Alright guys, welcome back to the channel. So before we get into this video,
bear in mind that there will be a few spoilers for Soul up ahead. So if you haven’t seen the
movie yet and want to avoid spoilers, definitely check it out and then come
on back and watch this video. If you have already seen the movie... good on ya mate.
Also, don’t forget to like this video and subscribe to the channel to join
the family and check out more videos like this every week.. Alright, let’s get going.
Soul is the story of Joe Gardner, a down on his luck middle school Jazz teacher who dies right
after he secured the job of lifetime. This was his big break, playing the piano alongside a
Jazz legend. In the afterlife, which is called The Great Beyond, he agrees to become a mentor
to a drifting soul 22 in order to find his way back to life and live out his dream.
You may spend a lot of this movie marveling at Pixar’s CGI mastery and creation of worlds
but underneath all of that is a deep story of humanism and existence. It’s extremely
careful to not come across as preachy in discussing the meaning of life but
instead gets the viewer to wonder how they want to spend their lives. Pixar has, in fact,
always communicated deeper meaning beyond the entertainment aspects of their films.
Soul makes us question how we define the spark in our lives or what gives our lives meaning.
There are sequences where souls are given pre-determined characteristics
like skepticism or confidence or opportunism which essentially forms the basis for us asking
whether each of us was born to fulfil something specific during our lifetime.
Then, there are the soul counselors known as Jerry,
who are basically Picasso-esq representations of the universe that serve to dumb down the
complexities of our existence so that us mere mortals can understand them.
What this film does so well is it takes Joe through a series of adventures,
and has him discover the flaw in his thinking just as the audience does. As Joe gains more
clarity about himself and his purpose, we’re right alongside him and figuring it out as well.
The final act of the film manages to poignantly leave the viewer reflecting on their own life
and how they perceived the meaning of their own existence.
Soul is hardly a movie for kids. Really, think about it - this film has addressed things like
essentialism, nihilism and existentialism. I still have trouble even spelling these words sometimes.
Instead it’s speaking to a generation of millennials that are getting increasingly
older and more zoned into the way that their lives are shaping out.
It’s a gentle reminder to us that no matter how meaningless you might feel,
your life has purpose and can be found in the people around you.
Oftentimes many of us are wandering like 22 in the movie and are constantly searching for our spark
or purpose in life. There are many great concepts that are roadmaps to help us get closer to it.
One of my favorites is the Japanese formula of Ikigai and the Start with Why
framework. I’ve made videos on those so if you haven’t checked them out.
I’ll leave a card up top for that playlist and link it right down below the like button.
The entire second act depicts Joe and 22 in New York with 22 loving a lot of the things
that Joe does like music and New York. Joe tells her that that’s simply because her soul
is inhabiting his body and so she’s adopted his spark, which leaves her feeling even more lost.
This speaks to the fact that our entire lives we’ve been told to find that one thing that we
truly love. Maybe it’s music, or sport and some other interest. But our approach has been that we
have to pursue that thing in order to fulfil our purpose and live our lives with meaning.
And that’s exactly how 22 thinks when she gets to Earth with Joe. That unless she finds her
“spark” she will not get her “Earth pass” in order to become a human being. Like many of us,
she’s convinced that she’ll never find it. And she gets kinda jaded
because if you can’t find that spark, then what’s the point of living right?
They look for 22’s spark in the Hall of Everything. Joe has 22 experiment with being a
firefighter, an astronaut, and even the President of the United States. Her reaction to each job
is simply: “Meh.” But this is where it exposes the fallacy of our understanding about purpose.
We believe that when we finally get to pursue our purpose, we’ll feel like we’re finally happy, but
what if you discover that you end up feeling like Joe when he finally gets to play with
Dorothea Williams. At the end of the night, he says, “I just thought it would feel different.”
This kind of reminded me that life is not always just about having and fulfilling a purpose. It’s
not about only doing that dream job. Sometimes it’s about regular old living. And in Joe’s case,
his life had begun a long time ago but he really wasn’t living it.
That’s where we need to be a little bit more mindful about how we view this whole thing.
Perhaps we need to stop thinking that something is wrong with us if we don’t find it for a while
or that we have to choose something and stick with it for all eternity.
I think the main takeaway here is not really to stop chasing your purpose or dream job. It’s
more about letting go of the idea that those things are the only to be happy. Hobbies and
passions are great. But those things do not have to consume you or necessarily become your career.
And if you give up on them and change them, that’s OK too, because life is
not solely about a single spark or purpose. Thanks so much for watching. Let me know in
the comments which movie has got you thinking about how you live your life. Can’t wait to see
what you say. As always, don’t forget to like and subscribe and I’ll catch you next time. Peace.