We could go a number of different directions in the analysis of the movie Soul. Concepts of Heaven and Hell, who God is, the dark places anxiety and obsession can lead us, reincarnation, astral projection, whether or not our pets go to heaven, etcetera. But I want to talk about the two things that kept me from being a raving fan of the movie. 

First, let’s discuss the depiction of Black people in animated movies as nonhuman. In the only two Disney/Pixar movies with Black lead characters, The Princess and the Frog (2009) and Soul (2020), the main character transforms into something non-human for the majority of their character development. In Soul, Joe Gardener returning to life as an animal was a slap in the face. The animal, a cat, belonged to someone as property. This dehumanization cuts deep, and if you are a young child, the imprint messages such as these leave on your subconscious is harmful to your self concept. The message to young Black children is that their humanity is unrecognizable at best, and nonexistent at worst. Worst of all, the communication is that it’s funny that they are not human. If you need more back story to help you understand what I mean when I talk about the dehumanization of Black people, please take a look at Ibram Kendi’s incredible book on the topic, Stamped From the Beginning. 

The second reason I could not give this movie the standing ovation I wanted to was Soul’s expectation that the audience would blindly accept Joe’s voicelessness and powerlessness, even see the humor in it. Consider this, Soul 22 got to use/inhabit his body to experience the world, while Joe was relegated to trying to right major issues of his existence while trapped in the body of a cat. A cat! Soul 22 used Joe’s body to experience pleasure and sensuality without concern for what those experiences might do to his body and without concern for the priorities Joe might have. She ate with abandon, and revelled in the senses of touch, sight, and sound. On one occasion, she even locked him (as the cat) in his own apartment so that she could pursue her own agenda. Reader, can you please sit with how this can be interpreted to any Black person watching the movie? It took me about 2 weeks to process the negative feelings I had after watching it. I couldn’t verbalize the sticky/tar-y unpleasant film that coated my thoughts about the movie. But it was this, Soul poked my subconscious wound/fear about the autonomy that is frequently taken away from Black people in the governing or use of our bodies and our voices. If after reading Stamped from the Begining you still wonder why this cuts so deep, have a look at Medical Apartheid by Harriet Washington and watch the Netflix documentary 13th.

To make matters worse, 22 got to speak for Joe because he was rendered voiceless by virtue of being locked inside the cat. No one except the accidental host of his body could hear him speak. For all intents and purposes, Joe was silenced. Whenever Joe expressed his feelings of outrage or fear as the cat he appeared ridiculous if not crazy, and dangerous. Sit with that for a minute. 22 had the power to speak her thoughts through his voice and there was nothing he could do about it except play the role of the docile, quiet cat. 

Did the movie marvelously speak to the meaning of life and carpe diem?  Yes. Did I cry several times moved by these themes?  Yes. These important messages however do not overshadow a painful reality for Black people. The message could have been portrayed without taking the main character out of the driver’s seat to be the comic relief sidekick in his own story. If the goal is to be inclusive Disney, then do it more than on a superficial level. It takes more than jazz music and black skin to have an authentic Black lead character. Do better.

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