Introduction
Understanding the innermost workings of the human mind is a challenging task. The film Inside Out presents a curious take on how emotions create lifetime connections within one’s brain that constitute and influence their personality. Their interactions and the events that the main character lives through create a compelling narrative of one’s learning process. This paper will provide an analysis of the movie Inside Out and explain how it exemplifies the connection between one’s memory, emotions, and learning.
Brief Movie Summary
The film virtually follows Riley from her birth and through the point where her life circumstances change significantly. Joy has been a dominating emotion over the first years of Riley’s life, but the world around the girl does not have enough sources of happiness (Docter, 2015). A struggle is ongoing in Riley’s life and her mind. Sadness is the one emotion that is suppressed the most by a constant stream of attempts by Joy to keep Riley as optimistic as possible, which is unnatural for a developing mind. At the same time, there are new, mature concepts that Riley must comprehend, and it becomes possible only with the help of the full range of emotions (Docter, 2015). The role of Sadness becomes apparent to Joy as they realize the necessity of their cooperation in Riley’s life.
Memory System Movie Connections
A human’s brain might not resemble an assortment of memory balls as shown in the film, yet it does store memories via different modes. An essential part of the memory system is the transfer of a day’s memories to long-term storage (Docter, 2015). This switch does help people to accumulate knowledge throughout their lives. While neurons do not get stored in the back of one’s brain, they do keep a portion of familiar connections that represent a particular event (Hartshorne & Makovski, 2019). Some thoughts may be more accessible due to said cells being more actively used. The movie also utilizes the concept of core memories that represent breaking points in one’s life that shape traits that are shown as a set of personality islands (Docter, 2015). These foundational ideas may play in people’s heads less apparent than in Inside Out, yet they serve as a framework for one’s actions and decisions.
Learning Process Movie Connections
The process of knowledge acquisition is directly linked to one’s memory. In the film, the train of thought goes through the imagination to assess new concepts, utilize past knowledge, and generate ideas (Docter, 2015). However, an internal balance is necessary for the timely replacement of outdated memories. One of the essential aspects of one’s mind that are established in the movie is the necessity for all emotions to be correctly represented for progress to be made (Docter, 2015). A strong emotional response can lead to the necessary changes in one’s mind.
Conclusion
The film makes it clear that the learning process itself is not a constant structure. A clear difference between an adult and a child is depicted through the maturity of the characters that represent people’s emotions (Docter, 2015). Their actions show how comprehension of a situation depends on one’s age. The necessary balance of emotions has a vital role in the learning process, as Riley does not respond well to a new school environment until her crisis is resolved (Docter, 2015). A person’s memory is an ever-changing landscape that is constantly affected by their emotions, which is a healthy response to an outside influence. Only through adapting to these fluctuations can one acquire new information and learn efficiently.
References
Docter, P. (Director). (2015). Inside Out [Film]. Pixar Animation Studios.
Hartshorne, J. K., & Makovski, T. (2019). The effect of working memory maintenance on long-term memory.Memory & Cognition, 47(4), 749-763. Web.