What does the ending of ‘Inside Out 2’ mean?

[CUIDADO! SPOILERS DE ‘DIVERTIDA MENTE 2’ ABAIXO]

Last Thursday, the 20th, ‘Inside Out 2’, by Disney and Pixar, opened in Brazilian cinemas. The animation follows Riley after her 13th birthday, and now having to deal with the problems of adolescence — a phase in which new emotions arrive and old ones undergo transformations, and is also the moment in which a sense of self is definitively created.

In the plot, Riley discovers that her two best friends are going to change schools, but while she tries to deal with this new change and win a place on the hockey team, in the Command Room, which was previously led by Joy, Anger, Disgust, Fear and Sadness, the Puberty button is activated and new emotions arrive to divide the control panel: Anxiety, Boredom, Shame and Envy, making the situation much more complicated.

That’s because, while thinking about all the possible and impossible scenarios to protect Riley at the beginning of this new phase, Anxiety ended up sending the emotions presented in the 2015 film to the back of the girl’s mind, taking control of the Command Room.

Now, with Anxiety in control and the social changes she faces, Riley faces disastrous situations, as with her old emotions she has also lost the sense of self that was developed with the happy and positive memories of her childhood, making her question who really is, what you like and who you want to be while worrying about other people’s approval.

With this in mind, in the last act of the film, Riley is distant from her best friends, pretending to like things she doesn’t like for approval, and desperate to show her value as a player to also feel included, which ends up having her sleep affected while Imagine situations, then facing an intense anxiety crisis, characterized by shortness of breath, shaking, sweating, accelerated heartbeat and disorganized thinking.

As she goes through these sensations, in Riley’s mind, Anxiety is in control and it is with the help of Joy (who manages to return to the Command Room), that it becomes possible to restore harmony between Riley’s emotions, as the The character makes it clear that Anxiety cannot define who Riley will be, and that all emotions are part of the girl’s identity and are essential for her to be who she is.

More than that, the old sense of self also goes through transformations, gaining memories of different types, showing the complexity of the mind and reinforcing the importance of the nine emotions for the construction of the characteristics that help define Riley, this is also the moment in which The girl’s anxiety attack was completely controlled, allowing her to make peace with her friends and complete the game that would put her on the hockey team.

Regarding this conclusion, the director of ‘Inside Out 2’, Kelsey Mannrevealed in an interview with USA Today (via ScreenRant) that, even though Anxiety acted as an antagonist when taking control, his intention was the same as Joy and other emotions: to help Riley!

They are two parents arguing about the best way to care for their children. She [Ansiedade] is trying to help Riley, but she went too far and got involved in this like we all can do as parents and as people. And just like anxiety, our anxieties can spin. This has definitely happened in my own life. It can get to a point where it’s actually harmful. So it’s learning how to manage anxiety in a way that can be really helpful in your life.”

It is worth remembering that, at the end of the film, the importance of Anxiety becomes evident by showing that it is not a bad emotion, in fact, it is extremely useful so that Riley can plan and avoid situations that could be harmful, since after encountering balance in how they will command the Control Room, Anxiety is the one who remembers that Riley needs to study for her next Spanish test.