SairaUmar

HNRS220:Emotions

Carter,Sha,Shelford

October25th,2016

OutsideLookingIn:PixarsInsideOutThroughaPsychologicalLens

Oneofthetopicsinpsychologywestillstrugglewithismakingtheinsides(our

mind,feelingandsoul)somethingmeasurableontheoutside?Itsatrickything,

especiallyduetoourperceptions,biasesandunempiricalmethodsdespiteourbest

attempts,wecannevertrulyknowwhatanotherisfeeling,andhowweinterpretand

measuretheirresponsesissubjectivetoourowncoloration.Ourlanguage,thetoolwe

usetocommunicate,whetherverbalornonverbal,isfluidandflawed;itsthe

manifestationofafailuretotrulyshareourinside.Whatwordsmeantoonepersonwill

haveanothermeaningtoanother,especiallywhenthedeliveryistakenintocontext.The

speakersnonverbalandperipheralcueswillcolorthemeaningofonewordandthe

receiverspastexperiencesandattitudeswillinterprettheworduniquely.Thisis

problematicwhenwearetryingtolookatemotionsandfeelings,becausewordslike

SadandHappyarenotandcanneverbecompletelyidenticaluniversalexperiences.

PixarsfilmInsideOuthasreceivedacclaimforitsrealismandintroductionforyoung

audiencesintotheworldofourfeelingsandmemories.TheverymediumInsideOutis

portrayedonuseslanguagethroughdialogue,butalsothroughmovingpictures,asafilm,

whichreplacestheneedforsomelanguage,thusattemptingtoremedysomeofour
brokencommunication,sincewhatweseeismoreeasilyinterpreteduniversallythanthe

languagewehear.Thisfilmtakesplacemainlyontheinside,infactonly17%ofit

depictstheoutsideworld,ortheonewehumansknowtobetheoutsidethatistangible

forus,theother4/5thsofthefilmtakeplaceinthe11yearoldRileysmind.Withallthis

inmind,itleadsustowonder,howwelldoesthefilmstaytruetocurrentpsychological

theory?Asmanychildrensfirstrealguidetounderstandingemotions,Pixartookonthe

responsibilityofteachingthemhowouremotionsworkandcancontrolus,soitis

imperativetheydonotdepictfalsities.Inthisessay,Iwillexaminethefilmforhow

Rileysemotionsactandinteract,andhowthisartisticdepictionrealisticallyholdsupto

ourunderstandingofpsychologicalthought.

Whenspeakingofemotionfromapsychologicalperspective,thecurrent

fundamentalideaisthethreemaintheoriesofhowemotionisformedandrecognized.

ThefirsttheorycamefromWilliamJamesinWhatisanEmotion?claimingthat

mentalaffection,oremotion,whichisformedfromourperceptions,causesbodily

expressiontorise(1884).Hearguesthatwithoutthebodysresponse,ouremotions

wouldbepurelycognitiveanddestituteofemotionalwarmth.Themovieshowsthat

cognitionandthoughtaretiedtoemotion,withtheemotionsrunningourminds

headquarters.However,morerecentupdatestoJamestheoryaretheCannonBard

(1929)andSchachterSingertheories(1962).TheCannonBardclaimsthattheemotional

stimuliweperceivegeneratethebodilyresponseandemotionatthesametime.Thisis

similartothefilmaseachemotionpressesthebuttononthepanel,causingaphysical

response,whileRileypresumablyalsoexperiencesthatemotion.TheSchachterSinger
(SS)twofactormodelbuildsoffthepriorones,includingourperception,contextand

history,lettingourcognitionhavealargerroleindirectingthebodyandmindtowards

theemotionwefeel(SummarizedinFriedman2009).Thefilmseemstofollowthe

CannonBardmodelmostcloselyasheremotionandphysicalresponsehappen

simultaneously,andweneverseeindicationofthetwofactormodelscognitivework.

Thisisaninterestingpointbecausepsychologiststodayacceptthetwofactormodelas

thetruth,butthefilmisdepictingandteachinganoldermodeltoitsaudience.The

TrainofThoughtinthefilm,whichrepresentsthinking,isaseparateentitythatmerely

passesthroughtheemotiveheadquarters,seeminglyimplyingthatemotionsandthoughts

aremainlyseparateandoftheirownfruition.However,itispossiblethatthecognition

formedintheTrainofThoughtisadifferentandmorerationalsetofthoughts,while

moreemotionbasedthinking,whichsomewouldargueisamajorityofourthoughts,is

intheheadquarters.Thiscanfollowtheclichofheadvs.heartorlogicvs.emotion;

whilebotharethoughtandcognition,becausetheystemfromdifferentthinking

frameworks,wecharacterizethemascontrastingentitiesinbothreallifeandthefilm.

Examplesofemotionbasedthinkingarethemanyinstancestheemotions

themselvesactuatethoughtsthatRileysharesandactsuponinthefilm;totakemerely

oneexample,whenRileyisspeakinginfrontoftheclassaboutherselfDisgustcries

Coolkidswhispering!andFearrespondsTheyrejudgingus!Thesethoughtsare

emotionfueled,butnonethelessthoughtsthatrunthroughanypersonsmindinsimilar

situations.EmotionscanalsospawnideassuchasAngerspushforRileytorunaway

andinsertionofthelightbulbintohercontrolpanel(60min,InsideOut).Onepossibility
tokeepinmindisthatartisticchoicesaremadeforsimplicityandclarityinthefilms

metaphortokeeptheTrainofThought(whichwasalsoaquickwordgag)separatefrom

theemotionsHQ,howeverwecantaketheirideamorelooselyaswehaveemotionsat

thecoreofourmindandcognitionishowwegetplacetoplace,similartotheSStheory

thatcognitiondirectsouremotion.Iftheyareinfactdisplayingthetwofactormodel,

thenthefilmisdepictingandthusmakingmainstream,themostcurrentandagreedupon

theoryforemotioninpsychology.

WhileresearcherslikeJames,CannonandSchachtermaydisagreewithone

another,thisfilmpullsthebestoftheirideastogetherforthefilmmakerstakeon

feelings.Whenlookingathowemotionsfunction,memoriesandperceptions,and

identityformation,InsideOutservesasanaccurateandentertainingmetaphorand

introductiontothestudyofbeingontheoutside,lookingin.