Inside Out: Use Character Choices

We talked about character choices in an article last year, and they seem to be stressed a fair amount in other writing blogs, books, and communities as well. But from a writer’s perspective, they can seem pretty pointless. When you’re in complete control of a plot, the side characters, and even the very world itself, it can be easy to allow your protagonist to complete their adventure and make very few if not no choices at all.  It doesn’t make much of a difference if they are offered the opportunity to make choices. The same plot points will happen, no matter if we allow our characters to choose to let them progress or not.

Not to mention that your readers all know that you, as the writer, are only allowing your characters to make choices if it furthers the plot. You certainly wouldn’t let your character choose something that would work against your plot. Characters are only given select, very carefully timed choices. Doesn’t that create character choices that seem ridiculously contrived? Wouldn’t it be better for both reader and writer not to worry about them?

Here to answer these questions is Pixar’s Inside Out. 

Inside Out

Inside Out is based on the idea that all of our emotions are sentient, using their influence to affect the actions and responses of people. The movie follows a girl named Riley and her emotions as they navigate a difficult move from Minnesota to San Francisco. Joy is committed to keeping Riley happy through it all, despite the ever-growing influence of her coworker, Sadness. The recent changes in Riley’s psyche have made it so that Sadness can retroactively turn happy memories sad. If Joy isn’t careful, all of Riley’s memories of Minnesota could end up affected by Sadness permanently. And so when a mix up lands Joy stranded in long term memory with Sadness and the five core memories that make up Riley’s very personality, Joy is almost devastated — almost.  

But with Joy’s optimistic attitude and can-do spirit, she’s sure that she and Sadness can find their way back to Head Quarters without too much trouble, and hopefully before the people around Riley realize that she can’t feel happy — or sad — anymore.

With some help from Bing Bong, Riley’s imaginary friend, Joy finally gets a plan together that gets her and Sadness back in Riley’s head and avoids the massive Memory Dump — a chasm where forgotten memories are disposed of. Joy knows if she falls down there, there will be no going back. Riley will forget how to be happy forever.

Throughout their adventures, Joy starts to see Sadness’s worth for the very first time. She watches as Sadness is able to connect with people who are hurting in a way that she can’t, and she sees Sadness solve problems in unique ways. Joy begins to wonder for the first time if maybe she isn’t the most important emotion — and if maybe Sadness has worth inside Head Quarters, as well.

Finally, Joy, Sadness, and Bing Bong find a recall tube that could take them and the core memories straight up to Head Quarters. Joy leaps into the tube, with Sadness following close behind her. But when Joy tries to close it, she realizes that if Sadness goes into the tube with the core memories, they’ll all turn sad forever. During an agonizing moment when Joy’s newfound discoveries about Sadness conflict with her desire to protect Riley’s personality from her influence, Joy is forced to choose between Sadness and Riley’s memories.

Joy chooses her memories.

Pushing Sadness aside and slamming the recall tube closed, Joy turns toward Head Quarters with resolution. She didn’t like the choice she’s had to make, but she knows it’s the right one. Riley can live without Sadness — but she can’t live if she loses the memories that make up her personality.

But Riley’s deteriorating mental state causes an entire shelf of memories to fall, crashing into the recall tube and breaking the suction pulling Joy upward. The tube breaks and Joy falls toward the Memory Dump. As Bing Bong reaches to catch her, he totters and plunges to the bottom right behind Joy.

They land together in the middle of the Memory Dump, waiting to be forgotten.

Why Does This Choice Matter?

But why did that choice matter so much? Bing Bong also fell into the Memory Dump, and he wasn’t offered the choice between Sadness and the core memories. Instead, that just — happened. Clearly the writers could have just written Joy into being next to Bing Bong when he fell. The same setup for the climax would result, with Joy and Bing Bong trapped in the Memory Dump and Sadness lost and alone above. 

Not to mention, Joy’s choice was futile. Her plan to leave Sadness and take the core memories to Head Quarters didn’t actually happen. Regardless of her choice, the plot marched relentlessly on. Since her choice didn’t actually change anything about the plot, the characters, or reveal something new to the viewer about Joy, it can seem pointless. We’ve known from almost the first second that Joy’s been on screen that she’d choose the core memories over Sadness, every time. Sadness knows this, too, and her relationship with Joy is more damaged by the fact that she failed to save her from the Memory Dump than the fact that Joy predictably put Riley’s memories first. 

So why does this choice matter?

Because it frames Joy’s epiphany with two incredible choices.

The first is when she decides to leave Sadness behind.

The second is during the climax, when she risks life and limb to bring Sadness with her back to Head Quarters. She was offered multiple opportunities to simplify her journey and leave Sadness behind. Instead, she chooses not only to risk it all to save Sadness, but then hands her the core memories, watching each of them become enveloped in sadness as she bids goodbye to Riley’s old personality forever. Her epiphany finally helped her realize that for Riley to heal she has to face the growing sadness within her. Joy had to put her ego aside and realize that (at least for now) she can’t be the dominant emotion. To truly help Riley progress and eventually return to the cheerful girl that Joy has been fighting for this whole time, she had to step aside and uninhibit Sadness.

In some ways, the first choice was unnecessary. It didn’t change the plot, characters, or create a new revelation. 

 But that choice encapsulates the old Joy perfectly. It captures so much of her character, perspective, and her most deeply held beliefs. It was crafted specifically to highlight how much farther she has to go as a character. Throughout the movie, the viewers wonder if the new ideas that Joy is dealing with will actually show fruit in her actions. This choice shows us that they won’t. When Joy is under the most stress, facing the most difficult decisions, she ultimately reverts back to who she was before this journey began.

The next choice demonstrates the new Joy fully. It captures her determination, the practical consequences of her new beliefs, and her willingness to risk everything for her newfound understanding. It was crafted specifically to highlight how much she has changed in such a short time. It places Joy’s new perspective under the incredible stress, and demonstrates that her development is rock-solid because she holds on despite the challenges. Joy’s new perspective alters her life in practical, tangible ways.

When you frame a drastic change in a character’s perspective, relationships, or world with two dramatically different choices, it’s like running a highlighter the magnitude of that event.

Joy’s perspective on Sadness is forever altered by the events that took place within the Memory Dump. The viewers might have gotten the point if she hadn’t been offered a choice before the climax, but it would not have mattered as much. And near the end of a story, through its most poignant and emotional moments, it’s crucial that writers make sure these moments matter. That’s why this choice matters.

The choice makes it crystal clear that pre-epiphany Joy is dramatically different from post-epiphany Joy. Her altered perspective, her new humility, and her deeper understanding of the role of emotions become unforgettable because they are so starkly contrasted with the worldview, pride, and misunderstanding so poignantly demonstrated in the moment when she decided to abandon Sadness to save herself and Riley’s core memories.

When choices are used intentionally, they make the most powerful parts of your work even stronger. They can frame events that shake your character’s world and create a contrast so stark that it becomes impossible to ignore. It’s these kinds of choices, these little, insignificant-seeming choices, that create an unforgettable story. 

Let us know in the comments:

What character choices have stood out to you? How have you used character choices in your writing? Are you excited for Inside Out 2?