What’s all this Jazz about souls?

We know Jazz musicians have soul, but Disney takes the idea to the extreme using a pianist’s death to tackle two of the most important questions in human history:

 Do we have souls?

What happens after we die?

Here’s a brief summary of the plot. To skip this section, scroll to ***.

Disney’s new film Soul tells the story of middle-school band teacher, Joe Gardner. Joe’s big dream in life is to play in a Jazz band. After landing a coveted gig, he accidentally falls through a man-hole, dies, and his soul separates from his body, headed for The Great Beyond. Not wanting to die before playing his gig, he stubbornly runs away from The Great Beyond, falling into another metaphysical plane called The Great Before. Through a series of fast- paced, convoluted events, Joe winds up mentoring a new soul who has not yet lived a life. Soul 22 has stubbornly refused to head to earth to live a life in a body, preferring to remain in her comfortable routine of non-life (22 speaks with a “middle-aged white lady’s voice”, so I’ll use the feminine pronoun). 22 gives Joe a tour of The Great Before including a trip to The Zone, a place where lost souls roam until they are set free by the Mystics Without Borders. The Mystics are alive on earth and able to visit the Zone by entering into meditative states. With the help of the mystic, Moonwind, Joe and 22 fall back to earth and into the hospital room where Joe’s body lies. Inexplicably, 22 falls into Joe’s body, and Joe’s soul falls into a therapy cat. Joe’s determined to get to his gig, so they leave the hospital together and 22 experiences life on earth while possessing Joe’s body. She soon comes to see the beauty and joy of the human experience, to the point where she refuses to give Joe back his body and wants to keep it for herself. Just then, a spiritual being called The Accountant comes to earth from The Great Before and retrieves them both, intent on getting the two souls back where they belong. Now that 22 has come to appreciate human life, she understands how much Joe wants to live again and gives Joe her earth pass so he can return and finish living his life. Joe takes it, returns to his body and plays the gig of his life, only to realize that the fulfillment of his dream didn’t give him the satisfaction he expected. Finally, Joe returns to The Great Before (again!), convinces 22 she has her own purpose, and freely gives back the earth pass so she can live a life. Joe happily heads for The Great Beyond, having found the meaning of life. Just as he’s about to enter the Great Beyond, a Jerry shows up, praises his sacrifice, and opens up a portal for him to return to earth and finish living his life.

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Let’s look at the claims in the film by subjecting them to 4 evaluative questions. To cover every aspect of this film’s spiritual content would fill a book; limiting the analysis this way will keep the length manageable.

Q1. What kinds of claims are being made about souls?

A1. The claims are unbiblical, inconsistent, and arbitrary.

Pixar included ideas from several non-Christian religions in their cinematic exploration. For example, the idea that spiritual life begins prior to material existence and that souls acquire characteristics in a pre-mortal state can be seen when the new souls acquire their personalities in The Great Before (18:40+). These ideas are taught in Mormonism[1] and post-biblical Judaism[2]. We also learn that new souls are being prepared for life by a spiritual being who describes itself as “the coming together of all quantized fields of the universe” (13:30+). This description of a divine force is characteristic of New Age religions.[3] The ability of a soul to reconnect with its physical body through the “crown chakra” is directly stated when Moonwind tells Joe, “Close your eyes and breathe into your crown chakra…” (33:00+). The crown chakra is the seventh primary chakra in Tibetan Buddhism[4]. They also threw in a bit of Animism by having a human soul inhabit a therapy cat.[5] It’s a veritable hodgepodge of ideas that are unbiblical and contradictory. Buddhism, for example, denies the existence of an eternal soul and, therefore, the inclusion of Buddhist elements in a movie about souls makes little sense. In addition, the false religions represented in the film contradict one another in their fundamental beliefs, and therefore, offer only a self-refuting mish-mash of metaphysical malarkey.

On top of the ideas from non-Christian religions, numerous arbitrary claims are added to the mix. From the invention of spiritual beings named “Jerry” and new souls earning “earth passes”, to the hippie “Mystics without Borders” cruising through “The Zone” helping lost souls on Tuesdays, the writers had a hey-day making up stuff about souls. Kids need to know that these kinds of claims are nothing more than fanciful opinions. People can easily invent ideas about souls and we can easily dismiss them. They also need to know the Bible is our best and truest resource on the subject.

Q2. Does the film offer a consistent worldview?

A2. Not even close. The script refutes itself.

This one is easy. Speaking of The Great Before, 22 admits to Joe that, “This entire place is a hypothetical…” One wonders why the writers continued the story for another hour. This statement undermines the entire plot, and also happens to be one of the few true statements made in the film. If you have a chance to view this with students, be sure and point this out around the 26:00 mark. It’s quick and subtle, but the entire worldview collapses on this single point. A good question to ask students: If the writers admit that the idea of The Great Before is ‘a hypothetical’, why should anyone take their claims about the soul seriously?

Q3. What are some possible consequences of the ideas in Pixar’s new movie?

A3. Soul-crushing confusion and despair

Now things get serious. As mentioned earlier, the film includes a buffet of baseless claims about the soul, but if we had to label an overarching philosophy presented in the film, it would be Existentialism for ages 5 and up. This can be seen in Disney’s attempt to explore the meaning of life. By the end of the film, Joe discovers that what he thought would bring him true happiness (playing in a jazz band) left him dissatisfied. Joe loves music, but music’s not enough. As he sits alone playing softly on his piano, the answer comes in sequential images of human experience such as eating pizza, childhood memories, and catching a leaf that falls from a tree.  Joe realizes that “regular, old living” contains all the meaning he needs. He then resigns to die and go to The Great Beyond. He found the meaning of life within his own experience.

Existentialism is a philosophy that says meaning is derived from human experiences and truth resides within the individual.[6] Existentialism is antithetical to the Christian worldview which holds that truth is not found within the individual, but rather, the source of Truth is the God of the universe. It’s God who gives meaning to all things. Only when we are in right relationship with our Creator will we find lasting fulfillment and meaning in life[7]. Ultimately, looking inside ourselves for answers will leave us empty. This jazzed up atheistic philosophy doesn’t liberate the soul, it poisons it.

Q4. What important presupposition do the writers bring to the film?

A4. Self-sacrifice is virtuous

The script writers are pirates, raiding the Christian worldview and looting Truth from the Holy Scriptures for their story-telling needs. One example occurs at the end of the film when Joe sacrifices his earth pass, giving up his life to 22 so she can live a life of her own. We are touched by Joe’s gesture because the virtue of self-sacrifice is presupposed. But where does this ideas come from? John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay his life down for his friend.” This part of the film has a measure of emotional weight because it’s grounded in the truth of God’s word. Disney didn’t invent sacrificial love, that’s what the gospel message is: God sent His only Son to give his life as a payment for our sins. Jesus Christ gave us His life so that we might live! Pixar can’t make a good story without presupposing the Truth of the gospel.

Conclusion:

Joe’s sacrifice does little to counteract the avalanche of false ideas hurled at us throughout the film. Disney has a lot to say about souls, but their claims are arbitrary and inconsistent. The script refutes itself early on and young minds will be confused concerning the purpose and meaning of life. Finally, the virtue of self-sacrifice, while a positive aspect of the movie, is presupposed as the writers steal from the biblical worldview. Disney demonstrates that even as they endeavored to largely leave out Christian thought, they couldn’t escape it. If kids in our care watch the film, it’s crucial we help them evaluate the film biblically.

One more thing. If you watch the film with your kids, you might also point out that Disney’s writers should have done more research on NDEs (Near Death Experiences)[8]. At one point, Jerry says Joe is not really dead, but in a “holding pattern”, which sounds like an NDE. NDEs shed light on the soul and what happens after death, but the growing body of documented NDEs does not confirm the majority of Joe’s experiences. If the task of evaluating the film seems exhausting at this point, don’t overlook one of the choices available: Just skip it and go listen to some good jazz music instead.

Extra Resources:

For deeper discussion with students, consider and analyze the following:

-22 says, “You can’t crush a soul here, that’s what life on earth is for.”

-Joe asks, “This is where personalities come from?” Jerry replies, “Of course. Do you think people are just born with them?”

-22 describes her non-life in The Great Before saying, “I float in mist, I work on Sudoku puzzles, and once a week they make me come to a youth seminar.”

-Jerry says, “A spark isn’t a soul’s purpose…your purpose is your meanings of life.” (1:05:00+)

For further discussion, here is a list of claims the film makes about souls:

• Human souls exist in a pre-mortal state
• A soul can return to its body after physical death
• A human soul can inhabit an animal
• Souls can engage and interact with human mediums/mystics in the afterlife
• A soul’s personality is determined before birth
• Souls are prepared for life by spiritual beings named “Jerry”
• Souls are counted and kept track of by a spiritual being called The Accountant (aka, “Terry”)
• Souls can refuse to go to their intended destination after death
• There are several different places souls might go after death
• Each soul has a personal file in an enormous cabinet room with the files of other souls.
• Souls must complete 7 badges of preparation to earn an “earth pass” and live a life on earth
• Souls can reconnect with the physical universe and/or physical bodies through chakra meditation
• Souls become lost when inspirations become obsessions
• Lost souls roam aimlessly in a vast desert/ocean landscape called “The Zone”.
• Lost souls can be redeemed and reconnected to their earthly bodies by mystical, meditative intervention
• Souls may get a second chance at life if they deserve it.

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[1] https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/soul?lang=eng

[2] https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/jewish-spirituality-and-the-soul/

[3] https://www.namb.net/apologetics/resource/new-age/

[4] https://buddhists.org/clearing-the-crown-chakra-opening-the-path-to-connect-to-the-universe/

[5] https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Animism

[6] https://www.gotquestions.org/existentialism.html

[7] https://carm.org/other-questions/what-is-the-meaning-and-purpose-of-life/

[8] https://answersingenesis.org/suffering/near-death-experiences-and-christian/