The first time I watched Inside Out, I perceived it very much as a children’s movie. Fun colors, exciting characters, a very heartbreaking climax, and a sweet ending–classic Disney. However after Dr. Kushnir, a Cornell faculty specializing in child cognition, led our discussion about the movie, I was in a bit of shock as to how realistic the plot actually might be. Disney portrays the story of an 11-year-old girl finding her way through a relatively traumatizing event. From start to end, it appears as though her emotions drive her behaviors. This is scientifically accurate (I asked): one cannot separate his/her actions from emotions, and this is something that children tend to do even more poorly than adults.

Ultimately by the end of the movie, the main character is able to find a balance in which she can hold some control over her emotions. She begins to the see the world in a more complex light; she finds a way to remember sad memories in a more positive light (and vice versa). In Positive Psychology, we also discussed the fact that positive emotions are significantly less clear-cut than negative emotions in that one can have the same facial reaction to feelings of joy, content, and happiness. However, the reactions associated with fear, anger, and disgust are all incredibly distinct from each other. For every one positive emotion, we have roughly 3-4 negative ones (another accurate fact–go Disney!), and negative emotions tend to narrow one’s mindset, while positive emotions broaden perspective. In states of depression, which may or may not have been intentionally depicted in the movie, the main character had a lot of difficulty broadening her mindset, perhaps due to the lack of joy in her emotional regulation center.

Of course I might be looking too far into the science of the movie, but it’s very interesting to think about! What still remains unclear though is what causes psychological illnesses, like depression: our brains are ultimately just soups of chemicals. What accounts for the incredible diversity in human behavior if we function on the same neurotransmitters?