Vice-versa 2 tells us about anxiety and aims right

Released on June 12, 2024, Vice-versa 2 met with unprecedented success around the world by achieving the best story start for an animated film. And for good reason, this sequel manages to dissect the torments of emotions in an educational and entertaining way by reaching a wide audience.

Vice versa, the anatomy of emotions

With Vice-Versa, Pixar animation studios take us into the mind of a young girl named Riley. There, we get to know each other basic emotions of joy, sadness, fear, disgust and anger. Together, they are meant to influence and regulate Riley’s actions except that they tend to fight for the upper hand as the girl grows up and encounters difficulties. This is the subject of the first film which features Joie as the leader of this small group. While Riley goes through a difficult ordeal, Joy perceives Sadness as an unnecessary burden and tries to limit her influence. After many adventures, we understand that these two emotions are of equal importance and that sadness is necessary for the feeling of joy.

In the just-released sequel, Riley is 13 years old and about to enter high school. Puberty is upon us and the group expands to welcome new emotions within the checkpoint. We then discover Anxiety, Embarrassment, Boredom and Envy. While Riley goes to a hockey camp, she learns that her best friends will be moving to another high school and that they will be separated. To digest the painful information and avoid the worst, Anxiety takes control of her mind and pushes her to focus on sport in order to join the high school team and impress its members. Convinced that this is the best thing to do for her future, she gets rid of the old emotions that are struggling to find their place in Riley’s mind.

What is anxiety?

By integrating new emotions, the creators chose to make Anxiety the main antagonist of this new film. A relevant choice when we know the growing importance of this emotion among young and old. According to an Ipsos survey , 49% of adolescents in France are affected by anxiety disorders. The hardest period for them would be middle school since 30% of 13-14 year olds suffer from a generalized anxiety disorder. But it does not only affect the youngest. According to’ OMS , Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders worldwide. In 2019, 301 million people were affected.

But what exactly is anxiety? Still according to OMS , “people with an anxiety disorder may feel excessive fear or worry about a given situation or, in the case of generalized anxiety disorder, about a wide range of everyday situations. » The various symptoms can persist over the long term, be the cause of avoidance strategies and become disabling on a daily basis. To best represent the anxiety, as well as the emotions that inhabit Riley, The creators of Inside Out surrounded themselves with mental health professionals with whom they have exchange for almost four years. Together, they worked on scientific concepts linked to emotions, the tone of different voices and facial expressions for a result that was as accurate as it was comforting.

A fair representation

When Anxiety presents itself to other emotions, it appears as an energetic and strong-willed character. His eyes are permanently wide and his haircut is explosive. We quickly understand that she is not there to make up the numbers. She quickly explains that its role is to plan the future and anticipate each potential event. The character of Fear is quickly charmed by this reassuring objective but Anxiety asserts its difference by explaining that if fear “protects Riley from the things she can see, its job is to protect her from the things she cannot see. » A nice summary of the anxiety disorder which leads to constant, and sometimes extreme, anticipation of potential difficult situations.

Dacher Keltner et Lisa Damourthe specialists who worked on the film, explain that around 13 years old, Riley’s age, brain development allows us to project ourselves and imagine different scenarios. During this period, adolescents become more sensitive to the views of others, for example. In the film, Anxiety thus mobilizes Riley’s imagination to create and project possible negative scenarios. However, she is not an antagonist like the others since her goal is above all to protect Riley. Like the emotion it embodies, it is not totally negative since it helps us to anticipate, correct certain attitudes and make better decisions. Finally, it allows Riley to surpass herself and meet new people.

It is when anxiety begins to take control of one’s mind and reject other emotions that it becomes problematic and harmful.. The culmination of this takeover is Riley’s panic attack during which Anxiety spins around in her head so fast that it becomes blurry and elusive. Impossible to stop, it isolates the young girl from the present moment, from others and from her feelings to transform into a ball of stress which impacts her body. It is the intervention of other emotions that allow him to let go and become part of the world around him again.

Far from stigmatizing anxiety as being a totally negative element that should be eliminated, the film actually an emotion as necessary as the others in the construction of the main character. Like its predecessor, Inside Out 2 shows us that all emotions are essential, provided that none eclipse the others by taking control of the mind. In this, it hits the mark and finds a particular echo among young viewers who affirm to have recognized oneself there. A well-deserved success.