Pixar’s Up received a lot of positive buzz when it came out last year. I was a little hesitant to watch it because I knew it dealt with the tender subject of infertility, but I had enjoyed the other Pixar films that I had watched. Our housing community presented an opportunity to watch it, and we decided to go ahead and see it.

Up kept the trend of quality animation. I enjoyed the film’s humorous references to such things as Snipe hunting and Star Wars. Although I generally dislike dogs, I found the pack of dogs, and especially Doug to be amusing. However, I didn’t enjoy the film as much as expected, because instead of the positive portrayal of marriage I expected, I saw a film about a man who idolized his wife. Warning, there may be spoilers in the rest of this article.

The Case for Idolatry

I thought the movie showed Carl idolizing Ellie. While there is no scene showing him burning sacrifices to Ellie, Carl’s character depicted idolatry by worshipping her while Ellie was alive, the way he reacted to loosing her, and the creation of a temple.

In their lives together, Carl showed his idolatry by following Ellie around. She always seemed to be the one deciding where to go and what to dream. By itself, this wouldn’t be enough for me to call it idolatry. You could comment that it was part of their personalities- since she was spunky and he was reserved. However, I think that it was idolatry based on how he reacted to her loss.

A reaction to loss often indicates value. When one’s reaction to loss is violating God’s instruction, it means that one values what was lost over God (which is idolatry). When Carl lost Ellie, he became bitter. He didn’t just say a harsh word or two, his life was marked by bitterness. He treasured things that reminded him of Ellie so much that he attacks a construction worker over the mailbox Ellie had decorated and set up at the front of their house. After Ellie’s death, Carl turned their house into a temple.

By carefully trying to maintain everything as it was before Ellie died, Carl created a temple out of their house. When the rest of the block was being developed, he refused to move out of his house. Rather than going to Paradise Falls alone (which would probably have fulfilled his oath as he probably wasn’t planning on taking the house in the luggage when he bought the tickets), he found a way to take his temple with him. There comes a point when he has to choose between his house and the bird he had promised to protect. He chooses the house. He does eventually trade in the house for a blimp, but only after receiving a message from Ellie. The only reason temples exist is for worship, and if it isn’t God being worshipped, it is idolatry.

The Consequences of Idolatry on a Wife

The consequences of idolatry were not well depicted in the film, but when a husband makes his wife an idol, it is bad for her. These can include abdication of headship and unrealistic expectations.

A man can choose to follow his wife and give her the direction of a family because he values her happiness more than he values God’s instruction. As a complementarian Christian hedonist, I think that it is good for women when husbands are head of their wives. Yes a man should love his wife as he loves his own body, but that does not mean he should give up making decisions. If a man always follows what he thinks his body wants he neglects self-discipline and becomes a lazy, gluttonous, indiscreet fool. The results in a marriage might not be as externally observable, but they are still unhealthy.

Unhealthy expectations are commonly decried in society. For example, we decry those airbrushed pictures of models that contribute to eating disorders. When a man idolizes his wife, he hoists a set of impossible expectations on her. He wants to find his meaning, identity, pleasure, and comfort from a woman rather than from God. No woman can fulfill all of any man’s needs. The burden of these expectations is too much to carry. Eventually, a wife will fail to meet the demands made by a husband who idolizes her.

Men, to love a wife best, love God more. Please don’t idolize us.

My Anticlimactic Other Thoughts

So in a good blog article, I probably should have just omitted this section, but I have a few other short thoughts on the film. I was disturbed by the children with whom we were viewing the movie laughing at some very unfunny moments: the dogs falling in the river and the villain falling to his death. I could have done without the bathroom humor. There was a very unhealthy attitude towards food depicted with a chubby boy who was frequently eating candy or ice cream.

You might also like this review of Up by Dave Bruno.