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Watched Pixar's Soul last night. A thread on my thoughts, per @kylestotts request.
In brief, it is a testament to the spiritual and moral bankruptcy of what's left of American mainstream culture.
In brief, it is a testament to the spiritual and moral bankruptcy of what's left of American mainstream culture.
This culminates Pixar's long march into the realm of spirituality. They began with putting souls in toys and progressed from there: cars, robots, fish.
They breached the human interior with Inside Out. The afterlife with Coco. And now we have Soul.
They breached the human interior with Inside Out. The afterlife with Coco. And now we have Soul.
Cheerful as this march has been, it has always been one of conquest. Each Pixar story has endeavored to subjugate the powerful and scary supernatural world and carpet over its existential voids with harmless sentimental fluff.
We see this immediately after Soul's opening credits when newly dead Joe finds his soul on a conveyor belt heading into the mouth of the "great beyond," a huge white light that annihilates incoming souls like an electric fly trap.
It's a classic Pixar touch: confront a supernatural terror with disarming humor. This is inevitably followed by some story trickery to bypass the specter.
In this case Joe drops through a convenient wormhole that takes him to the place where new souls prep for earth.
In this case Joe drops through a convenient wormhole that takes him to the place where new souls prep for earth.
Conspicuously missing from both locales are any truly supernatural agents - no God, angels, demons, monsters.
Instead there are algorithmic, abstract entities all named Jerry or Terry. They are cheerful middle manager types who answer to no one except their own orderly natures.
Instead there are algorithmic, abstract entities all named Jerry or Terry. They are cheerful middle manager types who answer to no one except their own orderly natures.
Per Pixar tradition, Soul embraces corporate and suburban analogies for the exotic and unknown. The soul-genesis zone is the "You Seminar" and it very much resembles the preschool set-up of Finding Nemo's coral reef.
Souls are all fuzzy little balls of cheerful energy that gradually take on the form of Myers-Briggs personality templates under the gentle care of their HR rep-like keepers.
All that keeps them from earth is a final "spark," ultimately defined as a capacity to enjoy life.
All that keeps them from earth is a final "spark," ultimately defined as a capacity to enjoy life.
Joe, desperate to avoid the great beyond and get back to earth to pursue his dream of becoming a jazz pianist, is lucky enough to encounter the one proto-soul who has no spark because she hates the idea of life on earth.
Here enters another Pixar trademark - the outrageous lightness when dealing with weighty supernatural matters.
In the same casual way Monsters, Inc. extracted screams from children, Joe decides to take this soul's life.
In the same casual way Monsters, Inc. extracted screams from children, Joe decides to take this soul's life.
Once he has made her love life enough to want to hang on to it, he rips it away and uses it to go achieve his big dream.
Only after he realizes his dream and finds it unsatisfying does he venture back into limbo to give her back her chance.
Only after he realizes his dream and finds it unsatisfying does he venture back into limbo to give her back her chance.
Such behavior might seem morally monstrous. But Soul barely recognizes it and then only subconsciously.
For you see, there is no real good and evil in this world. At best there are friendly guides. At worst there are stickler accountants.
For you see, there is no real good and evil in this world. At best there are friendly guides. At worst there are stickler accountants.
The only rough spots in this bland comfort zone come from the lost souls, sort of kindergarten Cthulus that look scary but are really just harmless critters tied up in self-doubt.
Joe's selfishness turns his soul friend into one of these creatures, but all it takes to free her is the assistance of a new age astral surfer and the return of her joi de vivre. No biggie!
In return for his help with the lost soul, the middle managers postpone Joe's date with the great beyond one more time and send him back to life fair and square.
With a smile, he pledges to live life to the fullest.
With a smile, he pledges to live life to the fullest.
Thus Pixar navigates all the way to the beginning and end of the soul without encountering (or at least recognizing) any good or evil or higher power.
Instead the human soul shuffles through a mostly pleasant HR department, gets some solid spiritual guidance from a hippie, makes a nice friend to enjoy pizza and lollipops with, and returns to life really serious about stopping to smell the roses this time.
Will pick this up tomorrow to discuss Soul's interesting sidesteps of wokism with some background on Pete Docter, Kemp Powers and Kristen Lester (the story engines for Soul).
