By ignoring an important character from the first film, Inside Out 2 confirms a harsh reality about Riley’s life since moving to San Francisco. Upside down is a Pixar franchise that follows a teenager named Riley through life’s difficult times, exploring the emotions and brain processes that influence her perception of the world. After seeing Riley face a cross-country move in the first film, Inside Out 2 shows Riley changing with the introduction of new emotions, including anxiety.
Inside Out 2 confirms many harsh realities, like the fact that anxiety can cause people to develop perfectionism and negative self-esteem. The film includes one of the most accurate depictions of an anxiety attack to appear on screen. It also becomes apparent that Riley doesn’t know how to handle the change of her friends going to a new school. Yet a deeply painful truth Inside Out 2 is never overtly stated but clearly shown by the film ignoring an important person in Riley’s life from the original. Upside down.
Inside Out 2 Says Riley Is No Longer Friends With Her Minnesota Friends
Meg and Riley’s other friends in Minnesota are never mentioned in Inside Out 2
At the beginning of Inside Out 2Riley has new best friends in San Francisco, and there is no mention of Meg or anyone else she knows from Minnesota. Given that the narrative only covers a few days of Riley’s life, one could argue that they may simply not have spoken during that time. Still, it seems like, in a movie focused on friendship, she would have at least mentioned her Minnesota friends or interacted with them via direct message at some point. There is also no visual indication on Friendship Island that she and Meg are still friends.
She might feel like she’s been abandoned by her old friends, which would trigger her anxiety about it happening again.
Additionally, Riley has a particularly negative reaction to the fact that her friends are going to a different high school. Her answer would make even more sense if she had lost contact with her friends since moving. She might feel like she’s been abandoned by her old friends, which would trigger her anxiety about it happening again. This would also explain why anxiety causes her to act so out of character in this situation.
Inside Out 2 Ignoring Riley’s Friends in Minnesota Is a Sad Reality of Moving
Long distance friendships are difficult to maintain
Emotions introduced in each Inside Out film | |
---|---|
Upside down | Inside Out 2 |
Joy | Anxiety |
Sadness | Embarrassment |
Fear | Boredom |
Disgust | Envy |
Anger | Nostalgia |
Even though they overcame that difficult moment, Riley has seemingly moved on. Inside Out 2 because she’s in a different state and can’t see her friends in Minnesota like she used to. Research by social psychologists and Gestalt psychologists has repeatedly affirmed the accuracy of the proximity principle – the idea that individuals are more likely to form friendships with people who are physically closer to them than with people who are further away. Children usually have forced close friendships because they attend school for long periods of time. By moving away, this closeness and time is removed.


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Alternatively, the third film could pick up with Riley starting college and unexpectedly meeting her childhood friends again. This film could explore reconnecting with old friends after a long time. Ultimately, while there are opportunities to reintroduce Riley’s friends to Minnesota, there’s no real need to resolve this storyline because they become separated early in the story. Inside Out 2 seemed natural and explicit.
Source: Voice