This scene! My god, this scene. It’s difficult to talk about it without getting choked up. But that’s why I want to share it. To talk about why it’s difficult to talk about it or watch it. And I know that might be a strange way of putting it - difficult to watch. Because it’s not difficult to watch from an entertainment standpoint, but it’s difficult to watch because of the universality of the themes. And emphasis on themes, plural.
Pixar just fricken nailed it with this movie, but it all comes together with this scene - where we see that the only way for Riley to be able to state her truth, be honest, and confront her parents about her fears is to personally confront her fear of allowing sadness into her life. She only wanted the joy, the happiness. But what does Pixar do?
They show us the two actual characters named Joy and Sadness literally working together. Joy thought she was in control. Joy was what Riley had been for her whole short life so far - she was a kid. But suddenly life changes and things become difficult, and Joy was doing everything she could to hold on to her control - to hold on to Riley’s joy. But when Sadness takes Joy’s hand and leads her to the control panel in this scene, that moment is almost as tear-jerking as the moment when Riley has her confrontation with her parents.
It is the universal idea - the universal theme - that joy and sadness can live and work together, and when they do, our own personal truths and true selves actually shine through. All of this is shown through the surprise on the parents’ faces when Riley tells them how she feels. They’re seeing their daughter grow up in right front of them, and we, the audience, are remembering just how hard it was to do the same. This movie is about growing up, but it’s never stated. They don’t say, “here’s a story about what it’s like to grow up.” Pixar just shows us and let’s us put the pieces together.
It’s so powerful because it is a shared understanding among everyone in the audience that it can be so difficult to share how you feel sometimes. So for you writers out there, please don’t forget just how powerful and universal your story can be. It’s all within the reveal of a character’s evolution that we get to see that universal themes unfold.
So…this scene from Inside Out. The best.
This Scene...From Inside Out