Thematic Analysis Of The Film Called "Inside Out"
Inside Out is a 2015 film directed by Pete Docter. The 1-hour 42-minute movie is about an 11-year-old girl named Riley and the emotions in her head. There are five emotions in the movie - Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust. This movie explores a variety of different themes. Some themes are change, memory and the past, and growing up. Riley is forced to move cities for her dad’s new job and that requires many changes to occur which seems to be present in all themes. During the movie, we can see how Riley confronts and reacts to those changes. Her emotions have a big impact on how she deals with them.
Inside Out explores the theme of growing up. Throughout the film, Riley’s parents expect her to adapt to the new environment they forced her into. They rely on her to accept multiple new changes such as a new school, new hockey team and new home. Her family moved from Minnesota to San Francisco to pursue in Riley’s dad’s new job. When Riley yelled “just shut up!” at her parents on the dinner table, it shows that she was growing weary with her parents not understanding what she is going through. Her parents were trying to ask her about her day, but she had had a bad day and was not quite willing to chat about it. The use of a long shot at that moment is to show both her feelings and irritation and her parents’ reaction. This shows us that the process of growing up can be challenging both for the teenager and their family.
A major theme explored in Inside Out is memory and the past. When Riley was living in Minnesota, all the memories she made there were happy ones but when she moved to San Francisco, those memories changed in a negative way. Those memories became sad ones because she lost everything she earned from those memories because she moved. When she was at her new house, she remembered the time she was walking with her childhood friend Meg on the sidewalk and she gets upset. That very memory used to be a joyful one until Riley's parents forced a huge change into her life which was moving cities.
The purpose of a long shot was to show that Riley and her friend Meg were walking merrily on one of the sidewalks of Minnesota. It shows that they have a close bond and that they're having a good time. During the scene where the memory was showing, a dreamy filter was applied to make the audience differentiate between the present and a memory. Therefore, this implies to us that certain changes can affect the way we think of memories and the past.
Another crucial theme in Inside Out is change. During the movie, Riley encounters multiple changes such as moving cities, moving homes and schools, and playing in a different hockey team. These changes have affected her in an enormous way. They have made her less happy. These changes had a strong effect on Riley because things aren't the same to what they were in Minnesota. She felt like she lost a lot of main aspects of her life that she needs to find happiness. When Riley was playing with her new hockey team, all the memories of her playing in her old hockey team rush back to her head and all of a sudden she loses control over the puck and misses the goal. She then stormed out of the field with a very cross expression. She got angry at her parents for making her encounter all these changes. When Riley yelled, “stop saying everything will be alright!” to her mum after she stormed out of the field, it shows that Riley was very exasperated and upset. The use of a medium-long shot is to show Riley's frustration and how annoyed she was while furiously tying her shoelaces. This can be a good example to show that certain changes made throughout our lifetimes can have a long-lasting effect and can set a harmful image of things just like what happened with Riley.
Inside Out is a film about a hockey-loving girl who experiences multiple changes that have a very big impact on her. It seems as if change is in all themes of the movie. No matter if you are focusing on memory and the past or growing up, you will notice that change is present in both of them.
