Reflection Of Descries Meditation in the Movie ‘Inside Out.”

Although Pixar's animated blockbuster 'Inside Out' was released in 2015, the film's concepts are comparable to those of Rene Descartes, a sixteenth-century French philosopher. The animated picture was created by directors Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen in collaboration with screenwriter Meg LeFauve. Notably, the film takes place in Riley's thoughts, an eleven-year-old girl who struggles with the psychological obstacles of relocating across the nation with her family. As a result, the film focuses on Riley's personified emotions, which include contempt, fear, wrath, grief, and joy. Surprisingly, the movie ‘Inside Out’ closely relates to Rene Descartes “Mediation on First Philosophy” which focuses on the immortality of the self and the existence of God. Similar to the movie ‘Inside Out’ Rene Descartes examines the critical facets of the self. More specifically, Pixar’s film and Rene Descartes’ writings focus on the constitution of the self-such as fear, anger memory, imagination, fear, among other emotions. The Movie “Inside Out’ is closely related to Descartes’ first, second and sixth meditations since both works focus on the constitution of the self.

Meditation One

Descartes’ Meditation One is one those things that are questionable. Although the philosopher states that he had earlier desisted from analyzing the foundations of his various false beliefs, he must now reexamine these basics so as to create stable and long term truths in sciences. Since re-examining the basis of all falsehoods can be tedious, Descartes states that any assertion that causes doubt should be rejected. First, Descartes opines that the senses often mislead the self. For instance, the feelings blur the fine line between reality and dreams. The philosopher dismisses the novelty of dreams since they are based on fact. For example, a sense of a horse, in fact, equals that of a unicorn in a dream. In “Inside Out,” Riley’s short term memories are consolidated during sleep (Disney Movies for Kid: Inside Out Full Animation Movie n.p). Second, Descartes questions the accuracy of mathematical and scientific realities since God may have made man to live in a dream but made him think its reality. That is why people make mistakes in mathematics and sciences. In conclusion, Descartes decides to discard his prior beliefs and assumes God deceives people maliciously.

Just as Descartes’ Meditation One questions those things that can be called into doubt, the movie “Inside Out” encourages people to re-examine their beliefs and their senses. While most people believe that happiness is all about joy, the film “Inside Out” shows that happiness is not all about joy. In fact, Riley is happiest when joy cedes control of other emotions including sadness.

Meditation Two

Descartes emphasizes that the ultimate constitution of the self is the body. The philosopher identifies with his body more than his soul. He is confident of the existence of the self since he can think, understand, imagine, and sense (Descartes and Cottingham 14). Nonetheless, the philosopher acknowledges the mind as a critical component of the self. People fathom themselves better than bodies since every perception of the body alludes to the nature of the mind.

Although the movie “Inside Out” focuses on Riley’s mind, it also acknowledges her bodily awareness. The film reinstates the importance of the body as a critical facet of the self. Apart from the emotions that form a significant part of Riley’s feelings, bodily pains and desires also contribute to her well-being. For instance, she longs for her hockey games, and the physical pain of sleeping on an attic floor adds to her emotions.

Meditation Six

In his sixth meditation, Descartes focuses on the self’s awareness of external objects by differentiating imagination from intellect. While imagination is the ‘mind’s eye,' understanding is the processor of the image. Consequently, the philosopher concludes that vision is less important to the mind compared to understanding (Tweyman 7). The movie “Inside Out” confirms the mind-body materialism of philosophy which considers the self to be a product of a conscious mind .The film depicts, Riley and her parents as conscious human beings who are products of the activities in their mind. Each character’s behavior is a result of the inner workings of the mind, mainly the five emotions; fear, anger, sadness, joy, and disgust.

Works Cited

“Disney Movies For Kid: Inside Out Full Animation Movie.” YouTube, Uploaded by Sutuchung, 13 October 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6owwl-uFq4

Descartes, René, and John Cottingham. René Descartes: Meditations On First Philosophy: With Selections From The Objections And Replies. Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Tweyman, Stanley. Rene Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy in Focus. Routledge, 2013.