*Warning: this article contains spoilers
When I decided to watch "Soul", I thought it was about a jazz musician (aka Joe Gardener) in New Orleans who discovered the meaning of life (or at least his life) when he fell down a manhole right after scoring the gig of a lifetime. This is a Disney movie, so I figured it would be a feel-good feature involving all of the reasons why life is so great. I wasn't expecting to gain a new outlook on life, but I at least was hoping for some positivity to end 2020 on a pleasant note.
The trailer looked cute and all of my friends even agreed that it looked like a good movie so it couldn't be too scary, right?
Wrong.
For starters, the movie takes place in New York, not New Orleans. How did I get those two mixed up? I have absolutely no idea. Also, considering the fact that this is a children's movie, why does Joe almost die MULTIPLE times??? That shit just ain't right.
Putting Joe's death scenes and the setting issues aside, my real surprise came at the end of the movie when I realized that I was Freaking. Out.
I was two seconds away from having a panic attack all because freaking Disney was telling me that everyone has a "spark", or something that they live for, and I have absolutely NO IDEA what mine is. Is it music? Is it writing? Do I even have a purpose? Should I already know what my reason for living is?
My mind was spinning, and I felt like even though it was 1:00 am on a Monday morning, I needed to go out right then and figure out the meaning of my life.
I looked at my sister and it was like she could read my mind because she had the same panicked look on her face that I did, which did NOT help my anxiety. Both of us agreed that, as college freshmen, this movie hit waaaay too close to home. Hell, I'm pretty sure most people in their 20'swould freak out after watching this movie.
I'll be honest- I have no clue what my "spark" is, and this movie didn't do me any help in figuring it out.
However, after thinking things over for a few days, I remembered that this is just a movie and that I'm just a student trying not to fail her classes during a global pandemic.
I would also like to note that the real stars of the movie were not Joe or 22 (the soul that Joe helps) but the hippie pirates that are not given nearly enough screen time. They were definitely my favorite part of the movie and I would highly recommend watching "Soul" just for those badass mother-truckers.
Overall, I'd say "Soul" was a solid 7.7/10.