Disney's Soul: A Review
Soul is an imaginative, profound illustration of life after death, companionship, and soul growth. Soul evidently conveys a spiritual perspective on the soul itself, the growth in personality one undergoes, and the value in each individual soul.
The main character, Joe Gardner, symbolizes the average person; slightly struggling to make a living, and unable to live out their dreams. He put his dream of being an adored, successful performer on a pedestal. When he suddenly dies after getting the gig of his life, he wants nothing more than to go back to Earth. He was meant to go to the “great beyond”, symbolic of eternal death. He escapes it in order to go back to his life because he was so desperate to live out his dreams. He goes to a place where new souls were being prepared for their life on Earth. The new souls were to be assigned personality traits, as well as a mentor to assist in finding the soul’s “spark”, which completed their Earth pass and signified that they were ready to go to Earth. Joe disguises himself as another soul and is assigned to Mentor 22, an unruly, young soul. While on his journey to return back to Earth, he learns about getting into the zone, a flow state which one can achieve through activities like playing sports, music, or meditating. Furthermore, a reference to the chakras aligning allowed Joe to open an astral portal which he could use to travel back to his body. As Joe returns back to Earth with 22, she changes her perspective on Earth. She was previously scared and had no interest in going to Earth, but then is able to appreciate the small things about life. For example, she becomes fond of pizza and is able to enjoy looking at the cloudy, blue sky and feeling fresh air. Joe comes to see that he was missing out on those pleasures by being so adamant about being successful and performing. Soul captures the beauty in everyday life, in which people can walk, breathe, taste, and experience human life on Earth.
Furthermore, 22 shows Joe how to connect with people. She listens to other people and makes them smile. She shows interest in their passions and communicates authentically, allowing blockages to dissolve. This is especially true when 22 helps Joe heal his relationship with his mother, and teaches him to be honest with her about his hopes and desires. In addition, the movie expresses the insignificance of labels, meanings, or purposes. The movie invites the audience to consider that there need not be one or multiple specific purposes for one to incarnate on Earth and live. On the contrary, the point of living a human life is simply to experience a human life on Earth. Every little thing can be appreciated, including the parts of life that are so often overlooked.
Joe comes to realize that his dream of performing wouldn’t make him feel differently about his whole life, rather he was already able to appreciate his life and indulge in everyday pleasures of Earth. Also, he comes to understand that life is what he allowed it to be and anyone could experience life in a positive manner if they chose to. Soul ultimately shows that life on Earth has no terms or conditions and can always be fulfilling if we choose to seek out adventure and believe in our own value and make the most of our lives everyday.