This blog post explores how the animated film Inside Out conveys the value of sadness and the importance of honestly expressing emotions.
Though I don’t usually enjoy watching animations, I mustered the courage to go see Inside Out alone at the theater, encouraged by my friends’ enthusiastic recommendations. Upon entering the theater, contrary to my expectation of many child viewers, there were far more adult viewers like me. With the excitement of watching an animation after so long, the film began.
Inside Out tells the story of Riley, a teenage girl in America. The film’s most unique aspect is how it illuminates the inner workings of the human mind. Five emotions reside inside Riley’s head. The film begins with ‘Joy’, but soon ‘Sadness’, ‘Fear’, ‘Disgust’, and ‘Anger’ appear. These five emotions take turns controlling Riley’s control tower, representing her feelings depending on the situation. Furthermore, whenever an emotion takes control, memory orbs colored to match that emotion are created. These orbs are sent to the long-term memory storage when Riley falls asleep and are delivered back to the control tower when needed. In this way, the film Inside Out effectively expressed human emotions and memories through animation, resonating deeply with many viewers. While watching the film, I also found myself thinking that my own emotions might manifest in a similar way. For instance, in moments when I forget something that just happened and feel a new emotion, I wondered, “Could it be that another emotion inside me is starting to take control?” and felt this film could provide an answer. On a smaller note, the scene where eating ice cream causes a momentary freezing sensation was portrayed as emotions freezing instantly, making the audience laugh.
Most of the film’s plot depicts Sadness’s abnormal behavior, the subsequent disappearance of Joy and Sadness, and their journey back to the control tower. Beyond understanding and expressing human emotions, the film emphasizes the ‘importance of sadness’ within its narrative. Sadness’s abnormal behavior begins when Riley suddenly moves from Minnesota to San Francisco. Facing a new environment, Sadness—whom Joy had always disliked—begins transforming non-sad memories into sad ones, spiraling into a state of uncontrollable chaos. Eventually, a core sad memory forms, causing Sadness and Joy to leave the control tower and go missing. In the process, Riley becomes unable to feel sadness or joy, plunging her into confusion. The other emotions try to take Joy’s place, but this ends in failure. Unable to cope with her emotional turmoil, Riley runs away from home. Initially believing Riley’s confusion stemmed from Sadness’s fault, Joy tried to fix Sadness. However, after experiencing the disappearance together, she realizes that behind the happy memories lay sad ones. Joy comes to understand that having only happy memories is abnormal and allows Sadness to resolve Riley’s running away. The core memories, which had been purely happy, now blend with sadness to form new, complex emotions, and Riley bursts into tears. This was the moment when Sadness’s earlier words, “Crying helps us calm down and not get too caught up in life’s problems,” became reality. Subsequently, new core memories, fused with multiple emotions, are formed, and Riley grows significantly.
While watching the film, I too initially thought Sadness’s unusual behavior was just disruptive. This had long been a belief in my own life. I believed feeling sad offered no help in solving problems, and when I felt sad, I only tried to escape it as quickly as possible. But after learning through the film what role sadness actually plays, it felt like a huge wake-up call. It made me wonder how much we truly grieve and how much our society actually shares sorrow. Reflecting on my own experience, the last time I remember crying out loud or sharing sad feelings with others was around age 12, during adolescence. Whether at school, at home, or among friends, it was difficult for a grown person to ‘shed tears and reveal emotions’. As a result, during the transition from adolescence to adulthood, hiding emotions became second nature.
Isn’t the biggest difference between adolescence and later life the difference in competition? Reflecting on my own experience, before high school, it was a time of growing together rather than intense competition with those around me, so there were almost no constraints on sharing emotions. Expressing feelings honestly to those around me wasn’t a problem. However, once academic competition began in high school and I entered a competitive society, I felt that revealing emotions became a weakness that would cause me to fall behind in the race. Reflecting on this experience, I believe many people in our intensely competitive society, like myself, struggle to express their feelings. That’s why I think adults in Korean society could relate to the movie Inside Out, which makes us reconsider emotions, even more than children could.
Korean society is becoming increasingly uncomfortable with emotional expression. The Sewol ferry disaster on April 16, 2014, plunged the entire nation into shock and anger. While everyone expressed grief and mourning, claims soon emerged that “sadness should not be forced.” I believe this exemplifies how much our society’s capacity for empathy has diminished. In a society that struggles to empathize with others’ situations, it is difficult for an individual or group to express their emotions, and the resulting negative effects are significant. This can also be confirmed in research papers. According to Professor Jeon Hong-jin’s study, when comparing Koreans and Americans, Koreans showed lower depression scores than Americans, while Americans tended to have higher quality of life scores. At the same time, Koreans were found to exhibit more symptoms of depression than Americans. This suggests Koreans are reluctant to express depression. It can be interpreted that Koreans view depression more negatively than Americans and consider it something to be hidden. Furthermore, according to the latest 2023 statistics, Korea’s suicide rate stands at approximately 23.6 per 100,000 people, ranking first among OECD countries. Despite Koreans experiencing significant mental distress like depression, social stigma surrounding mental health and limited access to treatment often prevent them from receiving appropriate help.
Furthermore, compared to the past, communication in Korean society seems overly focused on positive aspects, excluding emotions like sadness. Globally, communication in modern society has shifted from traditional mass media toward shorter, faster formats like social media. While the rise of platforms like SNS offers the advantage of enabling diverse people to communicate together in a short time, it also has the disadvantage of excluding negative emotions. For example, the ‘Like’ button on Facebook or Instagram exemplifies this. Within SNS, members tend to consciously consider others’ perceptions and only broadcast feelings of happiness to their surroundings. Consequently, while we may feel we share many positive emotions, questions arise about whether this constitutes genuine communication. This aspect prompts us to ask whether we are truly empathizing with one another, moving beyond simple communication. I believe the answer to this question is something we all need to ponder together.
In this sense, the animated film Inside Out is more than just an animation; it is a meaningful work that allows us to collectively reflect on the problems within our society. It prompts us to reconsider ‘the role of sadness,’ reminding us that expressing emotions is neither shameful nor uncomfortable. Rather, it emphasizes that honest emotional expression is a crucial element for maintaining a healthy life. Through this film, I hope not only children but also adults in our society will reflect on their own emotions, accepting and expressing all feelings—including sadness—as they are.
