.
Unfortunately, I didn’t watch the trailer. I assumed correctly that the primary source of external conflict was getting those MacGuffins back to headquarters, but I guess I missed that the filmmakers only did that for the kids and the primary source of inter-personal and intra-personal conflict was Joy and Sadness. To be fair I did recognize that, but I thought the filmmakers were using it more as a motif to evoke good scene dynamics than a character arc. I was too distracted by the MacGuffin (and its significance on the brain) and assumed that the filmmakers had chosen to put no thought into what they wanted to say about emotions. I thought that the whole Joy being in control and placing Sadness in her little circle of isolation was a flippant joke and not the point of the film until the very end (though that instance made me know that the filmmakers were fully aware of what they were doing). Instead of making me laugh, my stomach churned when Joy drew a circle around Sadness and scooted her foot back inside the circle. I felt sick because kids and some adults were laughing when I was like: THAT’S F**KED UP! I couldn’t tell if the kids were getting it or if it was harming them by reinforcing twisted ideas they might have had toward someone as “annoying” as sadness. And when Joy was dragging sadness along the floor, I felt that kids were laughing at Sadness, while I was feeling pity for her. Sadness to me was an accurate physical embodiment of a really depressed person, so when kids were laughing at her (with the guidance of the filmmakers) I felt like I was being attacked. Well, not me personally (well sort of), but my close relatives and nobody laughs at the pain of my siblings! Unfortunately, this pervaded the movie. Joy was being overly effervescent and Sadness was being depressing in a laugh-at manner. It felt like depression and over-optimism was simple laughing fodder for kids and a source of uncomfortable laughter for adults who need to release some feeling through laughter. I couldn’t laugh because I was worried where the film was headed. The hardest I laughed was at an anger joke which shocked me because I burst out laughing loudly but nobody else was laughing so I quickly stopped. I was made aware of that disparity between me and the audience and immediately realized, damn, I really needed to vent some of these emotions huh? I guess since I wasn’t allowing myself to laugh at sadness and joy, I pounced on the first unexpected joke available.
Eventually the film ended but the message was obfuscated by the memory balls becoming mixed colors. It wasn’t clear if these mixed-emotion memories were more powerful or just different (or ‘normal’ as others would say who feel the message is simply ’emotions are normal’ ). If they were just different/normal, then it was as anti-climactic as it felt. In fact, the whole Pixar-science of the brain was confusing and I couldn’t map any allegory to the film-science created so I was left confused and emotional at the end of the film. The film brought up many emotions I was feeling and got me to cry and feel bad, but it never made me feel good. I’m not one to recommend a film to anyone that will make them cry and feel sad and maybe laugh a few times, then leave the theater confused and disappointed. I’m not one to intentionally make people cry. Even if I thought there was a lesson to be learned, but this film didn’t provide any clear cut lessons or teach kids anything. At least it wasn’t so obvious that a lug-nut like myself could figure it out without digging really deep. It was more of a reflection of life and those mature enough to get it relate on one level and appreciate it and those too immature relate on another more immature level and are able to laugh at the characters in the film. And if you’re mature enough to get the nuances, you’re probably going to cry, which really is just some wicked form of catharsis.
And I wasn’t even left with hope, which is the unwritten promise of all Disney, Pixar, and “Hollywood” films. The ‘hope’ provided at the end of the film was two pronged (because there were essentially two stories running throughout the film) but I didn’t latch on to either. The first was that the family unit was going to get better and so will everything else in the girl’s life, and the second was that the emotions inside her head are learning and maturing. But then they cut to the emotions of other creatures and established how every person has a similar set of emotions but some are off-duty or lazy or become more like one of the others. Even cats and dogs, and dumb dads. Huh? It opened up a whole nother can of worms. It left me confused again! That wasn’t what I needed! More questions?! Well maybe it was because it wasn’t sadness, anger, or fear. I was still frustrated and sad about the ending that I needed the time in the theater to compose myself so I could drive my date back home. And she also needed that time. But it wasn’t something we wanted to talk about after we left the theater. Instead I went home confused and grumpy and resolved to myself that I would compose my ideas and write my review later when I’ve “figure it all out” so I don’t look like a rambling idiot. In hindsight, I guess it was more than just sadness I was feeling. It was anger that people could think that making me feel this way was appropriate and necessary; and it was a bit of fear that I was alone in the way I thought; and fear that perhaps their message or execution (though well intended) could actually be damaging (like laughing at depression instead of trying to help them and taking the time to learn how). Of the five emotions in the film (joy, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust—is disgust really a core emotion???) the only emotion I wanted out of the film was Joy and nostalgic/happy sadness, but all I got was depressing sadness (flashback triggers even), anger, and fear (I don’t even know what disgust even means as an emotion, it’s it fear of an attack on one’s identity?).
And now I’m here actually talking about the film and what it means. Isn’t that what the filmmakers wanted? Here I am psycho-analyzing my experience. Here I am trying to convince you, the reader, that I’m right. That my opinion and my feelings were justified. I left the theater sad, angry, and confused, but that’s okay right? I’m supposed to express my feelings, not bottle them up. But I really feel that I’m writing this as a defense mechanism. I really wanted to say “I didn’t like Inside Out” after seeing the film, but I feared harsh criticism and judgment from my peers. I feared what that statement might mean to others who are “more mature” or “more knowledgeable in psychology” than myself. Hell, I even feared that I’m wrong and immature without knowing it. I wanted to express my feelings, but I also knew that there is a time and place for doing so. The time wasn’t right after leaving the theater and the place wasn’t Facebook. I’m mature enough to know the first thing I needed to do when leaving that theater (to take care of my mental health) was to change state as fast as possible. I couldn’t explain my state but I knew eventually I’d be able to, so let’s forget this film and talk about our plans for the night. Oh, play card games! Sounds like fun! This is no time to feel angry, depressed, afraid. I’ll have to deal with them eventually, but not now. And the thing that gets me is that two hours earlier, I would not have needed to deal with those feelings. But now I did, because I couldn’t let the sadness take over my life (but I shouldn’t bottle it up), and I couldn’t let the fear consume me (but I didn’t know what I was afraid of). And this is why I recommend against watching this film. To play devil’s advocate though, this is one of the reasons I avoid “Oscar” nominated films. They affect me physically and psychologically (negatively) long after viewing the film. You may be different. You might be able to bounce back from crying in two seconds. You may also be able to watch it with the proper framework, and thus it might not affect you as much as it did me and you can handle things intellectually as opposed to being broken down emotionally first.
For all of those reasons and more, my review of Inside Out is a 1/5. It’s a very personal 1/5 but I also had problems with the story, characters, clarity of the world, and Inception-style explanations of story solutions. The one point of of five came solely from the message they were trying to put on screen: when you’re eleven, it’s okay, normal, and healthy to express your feeling…it can make your relationship with your parents stronger and make you a more complete healthy stable person.
Last minute thoughts: Perhaps, it’s trying to break the stigma of mental health. It’s okay to have and express multiple emotions. Unrelated, leaving the theater, I felt that I cried because I was watching a dog get beaten to death or saw a baby fall off of an elevator and die. Sometimes maybe I cried because I felt that loss of innocence or that nostalgic forgotten sadness feeling. But I think mostly I was crying because I felt so uncomfortable. I probably even cried because I was sad that this is the way the filmmakers felt she (or even the audience) had to learn things. I felt that air of pretension breathing down on me as I cried and couldn’t explain why. That experience was bullshit. Having said all of this and having put my work out in the real world, I realize that this negative review only peaks your interest more. If you’re looking to cry and can laugh at Joy being a complete dick to Sadness throughout the film (it’s okay…it’s all just part of her character arc) then go see the film. If you’re looking for an inspirational, uplifting film and don’t want to get brought down, avoid this film. People who buy this film are doing it to allow themselves to cry or feel nostalgic again, not to bring up their spirits. If given the choice between watching Monster’s Inc. and Wall-E, if you put in Wall-E, go see this film. Otherwise, avoid this film. It provides nothing magical, wonderous, fun, or endearing. It uses science-fiction to create darker drama, not open up the mind to infinite possibilities.