Another Period

ANOTHER PERIOD is a new Comedy Central show from the minds of two lady comics who have been floating around the industry for the last tweny years: Riki Lindhome and Nastasha Leggero. ANOTHER PERIOD builds on themes they’ve been developing in their other work, so let’s run through their resumes quickly.

Riki Lindhome is one half of singing comedy duo Garfunkel and Oats, along with Kate Micucci. G&O had their own short-lived 8 episode show on IFC. One of the best storylines was when Riki’s character took hormones to preserve her fertility because she wasn’t ready to have a baby yet. The real Riki did this in real life, and was shocked that no one had ever talked about it. So she put it on television, and it’s some of the funniest, most relatable comedy I’ve ever seen. I’m a tiny bit worried by how much I understand her hormonal emotional-rollercoaster self. Aside from G&O, Riki has been a working actress and comic for years; she played Logan’s friend on Gilmore Girls. She’s that legit.

Natasha Leggero is a standup, and longtime friend and collaborator of Chelsea Handler, a frequent guest on the round table portion of Chelsea Lately. I have not seen nearly enough of that show, so I can’t comment on her performance there. But I’ve seen Natasha pop up in cameos for years—including on Garfunkel and Oats. She usually plays some version of a sex kitten, lampooning a role she obviously feels forced into by leaning all the way in. I’ve always been entertained by her, but never knew if her shtick landed for me or turned me off.

And now we have ANOTHER PERIOD, the clearest articulation of themes these women have been exploring for years. The show is about the Bellacourt family, members of a cadre of 1%ers who built extravagant mansions in Newport, Rhode Island in the early 1900s before the Great Depression ruined everything. Beatrice and Lillian (played by Riki and Natasha) are the Bellacourt sisters, the main characters. The ensemble includes their siblings: Freddy, who is also Beatrice’s lover, and Hortense, a feminist; their mother Dodo, who is addicted to morphine and accidentally urinates on important guests; Peepers the butler, who is committed to his second-class status and in love with Dodo; Garfield the under-butler; Blaire, one of the serving women; and another serving-woman Chair, formerly known as Celine, and played by Christina Hendricks in a role almost exactly modeled on her time as Saffron in Firefly. Sometimes the Bellacourt dad shows up to have an affair with Chair and be an ass. There are also great cameos in nearly every episode, including Ben Stiller (an executive producer).

A big source of story and comedy is the division between the upstairs and downstairs. The servants are treated like animals or objects. Lillian literally renames Celine Chair when they first meet, and the name sticks. Peepers is devoted to this class system, and enforces it much more harshly than any of the upstairs people, even when he’s impersonating Commodore Bellacourt at a dinner party Dodo brings him to. Having grown up visiting the Newport Mansions and learning all about the “wonders” of that time, I love that the show is constantly highlighting this class division for what it really is: imaginary and awful.

Class isn’t the only thing the show demolishes. This is probably the most feminist thing on television right now. They do things that I’m shocked the FCC let through. In one of the episodes Beatrice and Lillian are getting ready for a party, and they hold up their skirts to reveal enormous bushes so Blaire can spritz them with perfume. In another episode, the ladies are treated for hysteria. This involves Blair tickling Beatrice with a feather to climax, which takes half a second, and Garfield operating a dildo attached to a spin bike on Dodo, who apparently needs a bit more work to get there. In another story line, Lillian pays one of the servants to kidnap her so she’ll be a story in the papers. Events take a nasty turn when it seems like he might make her a sex slave. But the tone shifts again when she’s totally into it. And then he can’t really get it up, and the whole thing is revealed to be an elaborate sexual role-playing fantasy.

I feel like I’m always writing about feminist stuff like that’s the point, but it’s not. The point is that I write about GOOD stuff, and content is just better when it includes a diversity of experiences and voices. Diversity means different kinds of people rubbing up against each other, friction that is guaranteed to create conflict. And like smoke, where there’s conflict, there’s story. And I’m not saying men can’t play in comedy anymore—Louis is totally feminist, and really funny. Comedy like ANOTHER PERIOD is refreshing and exciting and also really extremely funny. There are so many things we’re not allowed to talk about (like pubic hair, which pop culture would lead us to believe has never existed). Shining a spotlight on unspeakables is funny. We like to think that our country has advanced in the last hundred years to be freer, less racist, less classist, less misogynist. But some of the plot lines here, though satirical, are a little too familiar for that to be totally true. ANOTHER PERIOD looks to history to comment on the present.

And did I mention it’s funny?

The Braverman's: "May God Bless And Keep You Always"

"I was two years in Vietnam. Do you know what I thought about, what I dreamt about? Coming home, having a family, having grandkids. I dreamt you, Amber. And Haddie, and Drew, and Sydney and Max...You’ve had some bad breaks. You’re not feeling good about yourself...Well boo friggin who. You got to suck it up girl, you’re a Braverman...You do not have my permission to mess with my dreams." - Grandfather to granddaughter

Top 5 Reasons to Give In and Join the Braverman Clan

1. They love each other.

The Braverman's are... they're... ugh, you know, I started that sentence a few times but I'm not sure there's one word to describe them. Aside from fictional, but I have to remind myself of that. All of them are so big and bright and raw and their own special brand of crazy. 


They're ridiculous and too much. I mean they all go to every high school baseball game and every elementary school play. They schedule lunches and drinks and girl's nights out. They work and cook and shop together. Maybe it's unrealistic, but you're telling me you wouldn't like your own personal cheer squad for every pitch? Every meeting? Every shitty day? Because the Braverman's aren't just their for the birthday parties and baptisms, they're there for hospital visits and debt too.


Their love is unwavering and unconditional. They fight loud and hard but it's never the end. Family is forever. Maybe the most interesting love stories in this family are the unexpected ones. Of course husbands love wives and grandparents love grandchildren, but in the Braverman house, there's a bond between uncles and nieces, brothers and sisters-in-law, cousin and cousin. If one of them loves you, they'll all love you. Whether you marry in, your born in, or you made one of them smile one time. 

It's refreshing to see this on TV because there's no back stabbing or wife-stealing or, I don't know, murder. TV families usually hate each other, but in reality, you love your family. All the time. Even when you want to make them shut up by punching them in the face. 


And this family shows that side of life. The part where you can be tired and lazy but you get up and make them dinner because it'll make them smile or you answer the phone in the middle of the night and listen to them for an hour. Maybe you even cancel your plans to babysit last minute or make an embarrassing speech to their significant other strongly suggesting they never break your heart.

These characters are head over heels in love with each other, even when they don't know it or aren't sure or wish they didn't... they do. 

2. They're all human.

This is a show following a myriad of people. Yes, 98% white and 100% middle class. I'm not saying they're diverse, but they aren't all the same. There's an aging vet from the Vietnam war, a young female lawyer trying to make partner, a confused teenage boy... yet there's a moment with each and every one of them where I think, "Man, I hear that."


There's a scene when one of the youngest cousins threatens to run away from home. She's about eight and being dramatic, but she's a kid and not getting the attention she wants from her parents and she's hurt and sad and you know what that's like. Maybe it's not your parents' attention you're seeking but you totally get it. Then later, the grandmother is struggling with what the next phase of her life is going to be. Phase three as she calls it and maybe you're not on phase three, or you're twenty and already on phase seventeen, but you understand the transition and how hard it is to face.

They're all allowed to be who they are and feel what they feel and struggle where necessary. Their age or situation doesn't diminish how real it all is. Going through shit at 70 or 7 is life and Parenthood doesn't take that away.

3. Illness isn't sugar-coated.

Have you ever watched a show where there's a character with alcoholism, so their only struggle is not having a beer after work... or you know, vodka for breakfast? The past pain they caused isn't always brought up, nor is the scars they may have left behind. Or a character facing mental illness just needs to go to therapy and then everything will clear itself right up. Therapy isn't hard to afford or find or endure... that would be too trivial. Or maybe something as serious as cancer or heart disease is on screen, but don't worry - the random new treatment is free and the top rated doctor is around to treat you and only you.

That's not how it works. These diseases, all diseases, are uphill battles and long and hard and not ones you can handle by yourself. Someone has to bring you to your appointments and someone has to let you cry and someone has to feel your pain. In Parenthood, they do just that. Each struggle is real and this show lets the recovery take time. And sometimes the answer isn't recovery... or a cure... it's just learning how to live with it. And knowing someone else is living with it with you.

You cry when they get the diagnosis but you cry harder when they get a hug. Because you'd want a hug. You'd need one. And so do they. But sometimes it's hard to give, and they show that too. Often, we're not the one who's sick, we're just watching helplessly. Or we're scared. We don't want to lose anyone or deal with it. Who likes walking into a hospital? No one. But in Parenthood, they show the reality of being a patient and of loving that patient. They require two different kinds of strength and this show proves the importance of both.

4. They remember to dance.

5. You'll cry.

I'm not entirely convinced I can stress how much of a good thing this is. And I didn't want to watch this show for fear of crying, but then you watch the pilot, and cry, and it's amazing.

I don't want to lie, sometimes you're just crying because things are sad. And you feel awful they're going through whatever they're going through, but so often it's because there's so much happiness and love and support and your heart can't handle it.

Without repeating myself or giving too much away, you'll cry because this show is honest. About heartbreak and parenting and car accidents and moving and school and pregnancy and change. You'll cry because it all reminds you of yesterday or shows you what you hope for their future... and sort of yours.

Parenthood isn't a show about hope, but it never loses it either. It's a show about a family, could be almost any family, trying desperately to get it right. And if one of them is about to give up, the others carry their weight for awhile. They have different opinions and plans and outlooks but number one on their list is still going to be wanting each other to be happy.

And for that reason alone, I promise, you'll cry.

Frances Ha

This is one of those movies that I’ve scrolled past maybe a hundred times while surfing Netflix – a great American pastime. (International past time? Netflix is a worldwide thing right?). The description always turned me off: “She’s a dancer and dreamer adrift in New York City. Friendship is what keeps her world turning.”

Eh. But I was bored the other day, and so I decided to give it five minutes. And then I watched the whole thing.

Frances Ha is written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, and directed by Noah Baumbach. The film follows Frances, a 28-year-old adolescent who is emotionally in love with her best friend and at a loss for what to do with her life. In your 20s your soul mates are your friends, and planning for the future means finding a party for tonight. But that stage doesn’t last forever, and Frances Ha tracks the painful trajectory of becoming an individual.

First, Frances’s roommate moves out. Then, she loses her job. This life that she clearly thought was going to last forever (or maybe she didn’t think at all) is revealed to be totally temporary. Bit by bit, distractions and supports ebb away until she’s left alone, and forced to deal with her self.

There’s a feeling of total safety in an intimate friendship, where you really feel like part of a whole. Growing up, this something is lost, and replaced with an emptiness that you have to figure out how to fill up with yourself—whoever that is. Frances’ solution is to move in with two random guys and become basically their mascot, and go back to work as an RA at her college. She makes safe choices at first, re-treading places she’s already been. But that doesn’t work out. The one unbreakable rule of life is that you can’t move backward, and she doesn’t fit in to the places she used to any more.

Later, she tries to make bold choices. After losing her job, she buys a plane ticket for Paris on a whim. But the reality of a weekend alone in Paris is pretty much a bummer, and she blew her savings on it. These kinds of decisions are ones that work in movies, not in real life. Catching a last minute flight to Paris is a cool thing to do, but not necessarily the right thing to do. Frances is trying on lots of different life styles, but none of them really fit, because none of them were made for her.

Greta Gerwig is a delight in this. I’ve seen her in a few things and been interested, but never blown away. She lights up the screen here, she fills up every frame. She’s in every scene and she’s funny and awkward and real and confident and unsure and inspiring and cringe-worthy. Her character is completely realized. Which is interesting, because the rest of the characters are pretty flat. I think they’re supposed to be stereotypical, because we’re seeing everything from Frances’ point of view, and she’s got a limited perception of the world.

This is also really funny. In a Woody Allen kind of way. The jokes lie in the miscommunication and missed signals. One of Frances’ male roommates is clearly in love with her, and his awkward 20-something way of showing it is to make fun of her for being “undateable.” At the end of the movie he shows back up, with a new tune. During their conversation he interjects with “undateable” and she says, “oh I know, I’m totally undateable.” But then he says what he’d always meant which is: “No, I’M undateable.” Then he looks at her—“what about you? Are you still…?” And she repeats the same old joke in the same old way, totally missing his point: “Who me? Oh yeah. Completely undateable.”

Frances Ha is clearly made for people in their mid to late 20s. The jokes just hit too close to home. But it’s a funny and charming piece that would be enjoyable for anyone looking to relive an exciting, lonely, awkward, and pretty amazing part of life. 

Thanks Amy, We Needed That

I've seen TRAINWRECK twice. So has Rosey. I promise, it's worth the small fortune a movie ticket costs. 

It's a romantic comedy. But it’s more like a life-that-includes-sex-and romance-and-sometimes-death-too comedy. The film is directed by Judd Apatow, and written by Amy Schumer. Together, they’ve made a new kind of comedy, one that has a place for women and minorities in genre traditionally dominated by a narrow point of view. But this movie isn't good because Amy Schumer is a woman. Schumer is just downright funny, and so is her movie. It’s fresh, interesting, and timely. 

For his part, Apatow has always been interested in women’s experiences. You see it in his desperate attempts to get inside his wife’s head in KNOCKED UP and THIS IS FORTY (using a character played by his actual wife). He executive produced GIRLS. Even FREAKS AND GEEKS was about a teenage girl trying to understand sex and drugs and fitting in. But despite his efforts, his female characters have never quite worked for me. They’re a little too shrill, a little too smug. Apatow has had trouble telling women’s stories partly because he seems to be figuring women out as he goes. But Schumer doesn’t need to figure women out. She is a woman. Her character Amy is feisty, smart, funny, self-absorbed, rude, and not a size 00. She looks and feels like someone you might know. She’s loud, emotionally immature, a drunk, and kind of a slut. She chose this life, and she’s not apologizing for it. Schumer isn’t your typical Hollywood starlet, and her onscreen persona isn’t your typical leading lady.

Her love interest isn’t your typical male lead either. Dr. Aaron Connors (Bill Hader) isn’t a dude with a dark past and a killer smile looking for emotional rehabilitation. He’s not a heart breaker that every woman in the movie wants to bang. In fact, he hasn’t had a relationship in six years--not because he’s immature, but because he’s picky. He’s a smart guy who cares about his job, which is to help people. (Side note: he’s totally BFFs with LeBron James.)

Dealing with more realistic characters means we get a more realistic relationship. I'm tired of watching movies about people who can't function alone. Amy and Aaron are two people who are complete without each other. They're happier together and challenge each other, but they don't desperately need each other. They’re like, real human beings. We’re used to comedies about man children meeting manic pixie dream girls who restart their lives. In this case, Dr. Aaron Connors is the one who pushes Amy to be more vulnerable and accept some responsibility for her actions, and Amy pushes Aaron right back. Spoiler alert: they fall in love.

Case closed, right? We got what we wanted, we can all go home now. Not quite.

TRAINWRECK is more than misunderstandings and dramatic realizations. It doesn't end with them kissing for the first time on a bridge or a roof or on a skating rink. We get to watch an actual relationship and see people learning how to compromise and be together, how to stay together even when it’s hard. We get to watch two people who claim to be in love actually be in love.

There's this amazing moment when Amy first spends the night and Aaron spoons her. And she's visibly uncomfortable and says, "If I'm going to spend the night, can we sleep in a realistic position?" I've seen the scene where the woman lays there uncomfortably and you laugh because you get it, but Amy just outright says it. “Can you move? Can we change this? This isn't working for me.” And he's a little annoyed but says okay and they sleep realistically. 

This is real communication people. It’s not pretty, but it gets shit done. 

And just because it’s not pretty doesn’t mean it’s not sexy or fun. Maybe the most refreshing thing, the thing that makes this a new kind of blockbuster, is how often and how well they communicate. Rewind to the night before the spooning, when they have sex for the first time. Amy is writing a magazine story on Aaron, and the encounter starts out as a simple interview. Aaron is showing her some equipment he works with, when Amy has a little breakdown thinking about her family, and Aaron suggests they grab some food to make her feel better. After dinner, he asks if she wants to get a drink. She agrees.

CUT TO: Lights coming on at the bar, and Amy asks him if he wants to share a cab. He has no idea what is going on until he says “two stops,” and she says "One stop... want to give him your address?"

So he does and then we get to watch the implications of that interaction sink in. Bill Hader plays it perfectly. First, nonchalance. Then the recognition of what actually just happened. Then the shocked, almost panicky stare straight ahead—wide-eyed and adorable. He doesn’t do this kind of thing, like ever. But it’s okay, because she does this kind of thing all the time. Back at the apartment, while he’s busy trying to figure out his next move, she’s already taking clothes off. And the negotiation never stops. No one ever forces anything. As she’s undoing his pants, he asks, "Are we really doing this?" And she says, "We're really doing this. Is this okay?" He says, "It's okay, are you okay?" "I'm okay." They check in because they care about each other. They each want the other to have a good time, to be happy, to not feel pressure. No elaborate schemes or tricks or bets or meet-cutes. They just like each other and decide to bang.

It’s not all roses though. Relationships are hard. Staying in love takes work. Both characters mess it up and make it better. It's a team effort because they're a team. She is selfish sometimes, but so is he.
A few months into their relationship Aaron is giving a really important speech. He’s pretty nervous about it. In the middle, Amy gets a phone call, and she leaves. Bitch, right? Well, kind of. You could argue her phone should have been off in the first place, but she's a journalist and it wasn't off and her boss called and threatened her job. He finds her after and rips her a new one. She apologizes and says she answered the phone because she's worried about her job, to which he responds, "That doesn't matter!"

Excuse me?

She failed to support him when he really needed it. But maybe right now he is failing to support her right back. This is the moment when most movies would let her walk away. Miscommunication, it’s the engine that drives conflict. Not here. When she tries to leave, he stops her. This is just a fight! This is what people do! We fight, we make up, and we make it better. These are two people who genuinely love and respect each other, and we get to watch them figure out how to be good to each other. It’s revolutionary that this is considered important or interesting enough to make a film about. It IS important.

Schumer doesn’t just flesh out her main characters; she gives all the other supporting characters a fair shot too. The Asian guy's jokes aren't about being Asian. The homeless guy is charming, not scary. Amy’s boss (hilariously played by a nearly unrecognizable Tilda Swinton) is a rude, selfish, driven woman who is also a mentor; she gives Amy valuable feedback and encouragement--in the same meeting where she fires her. Schumer plays with stereotypes and expectations in order to generate comedy.

The clearest example is the scene when Amy almost sleeps with her underage intern. Clearly he’s learned about sex from porn, and he easily hits all the notes of a female porn actor. It’s a hard scene to watch. What makes you so uncomfortable is the mismatched male body and coded female behavior. Schumer’s point is this: How we are used to seeing women act in films has nothing to do with being a woman or having a vagina. It’s a cultural expectation and anyone can do it. Although it’s not perfect, this perspective also informs how she presents people of color and other minorities.  

Schumer knows what it feels like to be an outsider. She herself is a minority in Hollywood. As annoying as it is that we’re still talking about this, women don’t usually write and star in blockbuster films. Schumer’s experience is different, and makes for an interesting, fresh and funny movie. TRAINWRECK is proof positive that we need diversity because it actually makes movies better. Maybe in fifty years this movie will be boring. It’s just a set of diverse people being humans, not stereotypes. In a generation or two, best case scenario, this is old news, a snoozefest. But for 2015, TRAINWRECK is a big deal.

Go see it! 

"You Still Have Me"

I've written about these two once before. Okay, twice before. They deserve all the posts in the world. Because they are unbreakable.

This is them in the pilot.

And this is them some time later.

See? They've been friends from the beginning until now. And let me tell you, some shit has gone down since then. It is a show with wolves after all. I mean they are wolves. Well some of them are wolves. They are friends even though one of them can spontaneously turn into a wolf and the other was possessed by a psychotic, murderous demon for a month or so. That is friendship, team. For realsies.

So they've been through a lot and they're friends regardless...Blah blah blah.

What's truly amazing is that their friendship is even able to exist. Usually teen shows don't allow for these relationships. Romance takes the lead or it's a family based drama and they're all that exists.

You went to high school though right? Who did you talk to everyday? Who did you text after school even though you were just with them in class? Who did you tell your secrets? Who did you ask embarrassing questions?

You're friends. (That's the answer to all of those questions... I'm hoping anyway or I can't make my point.)

And this show lets them be the most important relationship in their lives aside from their bond with their parents (who know all about their supernatural problems and tendencies FYI because...well, did you ever try to keep a secret in high school? Parents aren't stupid.)

Teen Wolf's premise is based in science fiction and fantasy, but it's rooted in reality leaving these two guys with intelligence, bravery, and above all, loyalty.

In this scene, Stiles has been told he has an irreparable brain tumor. There's no cure. Does he spend a bunch of time telling his friend nothing is wrong? Does he pretend he doesn't care? No. Scott was there for the damn MRI. Obviously this is extreme and few of us would actually bring our friends to the hospital for scary tests, but my point is that they're there for each other through all of it.

These characters are written to be characters you can believe in. Both as heroes and as teenage boys. They're compassionate, they care, but they're also unnecessary risk takers and procrastinators when it comes to homework.


Scott is stronger and faster, but Stiles is often smarter and more strategic. They need each other.

Just because Stiles doesn't have claws or super... anything doesn't make him jealous or Scott resentful. They were friends before so they're still friends now.

Honestly, they'd both be dead otherwise. These two are saving each others lives a lot.

It's a dramatic scene but in one episode Scott is... we'll just say drugged because explaining all the supernatural lore will take too long. Something causes him to think his deepest fears are coming true and all his nightmares are real.

There are a few supernaturals affected and they all try to hurt themselves to escape their personal terror. The group saves almost all of them before they realize Scott is in danger too. So Scott jumps into a puddle of gasoline and lights a flare, prepared to let go.

His girlfriend is there and tries to talk to him, but knows it's Stiles he needs. Stiles steps into the puddle, "Scott, just listen to me. You’re not no one. Scott, you’re my best friend, okay, and I need you. Scott, you’re my brother. Alright, so if we’re gonna do this, then I think you’re just gonna have to take me with you.”

Together, Scott and Stiles are the best versions of themselves. I don't know who you were friends with in high school, but this was reality or at least the dream. Your friends pushed you and cared about you and made you laugh harder than you thought was possible. They were there when you cried even if what you were upset about was a little ridiculous and they warned you not to date that guy.

Their lives are unreal, but their friendship is one of the truest things I've witnessed on TV.

What If Feelings Had Feelings

You've heard of Inside Out. Or you haven't because you live under a rock like substance.

It's Pixar's most recent creation in which we follow Riley, an eleven-year-old hockey-playing pizza-eating badass, as she makes the move from Minnesota to San Francisco. Though the main characters are actually her emotions:

The second I saw this trailer, I was thrilled. I don't think the importance of recognizing and reacting to feelings and emotions is always taught to kids. Parents can do this of course, and some do, but there's still a stigma. It's uncool or weak or lame to feel how you feel.

You should be tougher or keep it to yourself. Well, sometimes you're angry and it's irrational but you still feel angry. Yes, you need to resist flipping over a table and screaming, but you can feel angry. You learn to take deep breathes or take a walk or do whatever you have to do to let joy back out on top.

Mom's Emotions

Inside Out showed the importance of all the emotions. It wasn't just Joy's show. Sure she was at the forefront a lot, but Riley's 11! In the mom's head, sadness was front and center whereas the dad had anger at the helm.

I don't think this means Riley's mom is inherently sad or that her dad is always angry, but as you grow up, you have a base, some state you come back to and it can't always be happy time.

Dad's Emotions

Another quick note in here about the parents... all their emotions are one gender. In Riley, it's a mix. I don't know if this was intentional, but I'd like to think Pixar is subtly showing that Riley perhaps doesn't identify yet as one or the other. Everything about her is developing from her mind to her body and there's no rush to figure it all out at once.




Now onto the plot, Riley has to move, you know that already, and she's not thrilled but not miserable either as she's decided to make the best of it. You know this because Joy is in charge. Fear and Anger take a stab, but Joy wins. This is going to be okay.

Except for then Riley's dad is working too much and her mom is worried and tired and none of her stuff has come on the moving truck and life is stupid, unfair, and really hard. And Joy gets lost. Both Joy and Sadness get stuck in the massive maze of longterm memory. This leaves Riley mad, scared, and annoyed. A great blend we're probably all familiar with - it's not the most productive of combinations. 

My mom was listening to NPR and I guess some neurologists were very huffy and saying this movie wasn't very accurate - this isn't how emotional responses work.

WHAT.

You're telling me there isn't a control panel where a few odd looking, yet colorful creatures fight over which buttons to press and decide what reactions I should have? My memories aren't little glowing orbs? Of course not, but this movie does an amazing job with the metaphor. 

There are adorable moments when some creatures and vacuuming up faded memories like old telephone numbers or state capitals and they mutter to each other, "She won't need that, she has the Internet." Or when you discover there's now an imaginary boyfriend in the mix who essentially has flopping hair and repeatedly pledges, "I will die for Riley." (That's all a girl really wants right?)

Joy and Sadness continue to make their way through Riley's brain, trying to get back to the control center, when they run into Bing Bong, Riley's childhood imaginary friend. He's a myriad of animals which he explains is because he was invented when Riley was three, and animals were all the rage.

So Bing Bong (is that not the best name?) helps them through Imagination Land, Dream Land, and Abstract Thought. He's energetic and happy and BFFs with Joy. They get along immediately and realize they have one common goal - let's help Riley and get her back on track. 

I'm not going to bring you through the plot points of the movie because you should watch the movie. You will cry. You will laugh. You will cry again and then smile wistfully.

It's smart and important and clever and fun. As is Pixar's way, it's teaching the whole time, whether you're learning it all or not. It even teaches lessons I think are sometimes ignored. It's okay to be sad. It's okay to grow up. It's okay to be giddy or scared or annoyed. It's okay to feel. And your emotions are all trying to protect you. They're part of you. They make you you.

You can't give in to any of them all the way and ignore the rest. If you ignore joy and sadness, you're left with disgust, anger, and fear:

But if you ignore fear, you'll never be cautious, and if you ignore anger, you may not stand up for yourself, and if you ignore disgust... you might wear an ugly shirt.

They all have their role and are meant to keep you going. 

Everyone has them too. Even if it doesn't seem like it or they're out of synch with yours. They're there and they are just as important. 

So go on, feel and let feel.

 I couldn't help myself, if you haven't seen the below... Pixar's movie history: