Inside Out Discussion and Constructed Response Questions

1. Pixar films, through allusions and subtle adult humor, appeal to children and
adults alike. Is Inside Out more aimed at children or adults? Support your
answer with specific references to the film.

2. Many critics have claimed that Inside Out forces audiences to think about
how we think. Do you agree with this statement? In what ways does the
film present a new a fresh way of thinking about our inner selves?

3. Explain how Inside Out can be an allegory for depression.

4. Kahlil Gibrans The Prophet includes this passage about the emotions of joy
and sorrow (see below). Analyze the parallels between Gibrans message and
the main premise of Inside Out.
a.

"Joy and Sorrow

Then a woman said, "Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow." And he answered:
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your
tears. And how else can it be? The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that
hold your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven? And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that
was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you
joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been
your delight.
Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow," and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater." But I say unto you, they are
inseparable. Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your
bed. Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy. Only when you are empty are you at standstill and
balanced. When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall".

5.

Support or refute the following criticism of the film:

a.

However, there are also problems with the fanciful picture of the human person offered in Inside Out. To start with the most glaring, obvious problem,
where is the free will? Riley certainly has what St. Thomas called the sensitive appetitethe emotionsyet she seems to be utterly lacking what St.
Thomas called the rational appetite, the power of free choice that responds to goods proposed by the mind. In other words, in addition to the five little
cute emotions, there should also have been an unruly giant (I picture him like a very large and fat Socrates) with a control console of his own, one
which could usually override all the commands of the emotions. In the absence of free will, what Inside Out offers instead is a kind of emotional
determinism. When I feel angry, I have to have an outburst. When I feel disgust, I have to express my revulsion. Perhaps that would be appropriate if
we were considering a toddler. But the protagonist in the movie is 11 years old. Even more disturbingly, the film depicts the adults as having the same
emotion-controlled cognitive structure. That is not quite the right view. It is true that many adults today allow their emotions run their livesbut they
dont have to. To be rational is to have a faculty of rational choice as well. (https://alexanderschimpf.wordpress.com/2015/09/03/the-philosophicalanthropology-of-pixars-inside-out/)