Well now, here's something different. I've been thinking about doing a review/interpretation piece for a while and I have to admit, it was a ton of fun to do. I have to admit though, this was turning into interpretation quickly, but i think that interpretation is a critical part in reviewing. For example, I had to interpret a lot of liberal agendas in 'White House Down' and while i am Liberal anyways, i still didn't appreciate them getting god damn politics in my dumb, diehard-esque movie!

I was originally planning on doing Sense8 but i just watched inside out on friday so it's really fresh in my mind.

Anyways, i hope you guys enjoy this and hopefully I'll get to do more


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The room is slightly dim in lighting, a soft glow provided by a smoothly crackling fireplace, making many things appear a sepia gold color. Around the fireplace is a series of bookshelves and various knick-knacks that would seem to be a collection of the owner of this establishment. In the corner of the room is a small cabinet storing the finest cognac this side of the galaxy. There was a schaffa rug on the floor, with two red chairs straddling it. Curiously, the chairs were pointed away from the fire, atypical of the positioning that one would expect in a high class study such as this one. In one of the chairs sat a red robed turian, who had a book in one hand, a cup of tea in the other. He had a pipe wedges between his lips, and a stream of purple smoke flowed from its bowl. This color was indicative of the famous Kahje, seaweed tobacco harvested by honest hanar workers under the finest care. The turian had purple markings across his face, and was easily identifiable as Leifkin Zenox, a prominent stock broker who lives a comfortable and lavish life on the Citadel. Leif set down his cup and removed his pipe as he noticed the reader.
“Oh, welcome! I’m sorry, I didn’t here you come in.” Leif tipped his head to you in a slight bow. “My name is Leifkin Zenox of the family Zenox, on the Karikian lands of Palaven. I suppose you’re wondering why you’re here?”
Leif stepped over to the bookshelf and placed the novel into the empty slot, returning his attention to the guests before him as he casually poured a glass of the cognac.
“You see, it has come to my attention in that I have taken a liking to various forms of film, be it cinema, television, or simply episodes over various streaming services. Additionally, I have recently had some training in the critique of such things through extracurricular activities. Therefore, I say, why not share my knowledge and opinions?” Leif took a sip of the drink and sighed in its more subtle flavor, that only a practiced tongue would be able to detect. “Ah, fashioned in the wooden barrels of the faloorian trees of Thessia.”
“So, today, I will review the film of my most recent outing: ‘Inside Out,’ and we shall see how it holds up.” Leif said as he returned to his seat, easily getting comfortable in the posh chair. “Of course, I would like to caution you that this review may reveal hidden details as it interprets various themes shown throughout. In the words of you common folk: spoiler warning. Let’s begin shall we?”

…

The film centers around the concept of personifying emotions of a human’s psyche into allegorical representations of each respective emotion. For example, the character Joy represents an individual’s happiness.
Most of the film takes place inside (or at least in close proximity to) the mind of Riley, a young human girl as she goes through a difficult move from her suburban town in Minnesota to San Francisco, California. This makes it appear as a sort of ‘coming of age story’ similar to the likes of ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ or ‘Stand By Me,’ or at least initially. In reality, the story focuses on how each emotion interacts with another to illustrate its importance of maturity.
There are five primary emotions: Joy, Fear, Sadness, Disgust, and Anger. The film does an excellent job at making these allegorical characters work in a rather interesting way. Disgust is portrayed as a characterized diva. This cliché approach is broken up with her overall dedication to Riley and protective attitude against the unknown. Anger is shown as a stout and short tempered character whose archetype is enhanced by his inability to enact on rational thought. An example of this is when anger grows frustrated with Riley’s unhappiness and decides to influence her to run away from her family, much to the apprehension of the other present emotions. This brashness shows how, in the director’s eyes, anger can cloud one’s judgement. Fear is the weakest character out of all of these in that he is mostly used for comedic relief, however, he still provides an interesting perspective on fear as a first line of defense against bodily harm. Instead of taking the Robin Williams approach of overacting his allegorical character by constantly panicking, he’s more apprehensive and cautious to everything.
Joy and Sadness are the two primary emotions of the film as most of the adventure centers around them and their adventure, however, the movie is careful to balance screen time between all. Their relationship is the most interesting, as it focuses on Joy trying her hardest to keep Sadness involved in decision making as she most directly makes bad memories. Of course, she wants to do so while minimizing Sadness’own… well, sadness! However, Joy does express in the film that she is willing to sacrifice Sadness for Riley’s own happiness, which is the embodiment of how humanity approaches this idea. Humans would much rather be happy all the time than sad, which leads to this film’s main point, as we will talk about later.
There is interesting chemistry here in that there is actually no infighting among the emotions for control of the mind. All agree that happiness is their goal and each utilize their method of approach when necessary. It’s like a (forgive the pun here) subconscious consensus between the emotions. It’s a unique approach and adds unpredictability to the film’s plot.
There are really imaginative interpretations and metaphors for each aspect of the mind. An example of this is how dreams are movies produced in the brain equivalent of Hollywood, or imagination is a foundry city producing the strange thoughts in one’s head. This creativeness is common with Pixar and is certainly welcome here. What are especially interesting are the subtle details that one would find when the movie glimpses into the minds of other people. Riley’s parents are the first two characters to do this. Her mother’s mind is established in a sort of council as they look upon the world to decide what’s best in each situation, while the father’s emotions are in a command center of sorts as he approaches each situation with a military-like bravado and procedure. The leadership is different amongst these characters too. In Riley, Joy is the unofficial leader of the emotions where as sadness leads in her mother and anger leads in her father. It makes one wonder how things got that way. What hidden stories can you see in that and how do you think they turned out? I guess I find myself susceptible to this easily since I absolutely love finding little clues in a story.

…

Leif finishes his glass and sets it on the table, puffing his pipe and standing up to emphasize his next point.
“Disney-Pixar films have come a long way. Their first film: ‘Toy Story,’ had themes of jealousy, and companionship that is certainly important, as well as the idea of belonging posed in ‘Cars,’ or self-determination in ‘Finding Nemo.’ But nothing that they have discussed before comes close to the complexity of Inside Out as it tackles the one thing that humanity may truly never understand: themselves. It establishes a unique idea that emotions are not two separate entities, but a cohesive force that mixes with other emotions to shape oneself as they mature. It establishes that our primary goal in life is happiness and that directly going for it may not always be the best option. It instead proposes that humans utilize their emotions as tools to eventually result in happiness.”
Leif puffs at his pipe again and gives his trademark smirk.
“There you have it ladies and gentlemen, I hereby declare that this film is very qualitative in its construction and poses new and unique ideas in a well animated motion picture full of emotional moments. Fret not, for it (and many other movies) is superior to ‘Cars 2’ and it is in fact, arguably the best of the Disney-Pixar films… Good night everyone, and sleep tight.”
Suddenly there was a banging noise on the closed study door, followed by the frustrated shouting of Ty.
“God damn it Leif! You better not be smoking my shit, it took me forever to import that! You’re a millionare, buy it yourself you jack off!” Ty shouted as Leif jumped in surprise. He ran to a bookshelf, pulling one and having it reveal a secret passage that he ducked into, but not before waving to you.
“Ta-ta for now!”