The Sense of Self is an object of major importance in Disney•Pixar's 2024 animated feature film Inside Out 2. It is a series of glowing blue strings twirled together, inside of a white holder.
Riley's beliefs[]
First Sense of Self[]
- "I'm a good person." (main belief)
- "Homework should be illegal."
- "Get Up and Glow is the best band ever!"
- "I'm a really good friend."
- "Mom and Dad are proud of me."
- "I'm kind."
- "I'm strong."
- "I'm brave."
- "I'm a winner."
Second Sense of Self[]
- "I'm not good enough!" (main belief)
- "If I am a Firehawk, I won't be alone."
- "If I am good at hockey, I will have friends."
Third Sense of Self[]
- "I'm selfish."
- "I'm kind."
- "I'm not good enough!"
- "I'm a good person."
- "I need to fit in, but I want to be myself!"
- "I'm brave, but I get scared!"
- "Success is everything."
- "I make mistakes."
- "I'm nice."
- "I'm mean."
- "I'm a good friend."
- "I'm a terrible friend!"
- "I'm strong."
- "I'm weak."
- "I need help sometimes."
Role in the film[]
The Sense of Self is built from many of Riley's beliefs and memories. It is connected to the Belief System, a place made of a pool full of memory orbs, through glowing strings originated by the orbs. When the strings are plucked, the beliefs can be heard. When activated, it says "I'm a good person." The Sense of Self is so powerful that, as long it's plugged in, it can prevent the emotions from forcing Riley to do something she doesn't believe in.
Later, when Anxiety arrives in Headquarters, she decides that she can create a better Sense of Self, and throws the old one into the Back of the Mind. After banishing the old emotions, Anxiety and the others started to gather anxious memories and send them to the Belief System, where they start to build a new Sense of Self. It's showed that, even when the emotions are careful with memories they send to the Belief System, they don't have full control on the belief generated, as Anxiety, in her attempt to build a "better" Riley, ended up creating the belief she is not good enough.
After arriving to the HQ and watching Anxiety having an anxiety attack and causing Riley to have one as well, Joy, with the help of the other emotions, manage to take out the Sense of Self created by Anxiety and replace it with the old one. However, when Joy realizes she had been doing what Anxiety tried to do by deciding what Riley should believe on, she takes out the old Sense of Self and allows a new one to grow from not only the memories already existing in the Belief System, but also the ones that Joy and the other emotions have been storing at the Back of the Mind that were washed up by the avalanche of memory orbs the old emotions used to return to HQ. This resulted in Riley coming to accept who she really is, both the good and the bad.
Gallery[]
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