Pixar, Autism, and the movie Soul

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I find what has been happening at Pixar fascinating. They have released two short films clearly stated to be about Autism; Loop and Float, but the movie that I would like to discuss is Soul.

Soul is far more subtle, but to me it is clearly also about autism. Although I think it may be more the product of an autistic artist's sub-conscious, than directly intended.

Warning: If you have not seen the movie, spoilers follow.

22 is an unborn soul, who has not been able to find her spark which allows her to be born and go to earth. She has been trying for a very long time, to the point she has given up. A 'regular guy/jazz musician' named Joe ends up becoming her newest mentor, and inadvertently they help each other to accept and live their lives.

A gifted autistic kid may very well present like 22. It is not clear in the movie that 22 is autistic, or even has a learning disability, and that holds true for these kids in real life as well. However, 22 failed her body test drive over 400 times. And all the worlds best mentors couldn't help her get her spark. Billions of other souls have made it to earth while 22 is still trying. Clearly 22 struggles to learn certain things, but it is overshadowed by her other qualities.

Here are some of the signs of autism I see in this film:

Sensory overload scenes (coming out of the hospital before eating the pizza)

Meltdown scenes (any scene involving lost souls, but especially the final one with 22)

Gender dysphoria (22 in a man’s body with almost no mention of traditional gender roles)

Honesty (22 is brutally honest with people)

Existential issues (What is the point of living just to die?)

Love of routine (She likes her routine in the You-seminar. She has her things, she plays Sudoku, and goes to very predictable meetings. It’s comfortable.)

Demand Avoidance (Don’t tell her what to do. She is fiercely independent.)

Literal thinking (“It says take one. Man with a van. I got a few in case we need a lot of vans.” - 22)

Social Issues (All her friends are not the same as her, and leave her for Earth and a normal life. Even her mentors don't understand/hate her.)

Everyone feels these things from time to time, it’s just not a huge part of their daily existence. There are a number of reasons Pixar might not have said 22 is autistic. Unlike Float and Loop the plot does not require it, nor does the message. In addition many gifted autistic adults don’t know they are on the spectrum. 2e kids can be very hard to identify.

Regardless of why the subtext is there, it was clear to me it is, and this movie was personally very helpful so I thought I'd share my thoughts.

We need more positive depictions of autism in movies and television.

I heard 22 ended up being born as Meilin Lee from Turning Red

Is that from Pixar Theory? I haven't read through that yet but I'm aware of it.

May have been. I've heard several You Tubers and Disney theorists suggest it. Now, I want to see the sequel where Meilin Lee is an adult and working as a zoologist or veterinarian. She meets others who have a family connection to an animal. Such as a Native American man who can turn into a wolf, an African who can turn into a lion, A South American who can turn into a jaguar. And together they fight against animal abuse and wildlife trafficking. Or maybe Meilin realizes she likes being a red panda more than she ever did being a human and decides to stay a red panda?

Very interesting. Soul's been on my watchlist for a while, I'd heard good things about it but hadn't heard anyone mention autistic coding or anything. Now I'm even more interested to see it. Thanks for sharing!

Crud. We have and enjoy Soul but never thought about that angle.

Now we probably want to watch it again to see whether we recognize Autisitic traits in 22.