'Inside Out' and the importance of sadness

WARNING! THIS THOUGHT CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE 'INSIDE OUT'! IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE AND YOU ARE AFRAID OF SPOILERS THEN WATCH THE MOVIE BEFORE YOU READ THIS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

I'm doing something a little different by including a movie in this thought. For starters, Disney Pixar's 'Inside Out' is an amazing movie with oodles of clever symbolism, stellar animation, a creative use of the concept and a lot of emotion and heart to it. However what stuck out for me is its main message and how the character of Riley, and subsequently her emotions, deals with a massive change in her life.

You see at the age of 11, Riley moves from a comfortable life in Minnesota to the less favourable San Francisco. The emotions in her head, Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust are faced with this problem. How the movie deals with this represents the different stages of going through this change. For starters, Joy tries to keep Riley happy which shows Riley's initial positive attitude but bad things keep happening such as her favourite food is 'poisoned' with broccoli, the removal van is late and all her happy memories seem much more sad (as represented by Sadness literally changing the moods of each memory sphere). This doesn't help by the fact that on her first day of school, she breaks down when she remembers Minnesota in the middle of her classroom. It's at this point where Joy and Sadness, the two emotions needed for this change, are sucked out of headquarters into long term memory.

This leaves fear, anger and disgust in charge of her life and as best as they try to keep Riley happy, they end up making Riley more secluded and hostile. Things get worse when her core personalities, goofiness, friendship, hockey, honesty and family collapse as she isn't as good with them in this new environment. It is also worth mentioning that Sadness, throughout the film, is outcast as the other emotions do not understand her purpose. However, when things get drastic and Riley runs away, Joy and sadness return and it is by this point where Joy understands Sadness's purpose: to let others know when she is having a problem. When Sadness takes over, she returns to her parents and finally confesses her problems and not only do her problems disappear but she grows as a person, as shown by a more complex headquarters with mixed emotion memory cores and new and numerous personality islands. It was then when I understood what this movie represents.

When I face problems like this (e.g. fall-outs and changes in routine), I don't often admit that I'm sad, because I don't understand that it's ok to be sad. And thus I bottle up my sadness which can let my fear, anger and disgust take over. Even when I try to appear happy in front of others to hide my sadness but even then it feels false. So when I do show sadness, others realise that something is wrong and they comfort me. However, I often find it difficult to show sadness, especially as I am a 17 year old male who, as society dictates, must never cry or show sadness in order to act 'manly.' This is especially confusing as I want to fit in (much like Riley did) but I also want to show my problems. I also realise that people with more severe autism legitimately struggle to show the appropriate emotions for dire situations such as moving house and they may not even realise that they're feeling these ways.

How can you help people like me? - Teach them about sadness and tell them, especially teenage autistics, its importance and let them know when they can be sad. Also, if they do go through a situation as drastic as Riley's, talk to them. Let them know it's going to be ok and if you ask them how they are and they act more differently than usual, talk to them because something is likely wrong. Maybe then they will admit to sadness and you can comfort them and help fix their problem. And if it's a boy my age under pressure under manly stereotypes, tell them that stereotypes are hokum and that they can be themselves.

And that concludes this thought from an autistic mind. What do you think about this? Let me know in the comments below, be sure to like my Facebook page 'Joel Mole' for more blogs and share this around to spread the word. Thank you for reading this and until the next time: fare thee well!