On Christmas Day of 2020, Disney+ released Pixar’s new animated film, “Soul”. I wasn’t planning on watching it and only vaguely remember seeing a trailer. After reading multiple Facebook posts from friends recommending it, I decided to make it a family affair and watch it with my kids.
I’m so glad I did! The pro-life message of this film is strong and this movie is definitely worth your time.
Summary
The film follows the life of a middle school band teacher named Joe. His passion is jazz, but he has struggled to make it as a musician. On the day Joe finally gets his break, he falls down a manhole and awakens to find himself as only a soul, heading toward the light of the Great Beyond.
Realizing that if he goes into the light he will never get the chance to chase his dreams of becoming a jazz pianist, Joe begins a journey to try and reunite his soul with his body. Along the way, he becomes paired with another soul named 22, who does not want to go to earth and has been stuck in the Great Before for a long time. Seeing the sadness and misery of life, she has done everything to avoid going to earth like other souls. Not even the greatest souls could convince her.
But after learning about Joe’s dream, she agrees to help him get back to earth to try to understand why he would want to go back to his sad, miserable life. By a stroke of luck (or maybe just by accident), Joe and 22 go back to Earth. But 22’s soul ends up in Joe’s body and is able to experience all the little joys that make life worth living before ultimately deciding that she wants to live herself.
Why It's Pro-Life
While there are a number of themes to pull out of the movie, I found 3 strong pro-life messages:
1) A hard life is still one worth living.
After seeing Joe’s life story, 22 says, “Your life is so sad and pathetic and you’re working so hard to get back to it. I mean, why? This I gotta see!“
After watching this scene, I immediately thought of the conversations I have had with multiple pro-aborts: “What if the baby has a bad life? The most compassionate thing to do is abort it.”
But what 22 discovers (and what I hope that every pro-abortion person realizes) is that a broader perspective shows that even a difficult life is better than no life. There are simple joys that every human being has the privilege to experience that make life worth living. The truth is that life is precious. It is not always easy, fair, or understandable, but it is still a gift in all of its messy, hard, incomprehensible glory.
2) We each intrinsically need and deserve a shot at life.
At one point, 22 is invited to skip Earth all together and go straight to the Great Beyond. She responds with a great amount of fear and does not want to go to the Great Beyond.
This small scene carries a lot of meaning. Why would someone be scared to travel to the Great Beyond? Intrinsically we all know that our purpose is to come to Earth and live! We all want our shot. Though less than 1% of us become president or movie stars, that does not mean we didn’t make a difference. The lives we impact in a lifetime know no bounds. As well as the lives that touch ours.
As I said, we all intrinsically know this. Why then do so many support abortion as the first or only solution to an unplanned pregnancy? As “choice” is continually shouted from the rooftops, why then, do we so easily forget about the baby’s choice?
3) We can’t count on second chances.
At the end of the film, Joe is offered a rare second chance at life. The “Jerrys,” who are in charge of the Great Before and the Great Beyond, tell him they are not often inspired, but because they were inspired this time, they made the rare exception to allow him to go back to earth.
Among pro-abortion circles, a common misconception is that if a baby is aborted, their soul will still be able to come to earth at another time, either to the same mother at another time or to another family that wants a child.
This dangerous lie is told to mothers in crisis pregnancies. But here in the film, this shows another intrinsic truth known to those with Judeo-Christian values, a soul does not receive repeated chances just because their mother does not want them.
No one really knows if second chances are ever given. But to have your only chance taken too soon, or before it can ever begin, is not only awful but truly unfair. We have to live our lives and treat others’ lives as if this is our only chance.
Is Disney Pro-life, then?
Unfortunately, Disney is no doubt a pro-abortion company. They have even gone as far as to pull all filming out of the state of Georgia for passing the Heartbeat Bill.
Still, “Soul” has an unavoidably pro-life message that reveals that life is valuable and desirable despite hardship and suffering. The ironic fact is that even Disney needs to tap into these pro-life morals to make a movie that speaks to viewers’ souls.
Here at Pro-Life Utah, we do more than just educate and talk about culture. We are here to drive an impact and literally save lives. Learn what big things we did last year, or get involved this year by joining us for our 6th annual March for Life (COVID edition).