Animated films, particularly those aimed at children, often take on the crucial role of teaching young audiences about emotional literacy. Disney Pixar’s groundbreaking film Inside Out (2015) famously visualized this emotional landscape by personifying protagonist Riley’s core feelings – Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust – as characters navigating her internal “control room.” These emotions guided Riley through her childhood, helping viewers understand the complexities of feeling.
Now, Inside Out 2 revisits Riley as she enters adolescence, turning thirteen and encountering a new wave of “sophisticated” emotions. Among these newcomers are Anxiety, Embarrassment, Envy, and, most intriguingly, Ennui. For those unfamiliar with the term, this immediately begs the question: What Does Ennui Mean?
As a researcher specializing in the impact of boredom on media consumption, I was particularly drawn to the character of Ennui (voiced by Adèle Exarchopoulos). Ennui embodies a specific type of listlessness and weariness, a disengaged apathy that extends beyond simple boredom. In Inside Out 2, Anxiety aptly declares that each emotion has a “job to do,” hers being “planning for the future.” This raises a pertinent question: what is Ennui’s role, both in Riley’s emotional control room and in our understanding of boredom in everyday life?
To truly grasp Ennui’s significance, we must first delve into the meaning of ennui itself. While often used interchangeably with boredom, ennui carries a deeper, more nuanced connotation. Originating in the early 18th century French vocabulary, ennui describes a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement. It’s a profound weariness of life, a sense of being world-weary and emotionally exhausted, even in the absence of overt stressors.
Psychoanalyst Adam Phillips offers a compelling definition of ennui, describing it as:
That state of suspended animation in which things are started and nothing begins, the mood of diffuse restlessness which contains that most absurd and paradoxical wish, the wish for a desire.
This definition highlights the paradoxical nature of ennui. It’s not just the absence of something to do; it’s a deeper lack of motivation, a feeling of being stuck in inertia, even craving something to desire but unable to grasp what that might be. Psychologists James Danckert and John Eastwood, in their study of boredom, further explain this inertia, stating that boredom, and by extension ennui, is “a call to action, a signal to become more engaged – or to try something different.” However, with ennui, this “call to action” feels muted, muffled by the very weariness it embodies.
In Inside Out 2, Ennui is visually and aurally coded to emphasize this French origin. She is given a distinct French accent, further associating the emotion with a concept deeply rooted in French literature and philosophy. This choice is not accidental; ennui as a concept has been explored extensively in French existentialist writing, often linked to feelings of alienation and the search for meaning in a seemingly meaningless world.
Despite its potentially negative connotations, boredom, and by extension ennui, plays a crucial role in our lives, particularly during adolescence. My research demonstrates how media industries have capitalized on our aversion to boredom, positioning digital devices as readily available antidotes to this feeling. Smartphones are marketed as tools to combat boredom anytime, anywhere. However, this constant accessibility to digital distraction creates a paradoxical loop.
While boredom might motivate us to reach for our phones and mindlessly scroll, studies indicate that over-reliance on smartphones to escape boredom can actually exacerbate it. This is especially relevant for teenagers, who are navigating complex emotional and social landscapes while increasingly immersed in digital environments. Research has established a link between rising levels of boredom and mental health challenges in recent decades, making the exploration of ennui in Inside Out 2 all the more timely and relevant.
Inside Out 2 subtly acknowledges these potentially negative aspects of unchecked boredom but primarily focuses on the positive developmental function ennui can serve. Throughout the film, Ennui is depicted lounging on a sofa, clad in a dark blue sweatsuit, her gaze fixed impassively on her smartphone screen. Her visual design, initially conceived with pinkish-red hues in early sketches, was ultimately rendered in “de-saturated blue-grayish shade – if I had to give it a name, it’d be ‘blah’,” as the film’s production designer explained. Her appearance, mannerisms, and dialogue all embody mental fatigue, physical sluggishness, and a profound lack of interest – the hallmarks of ennui.
While Anxiety takes center stage as the film’s primary antagonist, Ennui operates as a quieter, more insidious force. Where Anxiety is characterized by frenetic energy, Ennui embodies je m’en foutisme, the quintessential teenage art of not caring. Crucially, Ennui’s smartphone functions as a remote control for Riley’s emotional console, allowing her to subtly modulate Riley’s feelings without even stirring from her couch. This effortless control is key to understanding Ennui’s role. She largely remains in the background, reacting to the unfolding drama with minimal effort – dramatic sighs, yawns, eye-rolls, and sarcastic remarks. This carefully cultivated air of disinterest is how the film interprets boredom’s function in Riley’s emotional development as she transitions into adolescence.
However, Ennui’s role is not simply one of passive apathy. At critical junctures in the film, Ennui actively takes control, dialing down the intensity of Riley’s emotional experiences. For instance, when Riley attempts to impress older peers at summer camp, and a wave of embarrassment and anxiety washes over her as they mock her past musical tastes, Ennui intervenes. Rising from her sofa, she declares, “I’ve been waiting for this moment,” and unleashes a wave of sarcasm that acts as a protective shield, deflecting Riley’s intense self-consciousness. In these moments, Ennui serves to counterbalance Riley’s emotional extremes, smoothing out the turbulent intensities of teenage life.
This function of tempering emotional intensity resonates with sociologist Georg Simmel’s concept of the “blasé attitude.” In his seminal essay “The Metropolis and Mental Life” (1903), Simmel argued that the blasé attitude arises as a response to the overwhelming sensory input and “rapidly shifting stimulations” of modern urban life. This attitude, characterized by a sense of apathetic indifference, functions as a psychological defense mechanism, protecting individuals from the nervous overstimulation of the city.
It is arguably this protective, “blasé” form of boredom that Ennui embodies in Inside Out 2. By dampening Riley’s emotional highs and lows, Ennui provides a unique form of shielding, buffering her from the emotional overstimulation inherent in the teenage experience. Understanding what ennui means in this context is crucial. It’s not merely a negative emotion to be avoided, but a complex state with potential adaptive functions, especially as we navigate the overwhelming complexities of modern life. In Inside Out 2, Ennui, far from being a mere obstacle, emerges as a nuanced and surprisingly necessary emotion, helping Riley, and perhaps viewers, understand the subtle power of not always caring too much.
