How ‘Inside Out 2’ Is Bringing Anxiety Into The Forefront of Conversation

Riley’s emotions from Inside Out 2.

*Spoiler warning for Inside Out 2

Pixar’s Inside Out 2 is now out in theaters. As a beloved sequel to Inside Out, this movie continues to follow Riley, who has developed new emotions as she enters puberty. Riley’s emotions are portrayed as tiny characters living in her mind, taking turns to help her navigate life using a control board. What better a way to enjoy this movie than with my younger brothers, Angel and Roberto, who I saw the first movie with? 

My favorite scene of the movie is when anxiety takes control of the control board. After frantically zooming around the control board and creating what appears to be an orange tornado around the control board, she grabs onto the main leverage causing Riley to freeze in a panic attack. At that moment my peripheral vision was disturbed. It was my brother Angel. I turned to observe him which led my other brother to turn his head in Angel's direction. Angel slowly brought his hand up, set it right in front of his nose, and flicked off Anxiety. As his final “fuck you” he picked up a single piece of popcorn aimed it at Anxiety and lightly threw it at the movie screen. I would like to clarify that we were late to the movie. Therefore, we were the only ones sitting at the front of the movie screen. No children around us saw my brother’s actions and no one got hit by the piece of popcorn. Roberto and I exchanged shocked glances and burst into laughter, with Angel joining in. 

I leaned toward Angel and whispered, “Angel, do you ever feel like this?”

He replied with a simple “Yes.”

Anxiety from Inside Out 2.

Angel has Autism. He is 21 years old, he often has a challenging time processing his emotions and adapting to change. When he gets anxious, he paces around the room with a thoughtful expression. I often ask him if he’s okay, and he replies, “I’m just thinking.” When I follow up with, “What are you thinking about?”, he responds with “Just thinking”. If I ask him if he wants to talk about it, he shrugs me off and continues pacing around the room. I frequently find myself wishing I could enter my brother’s mind to better understand him. 

That brief moment during the movie gave me a glimpse of Angel’s world. I realize that his emotions are much more similar to mine than I realized. My own anxiety eased as I understood that what my brother needs most is understanding and acceptance. For most of my life, my identity has revolved around what it means to be a good older sister. I often feel guilty for treating my brother Angel differently than Roberto. Now, I see that despite their different needs, my approach, based on understanding and acceptance, remains consistent for both. I hope my brother finds that to be true, and feels comforted by my approach.

Child Nayeli and Angel.

I also hope more movies normalize challenging emotions like anxiety. Our world needs more empathy and relaxation that, despite our differences- whether income, race, gender, or mental capacity-  we share similar experiences and feelings. By being kinder and more accepting of one another, we also learn to be kinder to ourselves.