Many will have probably seen this movie during their third or fourth day of pyjama-wearing marathons while spending a very different Christmas at home with family or housemates. The telly was switched on in an attempt to pass the time while sharing the same space with the same people for a bit too long.
Despite this Disney Pixar creation being supposed to represent for many just a two-hour escape from reality, it quickly transformed into much, much more: an important lesson to be remembered during hard times.
Soul is the story of an aspiring musician (Jamie Foxx) that, so close to realising his dream, loses his life but eventually finds something even more valuable: the joy of living.
‘Is all this living really worth dying for?’
This journey starts when jazz-loving music teacher Joe Gardner falls to his death in an open manhole just hours before achieving his life-long goal of playing in a professional jazz band.
With a rising count of unemployed creatives around the country, it is particularly easy to empathise with Joe who has been pursuing a career in music all his life but never quite got there. Every door slammed in his face and every dismissal he got echoes the dozen rejection emails a job hunter gets these days – sometimes the email is even replaced by just a long void that tends to give the hint.
“the true joy of living is in the small serendipitous things that brighten a regular day”
Determined not to miss the chance of a lifetime, he runs away from the afterlife, ending up in the beforelife. This is a place where new souls get their personalities, quirks, and interests before they go to Earth. Joe is mistakenly assigned to a new soul with the purpose of finding her spark. However, the new soul is 22 (Tina Fey), a troublemaker soul that has no intention of leaving that dreamy Neverland to go to Earth. The two strike a deal: 22 will help Joe find a way back to his body and eventually back to his long-desired performance. In exchange, Joe will help 22 stay in the Great Before.
“it can be easy to lose track of the simple joy found in everyday life”
The plan is simple but it goes wrong very quickly due to a series of challenges that the two will face together. Despite Joe’s attempt to teach the stubborn little soul what the reason of life is, 22 ends up showing him that the true joy of living is in the small serendipitous things that brighten a regular day.
22, with her fresh approach to the world, reminds Joe of the joy he used to feel for music before it turned into a blind obsession. When the day to day life presents you with more than a handful of rejections that keep you from the career of your dreams, it can be easy to lose track of the simple joy found in everyday life. This heartwarming story has the power to change its viewers’ perspective and open their eyes to what they might be missing, which is more than can be said for most Disney Pixar predecessors.
Eleonora Girotto
Featured image courtesy of Pixar Studios via Wikimedia Commons. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
Eleonora Girotto
Digital journalist and video producer interested in human rights, mental health and entertainment.