Inside Out 2 shows us a young teen dealing with tough adolescent emotions. It's a highly imaginative portrayal, but from a Stoic point of view, it's missing a sense of how to build resilience.
Excellent points. The most important piece for the writers and filmmaker to include in this story would have been the reality you bring up and how the characters could have collaborated (like different parts of our inner dialogue) in order to integrate and understand different sides and feelings so that they go from conflicted to less polarized.
I love the points you've raised in this article. Coping with things beyond our control is at the heart of stoic teaching. Being able to face challenges and personal disappointments is part of life and the resilience we build comes from our ability to discern what is in our control and what isn't. When we reflect on our own bad moments where we wish we had made better decisions, we can grow. And when we know that what we've done is rooted in thoughtful judgment, yet the outcome is undesirable, we still need to remember who we are and not tie our identity to the outcome. Perhaps a 'resilience center' in Riley's brain (in some form) would have helped tie together the negative memories with growth and sense of self. If I imagine it, its (resilience's) structural strength would comprise of 'negative' memories and then those would be held together or tempered by processing/judgment. The two elements would work together to bolster one's sense of self. As in the movie, the 'negative' memories would serve an important purpose. Only now we add in processing/judgment, and the memories are reformed and repurposed into growth and strength, i.e. a strong sense of resilience (without processing/judgment, they would be a just in a heap, not helping us and being tossed around by Anxiety)...
With my own kids as they grow and develop, I hope to remind them to reflect on what they did, what decisions they made, and to recognize their identities through those thoughts and actions (and growth), rather than the reactions and outcomes that were beyond their control.
Thank you, Diane Elizabeth, for this thoughtful response! I absolutely love the idea of a 'resilience center' in Riley's brain, and the way you describe it here would make so much sense. It's critical to find healthy ways to face adversity and disappointments... and, as you said, to be able to process/judge them, and repurpose them into fortitude. What a beautiful concept! Awesome to hear about how you share this with your kids, too!
Excellent points. The most important piece for the writers and filmmaker to include in this story would have been the reality you bring up and how the characters could have collaborated (like different parts of our inner dialogue) in order to integrate and understand different sides and feelings so that they go from conflicted to less polarized.
I love the points you've raised in this article. Coping with things beyond our control is at the heart of stoic teaching. Being able to face challenges and personal disappointments is part of life and the resilience we build comes from our ability to discern what is in our control and what isn't. When we reflect on our own bad moments where we wish we had made better decisions, we can grow. And when we know that what we've done is rooted in thoughtful judgment, yet the outcome is undesirable, we still need to remember who we are and not tie our identity to the outcome. Perhaps a 'resilience center' in Riley's brain (in some form) would have helped tie together the negative memories with growth and sense of self. If I imagine it, its (resilience's) structural strength would comprise of 'negative' memories and then those would be held together or tempered by processing/judgment. The two elements would work together to bolster one's sense of self. As in the movie, the 'negative' memories would serve an important purpose. Only now we add in processing/judgment, and the memories are reformed and repurposed into growth and strength, i.e. a strong sense of resilience (without processing/judgment, they would be a just in a heap, not helping us and being tossed around by Anxiety)...
With my own kids as they grow and develop, I hope to remind them to reflect on what they did, what decisions they made, and to recognize their identities through those thoughts and actions (and growth), rather than the reactions and outcomes that were beyond their control.
Thank you, Diane Elizabeth, for this thoughtful response! I absolutely love the idea of a 'resilience center' in Riley's brain, and the way you describe it here would make so much sense. It's critical to find healthy ways to face adversity and disappointments... and, as you said, to be able to process/judge them, and repurpose them into fortitude. What a beautiful concept! Awesome to hear about how you share this with your kids, too!