Poor entitled white girl's journey to entitlement

Rating: 3/10 (21 November 2015)

Let me start this review off by saying it's written by a white male, so there isn't any built-in angst or bias. I'm also totally NOT p.c. and it's extremely rare I find anything overtly offensive in any media. That said, I was still highly insulted by this movie, its presentation of first-world problems as life shattering, and its oversimplification of human emotions -- supposedly there are only 5, and anything other than "joy" is unacceptable.
The story centers on a white, middle-class girl who, (DEAR GOD) gets uprooted from her idyllic home to a nice looking place in one of the most expensive cities in North America. The fact that her many worldly possessions are delayed (not lost, mind you... just delayed) causes her psyche to tailspin from one ruled with the perky yet iron fist of Joy to one tinged with Sadness. The horror!! Get this girl some Paxil and a bottle of Evian!
I'm not saying that a big life change such as a move isn't grounds for an emotional upheaval (especially in children); but to present it as an event that could very well cause irreparable damage to your mental state is being a tad over dramatic. There are children who starve on the streets of our country, and I'm supposed to feel empathy for some girl whose memories of ice skating with her parents are suddenly slightly touched with sadness? How can I live if I don't know if she'll EVER find happiness in her generously-sized room in San Francisco?! She has melancholy chats with her friends via webcam on a laptop, and exhibits hissy fits at the dinner table while the plate in front of her is full of food. Obviously there should be some kind of telethon or fund raising concert to extract her from this inconceivable situation!
Joy has taken a back seat to anger and sadness, so obviously there's something inherently wrong here and it must be corrected. The harsh realness of real reality is too much for this child to bear, so lets all wait with bated breath to see if Joy will take her rightful place as the ruler of this girl's head. We all know the painful plight of a little white girl who suddenly has to deal with the unthinkable indignity of a new bedroom that's festooned with the heat and electricity of her old bedroom... but on a slightly smaller scale. And the insult of not one, but TWO caring parents who try to provide for her? It's no small wonder that Joy isn't her overriding emotion on a daily basis when she obviously has so much working against her.
I think you get the point. This movie is "deep" only for those who are too superficial to see how trite the first world problems presented here are; then there's the ridiculous notion of "if you're feeling anything other than happy, this must be corrected since it will result in the destruction of memories, friendships, family ties, and a feeling of self-worth." Indeed the ending hints that nuances of emotions will form when two or more of them "touch" memories: however, it still presents it as unless Joy is at least part of every memory, then there's something wrong. On top of all that, it manifests the human mind as being something commandeered ONLY by raw emotions...nothing is tempered by knowledge, experience, logic, and the like. Obviously all of that could never be simplified to the point where it could still be a movie palatable to children. I totally realize it's meant to be a fun, cute film that kids can understand and relate to... but if you can't tell the story fully, why confuse kids by telling it at all?