‘Inside Out 2’ Is About Figuring Out Who You Are

[@RyanMichero]

I'm with Jeff on this one. And he articulates it so beautifully. Thanks, Jeff.

[@PikaYoshi21]

Inside Out is one of the few movies where multiple sequels make perfect sense. It is perfectly designed for sequels.

[@adamwarlock1]

If nothing else they could switch to another kid with different problems. Maybe Riley has a little cousin whose parents are divorcing?

[@Alucard2091]

Only if they don't redo 1 emotion being dominant again because some1 messing with Riley's adolescence. Cause x2 in a row is too much for animated drama.

[@doofy440]

Yeah I’m guessing you didn’t stay for the end credit scene to see what the deep dark secret is about

[@adamwarlock1]

I can hear long-ago Devindra in my head, asking Dave: 'HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING???"

[@jonaslefkowitch1344]

I want to preface this by saying that I would not mind at all if Riley were queer. Now, we know Riley is interested in boys because, in the first movie, she fantasizes about an imaginary boyfriend (Joy employs multiple copies of him during a sequence in the third act). Of course, that is not mutually exclusive with an interest in girls as well, but there is precedent for Riley's nascent sexuality, and the only expression of it we've seen thus far is heteronormative. More significantly, though, it seems overly simplistic to equate admiration with infatuation. Riley sees Val as a role model (as do Anxiety and Envy), someone whose example can be followed and set Riley on a path to happiness and success. Riley explicily wants to be her (even styling her hair to be more like her). If Riley is also attracted to her, then this starts heading into SINGLE WHITE FEMALE territory. Finally, I'd like to think that in 2024 simply being gay is not something that would be characterized as a "deep dark secret." And given that an underwhelming post-credit scene explicitly reveals that secret to be trivial and fairly benign (she damaged a rug! ooh, how dark!), her sexuality is not at issue there.

[@adamwarlock1]

I agree with you, but I think the biggest clue is that they deliberately set this movie during a span of time when Riley doesn't have any boys around, specifically so she wouldn't be thinking about sex & romance, and that whole purpose would be defeated if she were into girls. She might not UNDERSTAND sexuality at 13 (does anyone?) but given the right stimulus she'd definitely think about it.

[@roneteus]

This might not end up in my top 10 movies of 2024, but the discussion will surely be one of my favorite Filmcast reviews of the year.

[@lilicordell8452]

Regarding Riley’s deep dark secret, did you guys see the end credit scene? It seemed from the conversation that you did not. Or do you think there is more to the “secret” character?

[@katejsaunders89]

Jeff is right. 100%. On everything he said. Except you all clearly didn't wait for the end credit scene. The deep dark secret is age appropriate. And it's teased that it's not a secret itself but a character that holds her secrets.

[@SuperheroMovies999]

It was Such a Great Watch. So in Inside Out 1, One of the Main parts of the story is that Riley is now losing those Childhood Memories as they fade away as she gets older and older, and those things she once loved when she was younger, either no longer matter to her or she has forgotten them. These particular spheres 🔮turn grey and dust away. Another main element of the film is that Sadness and Happiness are on opposite ends of a single line, you just can't have one without the other. So on to inside out 2 we have - 🍊Anxiety, who is an excellent addition & easily the Most Useful of all of the emotions(mostly), though she does have a weakness of looking way too far into the future. Dial it back to the step by step principle, a simple and obvious principle but it's always great to hear these things reaffirmed on the big screen and it's one of her best thoughts. 🍊So Anxiety is in charge of Planning Riley's Future and She looks at and examines every single scenario going forward. The Previous Emotions are now Bottled Up within Riley and Riley's Being is More Complex now, it needs More Sophisticated Emotions. (Anxiety🍊, Envy🦚, Ennui💜, Embarrassment💘, Nostalgia💨) 🍊We have The "I'm not Good Enough" Result by Anxiety, this could be taken as a bad thing, but it's really not, like Anxiety said "it's that room for self improvement" in any given human pursuit, that constant Strive for Perfection. But of course, as we saw in the film, this is a double edged sword, it went the negative way and caused Riley to think "im not good enough" in a bad way. 💣We have the Demolition Squad coming into the Headquarters with Changes, Destruction & Expansion of Riley's new Age Span of 13 Onwards. Or Quite Simply put, "Puberty". 🏞️The Sar-Casm, which was another Great Execution and as kids hit those teenage years, they definitely start to use sarcasm a lot. I love how they touched upon what Joy can do to people when she's got this happy go lucky attitude when that's not the best course of action all of the time 🌞 Joy who is too much into having fun(obviously) and quite frankly can make people Delude themselves, Happiness has it's Place and is the overall Goal over all of the emotions but not to the point when we say everything is Sunshine. It causes Delusion. And also I would say, as we grow into adults, we get Happiness in other ways, it's not that Blissful Happiness we had as Young Kids. I think it hit Jeff more so because he gets to experience it through both his own childhood & his childs soon to be experience. And it definitely is an instructive device at quite a few moments. I agree with Devindra that they could do much more with these concepts but I think they touch upon certain things well enough and at times are Excellent in thought. And where do they go with Inside Out 3? Pixar will not be able to dive properly into the Sexual Aspects of Riley(ourselves), the Sexual Relationships/Intimate Relationships etc. we as humans inevitably come into contact with. How could they possibly execute it without it being inappropriate for kids and Quite Frankly, Truthful. It's just not possible within the Framework of a family film. I think what they could do is just continue on the Building of Riley's future, moving out of parents house, chosen career path, her then acquired job, friendships as grown ups etc. but as a young adult, going full adult (18 through 25 or so) Overall, Inside Out 1 mainly deals with Forgetting Very Young Childhood Memories and is More Emotional(specifically Sadness) & Inside Out 2 Progresses and deals with Slightly Deeper Concepts.

[@nickjones9867]

The answer to "how does it all fit together" Don't worry about it.

[@Alucard2091]

Inside Out 2 is like Home Alone 2 rehash the same story beats (for better or worse) while retaining natural progression to all characters so I give it 3/5. In-addition to my score, I notice PIXAR sequels have been wearing a safety net of nostalgia since Finding Dory success. Can't shake out identical set ups, conclusion mixed up new things.

[@TGWTGCensored]

I mean... being a nerd is still seen as uncool, unless you're part of the "nerd community" where they celebrate all the stereotypical D&D geek shlock that we actual nerds are trying so hard to dispel.