Newsletter Entry #5 - Ideological Analysis

Pixar’s Inside Out 2 introduces Anxiety as a new emotion, challenging other film narratives that portray anxiety as a villain. Instead, the film presents Anxiety as a complex but necessary emotion. Through the storytelling and dynamics of characters in the film, Inside Out 2 presents a larger conversation surrounding power, identity, and emotional resilience. This ultimately reflects how today’s society has changed its perspective on mental health.

For many years, the media has portrayed mental health struggles such as anxiety as an obstacle that has to be overcome and makes it appear as if it is a flaw or a weakness. However, Inside Out 2 decides to portray anxiety not as something that Riley and the rest of the emotions have to defeat but something she has to learn how to manage. The film never tries to show anxiety as a villain but as something that tries to protect Riley, although it takes over sometimes. This reflects a larger message of understanding and managing mental health instead of getting rid of it. This shift in ideologies about mental health is quite important as discussion about mental health has become more ordinary with the idea that mental health should not be dismissed but acknowledged.

Throughout the film, we see anxiety push away joy, which causes Riley to depend more on Anxiety as she slowly takes control. This shows how anxiety can easily overshadow our joyful emotions. When looking back at the stylistic elements of the anxiety attack scene, where Inside Out 2 uses different camera movements, animations, and sound design to create the feeling of an anxiety attack, this scene gives viewers a sense of what anxiety feels like. As the film makes viewers feel the emotions in the scene, it also makes the point that the struggles Riley faces are not just a fictional feeling but something that is experienced in real life. In addition, the struggles over power in Riley’s mind reflect a bigger ideological conversation about emotional identity and control. In the anxiety attack scene, when Anxiety takes over, it does not try to do it as a way of hurting Riley but as an attempt to protect her, although it fails. This reflects a bigger real-world idea where people do not try to eliminate anxiety and other mental health struggles but learn how to manage them healthily. By the end of the film, anxiety is not defeated or disappears but becomes a part of the emotions, further showing that anxiety is not something we get rid of but something we learn to deal with.

Ultimately, this film plays a role in the cultural shift of mental health awareness not only for adults but also for the younger generations. It is not often that children's media discusses mental health however, Inside Out 2 normalizes it and showcases it as a normal part in getting older. Inside Out two makes anxiety a central part of the story, helps normalize mental health struggles, and encourages viewers to not disregard and fear their emotions but to understand and manage them. Inside Out two ultimately makes anxiety something that viewers should embrace rather than searching for a fix to it.