Yesterday, the girls and I went to the cinema to watch Inside Out 2, which in Spain is translated as Del Revés 2. Being such a massive fan of the first movie, I was sure I was going to like the second one as well 🙂
(If you want to know more about the first movie and the emotions featured in it, you can read here and here).
This is a photo of a little canvas bag I found in a shop a few years ago that I thought was very funny: it's literally "a mixed bag of emotions" (the wordplay doesn't translate as well into Spanish). The "mixed bag" expression conveys a combination of good and bad things; to me, it's a reminder that we all go through moments where there's a mix of emotions inside of us, some of which are more pleasant to us than others.
Pero bueno, volviendo a la peli nueva, tampoco quiero reventaros mucho el argumento, aunque si habéis visto los tráilers ya os habréis hecho una idea: nuestra amiga Riley acaba de cumplir trece años, y al llegar la adolescencia, todo se vuelve mucho más complicado, con emociones nuevas e imprevisibles…
Once again, I believe the artists from Pixar have masterfully represented through symbols what happens inside the human mind, explaining the workings of that mental and emotional rollercoaster that gets us inevitably carried away sometimes, especially during our teenage years. Then the story takes it a step further, entering the realm of beliefs and how they get formed and established as we grow up.
I´m going to take a risk here and tell you the message I took away from this movie; I´m not sure whether it´s the one intended by the screenwriters: after the first part put a lot of emphasis on the idea that all emotions are necessary and must be given their space, the second part tells us about the importance of accepting both what we like and what we don´t like about ourselves and about what happens to us.
Acknowledging the parts we consider positive and the ones we perceive as negative; the light and the shadow. Because we are all full of contradictions, and much like we have strengths, we also have weaknesses, not because there´s anything wrong with us that needs to be hidden or fixed, but because that´s how human beings work. We each have our own burden, and accepting and integrating whatever we find along the way is the key to being able to grow, mature and evolve as a person.
What about you? Have you watched the movie already? If so, what did you get out of it? And if not, what are you waiting for?