3 reasons why the first Disney+ movie, Soul is the best Disney movie ever
Disney+ is Disney’s newly launched streaming platform. The platform was hailed as a success story by reaching 95 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2021. While the success was partly attributed to the starring new content from Disney’ biggest brands, the Pixar made existentialist animation movie, Soul, that was aired on Disney+ the last days of 2020 and featuring a Black protagonist remains underrated.
Imagine the day your biggest dream ever comes into reality. And then you die. This is how Soul starts. It is a story about a middle school music teacher, Joe Gardner, who dies on the day he gets a chance to play in his favorite music band, and his adventures to get back to earth from “The Great Beyond”. As he tries to escape “The Great Beyond” , he enters another universe, “The Great Before” where unborn souls are given their personalities and matched with mentors before they are sent to Earth. In the Great Before, Joe is assigned to an obnoxious unborn soul , 22, who sees no point in living.
The movie kept me going without checking my phone until the very end, and that’s quite exceptional for somebody like me whose attention span isn’t necessarily wide.
Here are 3 reasons why I think it is the best Disney movie (or a movie distributed by Disney)
- A Black Protagonist, Joe Gardner, who is really an average Joe
When I first saw the Black protagonist, I was a bit skeptical since historically Disney has no shortage of negative stereotypes against people of color and different cultures.
However, Joe Gardner proved me wrong. He is a middle school teacher from a middle income family, who struggles with the same issues we all do: the dilemma between going after your dreams vs. financial security, searching for the meaning of life and parents who are not happy with his choices.
My favorite part was he was a protagonist yes; but he was not your typical hero, in the sense that he is a super-human. He is neither a leader; nor a fighter; nor somebody “successful”. But he is a music teacher, and a mentor who get somebody like 22 to love life. (P.S. 22’s previous mentors included the likes of George Orwell and Benjamin Franklin) Namely, Joe Gardner, is your everyday hero; an overly underrated hero persona.
2. The World Building: Earth, the Great Before and the Great Beyond
It is very rare, if it exists at all, to see an exploration of where did we come from and where are we heading in a computer-animated movie. In the movie, this exploration takes place through the different worlds that were created. There are three different worlds, or four?, in the movie. While the treatment of life on Earth is as realistic as possible; suddenly we switch to the Great Before, the world of pure fantasy. We get a glimpse of the Great Beyond, but it is not shown in the movie. And we also get to see a limbo medium where souls line up on their way to the Great Beyond.
Interestingly, the interplay between hyperrealism and fantasy is not jarring for the viewer, and thats due to three main reasons: small details in all the worlds that enables an immersive experience, the complexity of the characters and the last but not least the genesis and after life narratives that are very similar to that of monotheistic religions.
Even though there is no mention of God, instead there are many officers whom are all named Jerry who are responsible with maintaining the order of the worlds, the concepts of the Great Before and the Great After seemed all very familiar. In Islamic tradition, it is held that all souls were created long before their bodies come into existence and God gathered them in one place and asked : “Am I not your Lord?”, and the souls answered : “Yes , indeed. To you we worship, and from you we seek help” (7:172).
3. The modern dilemma: Dream chasers vs. carpe diem
The major theme of the movie is finding one’s purpose in life. The ultimate existential question of “what’s the purpose of life” is explored in the movie through two juxtaposing characters, Joe whose passion for jazz reaches an obsession level vs. 22 who insists that she doesn’t have a “spark” (the souls need to find their “spark” i.e. passion in order to land a life on earth). While Joe is an extremely passionate about jazz, he suffers from the feeling of lack of accomplishment, mostly imposed on him from his mom and the society at large.
!!Spoiler Alert!!
My favorite part in the movie was at the end when the Joe finally gets back to the world from “Great Beyond” and plays in his fav band — realizing his lifetime dream. His feeling of “so what? is that it?” stuck with me long after I watched the movie. I started wondering what to do in order not to have a “so what moment” if my dreams come into reality. Let alone having to struggle with what to do after your dreams come true, many people struggle to find the purpose of their creation, their spark in the same way 22 does.
The movie addresses the emptiness of chasing purpose or passion through 22’s journey to earth. Being sure that she does not have a purpose in life, 22 starts enjoying small pleasures of the world. The scene where she asks “Maybe maybe my spark is just walking… or eating pizza…?” was one of the highlights for me.
I really appreciated the treatment of the dilemma of chasing one’s dreams versus living a carpe-diem life in the movie through two unique yet so familiar characters.
