What Went Wrong With Disney/Pixar’s SOUL | READUS 101

What Went Wrong With Disney/Pixar’s SOUL || When the Disney movie from Pixar Animation “Soul” premiered on Disney Plus in 2020, I watched a very beautiful film whose narrative didn’t hit me as hard as it should have. And outside of a criticism made about it that I agree with, part of the reason I feel the Pixar movie starring Jamie Foxx didn’t work was thanks to Tina Fey’s character in Soul, 22.

Get Soul Here!

Click to what Kristen Wiig’s Cheetah has in common with Selina Kyle’s Catwoman!

Recording Equipment:

Support My Patreon!

Make One-Time Donations At:

Buy Official Readus 101 Merch Here!
_____________________

Music
"Wisdom Tooth" by B-RadGfromOV

Readus 101 Theme:
"Phantom" by B-RadGfromOV

Snapchat: Readus101

#DisneyPixar #Soul #SoulMovie

[Readus]

NOTE: I refer to 22 as They/Them because the movie established that unborn souls don't necessarily have a gender until they're physically born with the way Tina Fey explained things.

[PoeticProse]

I think they missed a huge opportunity for several storylines, especially with him finding out that he was an incredible teacher even if he never got to be a star musician. What if after spending time with 22 he realizes that he is just as jaded and unaware of life. He gets the opportunity to escape back into his body just as Terry realizes that Joe is the anomaly. Joe goes back with 22 'sharing' his body and having the shenanigan moments (All of Me style) and goes through the day, experiencing everything, including his friends, as if he was new. When he gets back to his apartment he finds his mother, who has just received news that he was dead, and is overjoyed that 'those stupid doctors' were wrong. She tells her son the story of how she coped with his father's death and he flashes back to those moments where he lost himself in his music and was unaware of how much had gone on around him. The girl, Connie, who tries to quit comes to the door and, in front of his mother, Joe convinces her to keep trying while hearing her music anew and playing along with her on the piano. After Connie leaves, his mother reveals that she knew about the audition and is planning on seeing him there. Just after she leaves to let him get ready, Terry catches Joe and brings his soul back to the Jerrys who reprimand him. Joe begs for the opportunity to go back and when the Jerrys ask, 'Why should we do anything for you?' Joe's mind flashes back to Connie, his friends, and his mother before replying, 'You wouldn't be doing it for me. I'm not the only one living down there. There are a lot of other souls down there that aren't done with me, either.' Touched by his realization, the Jerrys allow him to return, but Terry points out that he doesn't have a pass. 22 then hands Joe her pass, but he refuses saying that she hasn't had a chance to live yet. 22 replies with, 'Yes, I did Joe, you gave me a life and that one day was worth living . . . because of you.' Joe accepts the pass and goes back, acing the audition with his mother in the audience. When the band points out that Joe will now need a nickname and ask him what his should be he looks in the mirror, smiles, and says, 'How about 22?' The end.

[Horsaz]

It felt like the narrative of the body-swapping could've been skipped because the main character was already in a peril by coming back into his body when he should've been dead.

[toascranill]

Yeah, I completely agree with you. I felt so frustrated when it wasn't actually Joe the one to speak with his mom, something just didn't sit right with me about it.

[jdraven]

If 22 was in the cat and Joe was back in his body, everything still works (22 sees and wants to then fully experience life) it's far less weird and convoluted, and it makes so much more sense that the script MUST have been that way at one point.

EDIT: I see that this was not an original thought on my part - always read the comments before posting!

[angelreader]

the movie was frustrating because 22's story didn't interest me. joe's story was super engaging and intriguing, and then it was like "oh now it's just tina fey's movie". like you were saying, this is not me wanting to get rid of 22's character/story, but the way they handled the mesh of 22 and joe just was weird, to the point where i didn't feel like joe had a say in his own story. im my opinion, joe's arc was engaging enough to carry the movie by itself, at least in the way they presented it.

[myotherhalf]

I'm so glad I found your channel, because you finally articulated my feelings about this film in a way that I couldn't do by myself: the movie inadvertently side-swept Joe's agency by making 22 go through the experiences that he needed to (re)learn. The idea that Joe needed to see his life from an outside perspective is a great way to teach the audience that they need to step back and take a fresh perspective on their life, but, as you said, the execution was off. I couldn't understand why I left this movie with a "meh" feeling, but now I do, so thank you!

Subscribed!

[maawile]

i loved the analogy of the cousin and the toy! i also thought that it was very weird how joe was blamed for not letting 22 use his body? it's the one element that really made me go "whaaat??"
i don't really know what could've been better... but 22 had way to much presence in the movie that's for sure

[dallydaydream]

When I watched Soul I had kinda mixed feelings? I got the hit of emotional release I've come to associate with Pixar movies, and if I'm honest I did like enjoy it while I was watching, but also I was looking at the ghost-Joe and the cat-Joe and going "um, is that... is that okay?" Like, with the premise and the main character, it could have been really good, but it fell into those damaging tropes. Basically, it felt like something was a bit off but I had trouble pinpointing why. Hearing your thoughts has helped crystalise those vague feelings of unease, so thank you for that.

Also, sidebar: I really appreciate you using they/them for 22, for the reasons you stated, and was pretty disappointed that the movie itself didn't. Could have been a good opportunity to help normalise gender-neutral pronouns.

[dorrrrrian]

Damn this was a really good video/critique. I like how you talk in a way where you don’t sound overly angry or monotone like some reviewers do when criticizing a movie.

I think Soul is an interesting movie because it’s not really what you’d expect from a typical Pixar film. It’s themes and messages feel a bit more mature which is why the discussion around it is engaging wether you liked the movie or not.

[zackkarma]

There were two scenes in the movie i really liked, the discussion 'joe' had with his mother, i was on the mother's side btw, and the part where jerry says "we dont assign purposes". Those were, i think, the most important parts of the movie. Also when the hair stylist tells joe that he wanted to be a vet but it didnt work out.

[wanbon]

Honestly, I really ....liked Soul? I think?
The thing is my aunt (a therapist) watched it with some friends over christmas weekend, and was really interested in watching me watch the movie afterwards. My response to it was uhhh extremely emotionally based - I cried a lot, and was extremely activated by the themes of meaning and disappointment and depression and disconnection by a desire for something better. I bounced between really feeling for Joe's want for something more meaningful than the every day drudgery of a unfulfilling job and want for that final piece, that thing that says "finally, my story can start", AND for 22's struggling of even knowing what gives you identity (or I guess spark). And also maybe their irony poisioned "haha I feel nothing therefore nothing can hurt me" deflections; a lot of 22's behavior speaks of both being so chronically depressed you become so numb you basically just feel disdain all the time and the brief snatches when life lets you breathe for two seconds; it's like being awake for the first time in years.

Also the scene with Joe riding home on the train, sitting in that disappointment and the entire thing with the piano made me weep like crazy, but like I mentioned I was pretty emotionally activated at the time.

I feel like someone condensed most of the themes in Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search For Meaning", and concepts about the existential vacuum and hedonic set points, and mushed it all into a colorful disney package with mixed success. Admittedly, I feel like if 22 wasn't voiced by Tina Fey I would feel less like I have to apologize for liking 22 tbh. Also the body swap things was....I feel like to some degree I get why they did it (22 is scared of being alive because every teacher they had before told them they would suck at it and there's an implication I guess that Joe is so laser focused on his goal that he's missing opportunities to connect), but I won't lie the "vibe" of white lady voice in place of a black character feels like a weird parody of the actual shit that happens occasionally in woke spaces. And I'm not sure how to fix it either tbh, especially because I know my brain is easily pleased goo.

Anyways, sorry for the thousand word essay - I basically just wanted to say I get why people wouldn't like it, especially because the representation is uh. Awkward as hell when you think about it. And admittedly, I would've loved a moment for Joe to maybe like return to teaching with that lens of what he did with 22 - especially because it's implied he really does care about it. But alas. I think as a beginners guide to like meaning of life stuff, you could do worse but you could also just watch exurb1a's "Meaning is a Jumper You have to Knit Yourself" and save on that Disney+ subscription.

I hope you're having a lovely day and week, and from an enby to you thanks for using they/them for 22.

[SnakesGames]

Pixar's stuff recently just hasn't been hitting like it used to. Recently being everything after Toy Story 3.

[riccardoleone]

I'm an Italian white guy and even I found it strange having a animated movie where the black protagonist isn't a black guy for most of the runtime

[MJ-]

I agree with you here. I was really excited for this movie, but a lot of the tropes, ESPECIALLY the removal of Joe from his body not once but twice for over half the movie, really rubbed me the wrong way and I think it actually prevented me from enjoying most of the rest of the movie. While I think the moral itself of the movie was absolutely profound, the execution was really very poor. It was a movie of moments I liked, but overall it just didn't sit right with me.

[cefrinaldi]

Initial concept of soul is supposed to place 22 as main character and joe as the side character that show 22 the meaning of life. The job of joe is not even a teacher or a jazz musician in the first place, he planned to be a scientist but scraped cuz not many will relate to a scientist.

[abadyr_]

4:01 But the point is that Joe has been going through these "experiences" (meaning interactions) for a long time, without learning much from them.
He needed another perspective on these "experiences" to further his own appreciation of them, which he got Through 22's interactions with all these people Joe had lived alongside.

Edit: I agree with all your others criticisms though, thanks for the video.
And 22 should have apologized - and tried to make up for - refusing to give Joe's body back.

[Just_One_Tree]

Telling the audience “souls don’t have race or gender” doesn’t mean much when 22 is voiced by a well known white woman. Black nonbinary actors are out there! If they wanted the “buddy movie” mentality, why not have both 22 and Joe’s souls in Joe’s body? They could still have conversations, “fight” for control, and learn lessons along the way

[movealongnowDT]

Body swapping will never not be creepy even if it's played for laughs.

[JalizScanlanProductions]

Great points. As I was watching it, I did see that the tables turned as far as who was in the drivers' seat (so to speak) throughout the movie. Joe didn't get to develop in a natural way and because he watched things unfold from the outside, he doesn't get to fully experience life. I admit, I thought Joe was being so selfish with his journey of getting back to his body and I think that's what they were anticipating from us, the viewer. This way, 22 could be the actual protagonist of the movie without us realizing the reigns have been taken from Joe. It was subtle, but they did it and I completely got sucked into it and I agree with your opinion because up until now, I didn't really think of it that way. New sub. Great video!