After dissolving the meaning of success, the spiritual journey is like peeling an onion
If we haven’t experienced the extremely magical and chaotic days of 2020, probably every parent who walks into the cinema with their children full of anticipation will be a bit at a loss. Compared with all past Disney cartoons that are full of dreams, laughter, and light and beautiful, this work is so deep. Pixar, which has produced countless explosive models such as “Toy Story” and “Adventures of Flying House”, has not created any novel and interesting adventure world on this day when everyone cannot enter the cinema to enjoy the visual feast. It is not even a dedicated Cartoon for children. This time, it just wants to take all adults back to their familiar and noisy real world, and then re-examine their lives.
A Socratic pursuit
The protagonist of the story, Joey, is a part-time music teacher in a New York public school. He is middle-aged, with a meager salary and unable to obtain stable social security. Every day he faces a group of children who have no passion for music. Like all the protagonists of Pixar in the past, this character is plain but with precious dreams. Joey’s dream is to become a jazz musician and have his own stage. The hard work paid off, he got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be on stage, and a famous musician invited him to perform on the same stage. While he was ecstatic, unfortunately he encountered an accident on the way home. At this point, the story has just unfolded-Joey’s soul has thus come to another world, the so-called “beyond life”.
On the ladder that leads to the ultimate life, people are crowded in darkness. There is a dazzling light on the heights, and the boundless darkness is all around. This chilling scene rarely appears in Disney cartoons that are known for their warmth. Joey, who fell into the realm of death for no reason, was so frightened that he jumped over the crowd and rushed all the way to the bottom of the ladder. When he ran to the end of the stairs, he fell into another abyss. But this time, he came to a colorful world, a “mind academy” where all souls were born, the so-called “place of birth”. Here, he met the “No. 22” soul-a soul who has no desire for life, and the most unique existence in this spiritual academy.
In this spiritual academy, countless great soul mentors have gathered. However, no one can really guide and impress her and arouse her yearning for life. Even great historical figures such as Gandhi, Lincoln, and Mother Teresa still make her feel that life is dull. In the cartoon, although “No. 22” is portrayed as a cute and soft image, in fact, she represents the most gloomy and hopeless state of mankind-losing the most primitive impulse to life. When she took Joey to look back at his ordinary and boring life, she didn’t quite understand why Joey had to go back to such a bleak life at all costs. It is also the first time that Joey, as an “other”, jumped out of his body to look back on the years he has stayed in the world. He also fell into this confusion: “If I am destined not to live shiningly, why should I live? Is such a life worth returning?”
Milan Kundera said in “The Unbearable Lightness of Life”: “Humans will never know what they want, because they can only live once. They can neither compare it with the previous life nor modify it in the next life. Any method can test which choice is good, because there is no comparison, everything is experienced right away, only this time, can’t be prepared.” In “Spiritual Journey”, Joey has also been looking for questions about “I What do you want” the ultimate answer. When Joey returned to the real world for the second time, he realized his original dream in life-to step on the stage, as a real musician, to complete a performance that everyone appreciates without regret.
At the end of the performance, it seemed that all the “objectives” were accomplished. Did Joey find his answer? Is his life complete? Can he leave this world contentedly and without regret? Just like the fable that a female musician told Joey, when a fish finds the sea, it finds itself just in the water. However, is this the sea that little fish have been searching for so hard?
At this point in the movie, it seems that all problems have become nihilistic, and many people may have encountered similar confusion. When you achieve a specific “life purpose”, does your life become fuller? Is this the end of life? Next, where are you going? This film is like Socratic questioning, leading the audience to torture themselves in a certain philosophical sense in the pursuit of the problem again and again.
“Spiritual Journey” created a different philosophical situation with completely different styles of animation. The place of birth, the other side of life, and the chaotic dark realm between life and death. Those lifeless bodies, like walking dead, can only be rescued by the soul helmsman. And between ecstasy and madness, there is just a thin line. In the process of following Joey between life and death, the past and the future, the film is like peeling an onion, revealing layers of philosophical issues about life.
“Spiritual Journey” is against success, but it is not a bowl of poisonous chicken soup
In 2020, perhaps many people have to face death, parting, life stagnation, and life collapse. When “involvement” and “beating workers” become the annual keywords, when everyone has been exhausted but had to be in this special time When slowing down, all the questions raised in “Spiritual Journey” have extraordinary significance. It is particularly urgent to explore and think about the soul, the meaning of life, and the human condition.
The director of “Spirit of the Mind” explained the film in an interview: “We have been taught since childhood that we must have passion and purpose in life, and then go all out. Once you achieve your dream, everyone feels that everything is done, but Often reality is not like this. No matter how hard you work, it can’t achieve all your goals and dreams, and can’t answer all your questions about life. It can be said that this movie is a challenge to our deep-rooted belief in success. , Tell us not to forget to embrace life on the road of struggle. Life is actually very complicated and difficult. For me, “Spiritual Journey” is also a rare opportunity. Let us truly reflect on this in five years of production time. problem.”
Some people understand the dissolution of success and dreams in the movie as a dose of chicken soup for the general public-“Living is good, enjoying life, living is the meaning of life”. Such a crude understanding inevitably runs counter to the theme of the movie. Unlike many of Pixar’s past works, this story really has nothing to do with how to realize the dream. After Joey returned to the world desperately to complete the sparkling “dream”, he did not get any expected satisfaction. And when he sat in front of the piano and really started to enjoy the joy of music itself, he realized that this was the “spark” that aroused his passion for life, not just a dazzling performance. The film opposes the study of success, in essence, it opposes the shaping of personal value by the secular society. The definition of life goals in all external environments often makes people lose their true passion and desire to explore. And the kind of love that comes from the source of life, and achieves a certain selfless state because of the true love in your heart, is the motivation for people to live and the answer they need to find.
Joey could not tell the confused “No. 22” soul what her “spark” was. He could only hold her hand and give her a little bit of courage to go to life, so that she could feel herself in the real world experience. Go and explore. Just like what this movie leaves us to think about, it doesn’t matter what everyone’s answer is. What’s important is that you need to experience, examine, and constantly pursue the enthusiasm of life.
Author: Liu Qipeng
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