[Transcript starts at 1:47]
Hello, hello, hello friends and thank you for joining me for yet another episode of my favorite podcast. So today I'm basically going to give you a review of that movie, Soul, which I thought was terrible. Uh, I watched it over the weekend on Friday, actually, I don't know, Friday or Saturday, and it was terrible.
I had seen mixed reviews about it, and then I watched it, and I was like, I see why there were mixed reviews, and I fully agree with the people that were like, this shit was terrible. So, let's just jump right on into this. Actually, before I do that, thank you. All of you, you reach out, you listen, we have amazing conversations in the DMs, and that's actually what, you know, prompted me to make this as a, as an episode because you are so responsive and you communicate and you're just amazing.
So thank you. So I actually wrote out, uh, I don't want to call it a full outline, but yeah, I wrote down some talking points for this. Cause I want to make sure I get them all out. I don't always do that for these episodes yet, Thursday shorties, but today we're doing that. So like I said, kind of reviewing the movie Soul and the things that I took from it and, and largely my issues, my issues with it.
So. Right off the bat, and I spoke, I spoke about this on Instagram, the racial issues, right? For those of you that haven't seen the movie Soul, like if you're going to go watch it, then go watch it and then come back and watch this episode and listen to this episode. Otherwise, because otherwise you're, you're going to get spoilers, right?
But right off the bat, highly problematic that it's a black character. The main character is a black character and he literally dies before. The title of the movie even gets shown, like he dies in the first, I don't know, five minutes, seven minutes, three minutes, I didn't even time it, but the name of the movie hadn't even been shown yet, and this man dies.
And then, he spends the whole movie basically showing this white woman. That, you know, she's ready to live. And how do we know it's a white woman? Because if you watch the movie, it's like a little blue character named 22. And the issue is that it's Tina Fey that voices the character. I didn't know that actually until after afterwards and looking through at the names, but the character says, I could be any voice, but I choose to use this voice of a white woman, like a middle aged white woman, because it seems to annoy people.
So it's like, okay, you literally are just saying you could have been any voice. that you want it to be. But you pick this. And now we have this character and we kind of have everything that goes right, like, you know, these notions of like what this character looks like and such, based on this voice. When it could have been any voice.
So hugely, highly, hugely problematic. Black character dies right in the beginning. And then spends the rest of the movie as a cat. If you look at the rest of the Disney movies, you see this as well. And this is one of the things that I had heard before watching the movie. But I was also like, let me watch and see.
And I was like, yeah, this is fucked up. Uh, he dies and then he's a cat. Like, yes, there is a black character. His, his like body is in the rest of the movie, but it's Tina Fey that's speaking. It's voiced as a, as a white woman. Cause they like switch, they don't switch bodies, but 22 kind of goes into his body and he goes into a cat.
And you're just like, what in the actual fuck? So highly problematic there. And I'm really glad that I said something on Instagram. Yeah. I'm not going to lie. When I first thought about it, I was like, Oh, I don't want people to like, come at me with like, Oh, why does it have to be about race? And I'm like, because it is about race.
It doesn't always have to be about race. But in this case, like, you know, denying things and pretending that they don't exist is not the answer. And in, in, in saying something about it on Instagram, people were like, I didn't even see that. And I was like, Oh, wow. Like, I didn't even realize, like, I assumed, I kind of assumed that everyone saw it, like, Oh, this is kind of fucked up.
Um, but. Yeah, it makes sense. Like if it doesn't directly affect you and it's not like it's not done maliciously, like it's not like a, you know, ignorance in a bad way. It's like, it's just something that doesn't affect you. So you don't really notice it. Uh, and so in saying it on, on online, on Instagram and stories, first of all, Literally 99.
9 percent of people that responded were like, Yes, I hate this movie also, for different reasons. Um, and some people were like, Wow, I didn't even look at that. Like, I hated it for other reasons. And, like, some people have kids and they were like, Is this weird? And maybe my kids didn't like it. Uh, but it was really positive feedback and a really cool discussion.
Uh, and, and getting over some of my own shit of like, Do I want to talk about this? Are people going to like feel some kind of way that I'm saying it? And you know, in light of all that happened in 2020, being like, no, I have to say something like silence is not the answer at all. So highly problematic with that.
Um, a few people did mention like, there's a really cool barbershop scene and like the power of that scene. And I was like, yes. And that's also kind of contributes to what makes this so problematic. Like imagine if it was like, Uh, I'm, you know, a black person that was voicing the 22's character. Like if it was just truly like culturally appropriate, you know, I will kind of want to say so that for me, highly problematic, but honestly.
Equally, you know, problematic and why I hated this movie. Was their portrayal or like, I don't want to say down regulate downplaying. That's the word downplaying of passion. All right. So we have all the racial issues, highly problematic. And then what I think people kind of were able, they were, why they were able to overlook that and maybe, or maybe they didn't even notice it was because they felt like this movie was about passion, purpose, soul, being present in the moment.
And I was like, all right. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but here's my take on this. And here's what really upset me as I was watching the movie. And largely surrounds this idea of downplaying of passion. And I truly believe that Yes, on one hand, we see everything that we're not, but we also see everything that we are in some, some regards.
We're cognizant of things that we are and when those things don't resonate. And so I think people are going to view things through their own lenses, obviously, and through their own experiences and how they're living life and how they want to be living life. And I personally, you know, folks that I am all about live and live your best life.
I want every minute to be something that you're, that you're happy about, that you're proud of, and you're working towards that because maybe you're not there yet. And so in, in preaching this and promoting this and doing my best to live this, I think it stands out to me when, when something goes against this and it doesn't make sense and doesn't jive.
And I'm like, there's like, like a lack of congruency there. So in the movie, 22 gets her Earth sticker. Again, if you haven't seen the movie, you're gonna be like, what the fuck? Uh, but bear with me. In the movie, 22 gets her Earth sticker, right? She's like, she's like ready to go to Earth. Once she figures out that she's realized that she's ready to live.
Some people are like, yeah, Joe helped her with that. My argument is that it's funny. Cause we're like debating like a fucking Disney movie. But here we go. My argument with that is that Joe was living, right? Some people will be like, Oh no, at the end, Joe got a second chance at life. And he then realized that like being present in the moment.
And I'm like, hold up, wait a minute. Joe was absolutely living. This man was so passionate about jazz and playing the piano that it literally would take him to a different world. And they talk about kind of flow state in this movie, which is pretty cool. And for those of you that saw the movie, if you remember, that's actually how he goes and saves 22 from being a lost soul, is he plays the piano.
The piano and it takes him to that flow state world and he meets the ship guy and they go and find 22. Joe was absolutely living. My man was just so overtaken, overcome by this passion for playing. That in my opinion is, is living. That is being present in the moment. He actually, when he, when they go and they.
Go through like, I don't know what the fuck it's called, maybe the Hall of Memories. And 22 is like, this was your life. And it seems kind of weep womp and kind of sad. And Joe's like, I don't remember it like that. And that's it. This man, even all the, he gets rejected a million times. But he's so passionate about this thing.
And he truly believes this is his purpose. This is why he's here. He doesn't even remember these rejections. That's incredible. Yes, he can still learn from them. But he doesn't remember, he doesn't like, it doesn't stop him and I see this in business all the time, right? Where people like fail one time, they're like, it's not, it's not for me.
This man failed time and time, quote unquote failed, didn't get the job, time and time again. But loved this thing so much, he's like, no, I'm gonna keep doing it. I'm gonna keep going. He was absolutely, absolutely loving it. The movie makes it seem like, you know, The best and only journey for life is being present in the moment.
And while I agree that presence is hugely important, passion, passion driven presence is not wrong. All right. And that's what Joe had. Like he was present in like, when he's playing and doing this thing, this is what he wanted. So yes, his, his goal was like, you know, the top of the mountain. And you know, people would say like, Oh, but he missed the journey.
You know what? That's okay. If you know that like my goal is to get to the top, that's okay. If when you get to the top, you're like, damn, this wasn't what I thought it was going to be. And then you learn when you take a lesson from that, that is okay. You didn't miss your life. You can turn things around.
You can change things. You can have a new lesson and a new start at any point in time. Especially if while you're doing this, this climbing, you're so in love with it. I think there's a difference like, cause they kind of use like a stock market hedge fund guy as an example as a level of a lost soul, but Joe wasn't a lost soul.
Again, remember that. If you're doing this thing that you don't really love and you're kind of doing it because you are waiting for the pinnacle, you're like, I don't like this. I hate this. Like this doesn't fulfill me, but when I get to the top, it'll be better. That's very different than someone that's like, I, when I play and I do this thing, I get taken to another place.
I get taken to another world. Let that shit kill you. It literally killed Joe. The writers killed Joe, honestly, but That's totally different. Yes, Joe's ultimate, you know, goal was to like get to the top of the mountain. He wanted to play professionally. But it wasn't like along the way, you know, he was like, I hate this.
He actually did so much and he didn't even have support. His mom wasn't even supporting him and he was like, you know what? This is, I love this thing. I can literally get into a meditative state. When I play it, and I took, you know, I felt like, I feel like the meme right now, the, uh, I feel like the Michael Jordan meme is like, and I took that personally when they kind of shitting on having this passion and, and, and taking it like they twice in this movie, they took away everything this man had done.
In the beginning, they take it away and he literally dies, right bef right after he scores the biggest gig of his life. And then at the end of the movie, they're just like, or the middle, I don't know. The rest of the movie, they're like, your passion doesn't really matter. Like, they're kind of equating passion and, and worth and, and, you know, being worth, being worthy of, of living and being ready to live.
Those are all different things. And if you think back to the Ikigai, um, posts I did on Instagram, which I'll link, and the Ikigai podcast episode, we understand that passion and purpose are different. But dude, when they overlap, holy shit, you start to get magic. And no, it's not like you have to have these things.
to, to live. No, you don't need a passion. You don't need a purpose to be worthy or to start living, which is kind of what they, they say in the movie. And we're like, yeah, of course you don't need that. But when they are paired, when they come together, they can absolutely become a reason for living. Joe's like, yeah, this is my purpose.
This is why I'm here. And I felt like they stripped that from him. Not everyone in life, I think, has a specific calling like that to play the piano, to be a parent, right? My friend just had a kid and she was like, this is my, this is my reason for being here. I love doing this. Like. That's amazing. I don't think everyone has that.
I have another friend that actually sent me a meme that was basically like, I'm glad to know that I don't have to have that and I could just wander through life and like find things I like doing. That's amazing as well. But I don't think it's fair to take this away from someone and downplay how powerful it can be if you find that passion.
Again, I'm not here to say that like you need, everyone needs to be searching and spend their whole life searching for this. No. But when that shit hits you, run with it. Let it kill you. I, I, I, I really don't like this. I don't want to say a celebration of mediocrity, but kind of a celebration of mediocrity.
Like if you have more in you, if you have something that sets you on fire, literally go after that shit and let it kill you. If you get, if, and when you get to the top of that mountain, if you're like, ah, that was cool. I thought the view was different, but I guarantee you, That journey that you made up the mountain was not for nothing.
You still enjoyed it. You're doing it because you loved it. And now we're at the top and you're like, actually, it thought it looked a little different. Cool. I'm going to go on a different journey. I'm gonna go in a different direction. And now you have all of that that's behind you to learn from, to work from.
I actually was in the DMs, um, And I don't know if the person I spoke to in the DM actually listens to this podcast. If you're listening, thank you for sharing this story with me. Uh, but she said she's, she's leaving her job soon, sometime this year. Um, part of what sparked that is that like her mentor, someone she really looked up to, this woman worked her whole life.
She's like a fucking badass in her career, badass in that profession. And when she was ready, and I strategically use that word ready because the person I was speaking to use that same word. And then when the woman decided she was ready to retire. She retired, she accomplished all she wanted, so she was like I'm ready to retire, I'm ready to spend time with my family now.
And she had like a massive heart attack at her retirement party and passed away. And when she, when the woman told me this story, the person in my DMs told me this story, I was like, holy shit. But also, she was ready. And I bet that she died happy. I'm sure she was not happy to leave her family behind, and I feel, you know, I feel for her family.
But, this woman was doing exactly what she wanted to do. For all that time, and accomplish what she wanted to accomplish. It's just not like she got to the top and was like, Fuck, I didn't want to do any of this, I wasted my time. She was like, I've done what I wanted to do. And now I'm ready for a new journey.
I think we need to understand that and recognize that and, and support that and understand that there are different, different paths for people. And if your path is to climb a mountain and you enjoy climbing mountains and you're like every step, I love it. Go for it. I support you 1 million percent. And I don't want this movie, this fucking bullshit movie.
Literally, I give it zero stars. If I could give it negative stars, I'd give it negative stars. I don't want this movie or anyone else who maybe doesn't value passion to hold you back. If you find something that sets your soul on fire, let it burn you up. I support you a hundred percent. So we're getting close to time here and you know, I spent so far 17 minutes talking about, I think it's a Disney movie, but I think there's some really big.
Issues that they tried to tackle and they just fucking really missed the mark. You know, on a positive note, there was a guy in, there's a guy in the movie, he steers the ship. He is like a cool, like hippie kind of dude. He was cool. And you know, his, his character was cool and that was a positive. Um, the cat was cute, but also I'm like, they, they did, they, they missed the mark here.
So that's my synopsis of soul. That's my feelings, and I think you already knew them, but those are my feelings on the power of passion. It can absolutely become your purpose and your reason for living. No, you do not need to have this in order to be worthy of living, in order to be ready to live. In order to live.
You don't need it. But if you do find it, let that shit burn you up. Alright, as always, endlessly, endlessly appreciative for every single one of you. And the fact that I You know, get these ideas and then have these discussions with you in the DMs. And it's just, it's amazing to me and I'm just blown away.
This continuously, constantly blown away. So thank you for that. If you want to chat some more, send in the DMs, you can text me. I'm telling you folks that the text works. I feel like I'm begging for text, but it's just, it's just. I want to, I want to let you know that I'm here and I'm here to connect with you.
Uh, you can text me, that's 310 737 2345, um, those are probably the two easiest ways to get in touch. You can email, but it takes me a long time to get back, so DM me, text me, if you want to talk about soul, if you want to talk about passion, if you want to talk, I, I love hearing from each and every one of you.
All right, officially wrapping it up. Until next time, friends, Maestro, out.
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