‘Soul’ inspires afterlife reflection

Modern-day New York City and a fanciful exploration of a world beyond this one intertwine in the Disney Pixar film “Soul.” The protagonist, Joe Gardner, somewhat comically meets an apparently untimely fate. He soon meets a grumpy, nonchalant soul named 22, who is unsure of the value of life on earth and prefers to be a disembodied spirit.

Their struggle forces them into a deeper sympathetic relationship with one another, allowing each to gain key insight into the purpose of the sublime and seemingly mundane aspects of earthly existence: intentionally living in the present, seeing every moment in this world as permeated by glory. The film gives thoughtful audiences a chance to consider the significance of life on earth in light (quite literally) of what comes after — and, more controversially, before.

Many valuable religious ideas are explored in this arc. Catholic audiences will be rightly pleased to see Joe embark on an afterlife journey of self-discovery and growth. One can see here overtones of a theologically helpful approach to purgatory, where one’s inner life stretches to an ever-more orderly loving of God and the world. Much as the Church speaks of the communion of saints, the growth of the bonds of charity between Joe and 22 have concrete effects on each other’s pursuit of ultimate happiness. One thinks here of the value of intercessory prayer, which similarly strengthens love of neighbor and concretely helps the other to attain eternal beatitude.

The portrayal of the physical world as “permeable” to the glory of the next is reminiscent of a Catholic approach to the sacraments, which also shine the divine glory into this world. And the recognition of glory even in the mundane (see the street corner sign-twirler who attains a nirvana-like state when he is in his “groove”) shows both the mystical value of the world and its dangers, since dedication to one’s “groove” can, in the course of the film, both liberate and imprison the soul.

The film also commendably portrays Pixar’s first African American protagonist and celebrates the historic role that jazz has played in that community. Joe makes only a single comment about his own fear of racial prejudice in modern New York City, but in the end Joe’s fear of racial prejudice proves to be unfounded. Some may lament that historic and ongoing injustices against Black bodies are not confronted or portrayed more boldly in the course of the film.

Indeed, the only hesitancy this reviewer has about the film is related to the film’s ambiguous messaging about the importance of bodies for human subjects. The crux of this issue is the film’s portrayal of souls existing in a “pre-incarnate” state (at least worth discussing in advance with impressionable children). Besides being unorthodox, this state of the human subject muddies the film’s claim that materiality, well, matters to human beings. In the film, souls enter existence as pure spirit, know that they will end as pure spirit (maintaining the shape but not the color of their earthly bodies), have no impetus for self-improvement on earth (the only mention of hell is chanted away by giggling spirits), and, most important, have distinct reasons to avoid the Great Beyond (heaven in “Soul”).

For a film that portrays an ethnic group that is acutely aware of the role that bodies take in shaping human lives, viewers of “Soul” might all too easily gain the impression that human beings are spirits before (and after) they are bodies. Indeed, some familiarity with a little Black theology may have helped the creators notice that any other-worldly spiritual escapism in the Black church is held in tension with care for bodies and social activism here and now. “Soul” asks us to perceive that our material world is, at its best, luminous with the glory of the Great Beyond but leaves us without a clear sense of the lasting significance of earthly, bodily life.

Heidgerken teaches at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul. His forthcoming book, “Salvation through Temptation: Maximus the Confessor and Thomas Aquinas on Christ’s Victory over the Devil,” will be released by CUA Press in June.

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Catholic News Service review

“Soul” (Disney)

A middle school music teacher (voice of Jamie Foxx) who yearns to be a jazz pianist gets his big break when he’s invited to join a highly regarded quartet (its leader voiced by Angela Bassett). But just before his first performance with them, an accident leaves his body in a coma and sends his spirit into the afterlife. His efforts to avoid going to heaven and return to his earthly existence bring him instead to the realm where the personalities of future babies are formed. There, he’s assigned to mentor a soul (voice of Tina Fey) who has stubbornly refused to be born for centuries. Director and co-writer Pete Docter’s animated blend of drama and comedy is mostly free of objectionable material and sends the positive message that life is well worth living and that its significance transcends an individual’s professional accomplishments. Yet his film’s depiction of the other world, made up of both a Great Beyond and a Great Before, is sterile and potentially confusing for impressionable viewers. Acceptable for well-catechized older teens. Mature themes, a couple of mild oaths, a single crass term.

The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.