Scoring Transcendence: Contemporary Film Music as Religious Experience

2. A Theological Explanation of Pixar’s Film Music

43 a Theological explanaTion oF pixar’S Film muSic 2 Given the possibility that Pixar’s films may be functioning in the contemporary world as the kinds of stories that individuals of all ages hold in common, these films and the music therein surely invite a theological response. Indeed, the sheer popularity of Pixar’s films “raises important questions about primary narratives within a culture with which children and adults can both engage. As recently as fifty years ago (and before that for most of the previous two millennia) it could probably be argued that biblical texts supplied the basic narrative currency which people could use to speak of beliefs and ideals in the west. With the passing of Christendom, the Christian currency has gone. But the need for some common texts remains.”1 Thus, if we are not only to celebrate Pixar’s contributions to our life and the world but also to engage in a mutually critical, life-giving dialogue regarding the ways in which music allows each of Pixar’s films to function as a “shared narrative,” it will be beneficial to outline briefly what we mean when we use this term. First, a “shared narrative” must be accessible across ages and thus capable of serving as a location for meaning making and identity formation for both adults and children.2 Second, a common narrative must not only be meaningful in different though related ways among myriad age groups, but must also function on multiple levels; it engenders “thick” interpretations that are deserving 44 Scoring TranScendence of repeat readings, viewings, and hearings.3 Finally, these narratives must address the human experience honestly; rather than circumventing the “messiness” and the dangers of life, or avoiding the darker realities of the world altogether, they must provoke the discovery and pursuit of meaning in the midst of life’s ambiguity and mystery.4 It is with these basic criteria in mind that we now offer an explicitly theological reflection concerning the ways in which these movies may very well be functioning as common narratives in our contemporary culture and, even more importantly, how music plays a key role in allowing them to do so. A shAred AffecTive sPAce The God who made the world and everything in it, . . . made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For “In him we live and move and have our being”; as even some of your own poets have said, “For we too are his offspring.” —Acts 17:24-28 (NRSV) From a reception-oriented perspective, it is interesting to note that, generally speaking, Pixar’s more recent films have garnered the most enthusiastic acclaim. In fact, according to the democratic mass of filmgoers contributing to IMDb, each successive Pixar film offers a slight but demonstrable advancement over its predecessor in terms of creativity and aesthetic appeal.5 We could offer a number of speculations regarding exactly why this is the case. However, given the dearth of young children who participate in the IMDb community, it certainly stands to reason that, at least in part, these particular filmgoers more readily laud Pixar’s later films because they are evaluating them according to adult-oriented criteria. Thus, as Pixar’s filmmaking has developed over time, the animated a Theological explanaTion 45 “children’s” films they have produced have increasingly resonated with adults and, in significant ways, managed to capture the imagination of both young and old audiences alike. As our prior analysis would suggest, music in particular plays a key role in the way that audiences respond to these films. Consequently, the reception of Pixar’s films runs parallel to the first shift we identified in their filmmaking—a shift that is rooted in the way the filmmakers call upon music’s signifying capacities. In keeping with the traditional use of music in the animated genre, Pixar’s earlier films featured music that primarily signified according to an explicit and predetermined emotionality. The prevalence of closely synchronized music in these films highlights the fact that music frequently functions to overdetermine the affective meaning of the film’s images. The music unambiguously tells filmgoers what and how to feel about...