#*just randomly yeets an essay on dash*

[asymptoticway]

Is no one going to talk about

Terry the Accountant (Soul, 2020) as an embodiment of the desperate and ultimately doomed attempt to fight the natural tendency of the Universe towards maximal entropy? In this essay I will

provide minor spoilers for the movie so here’s a cut:

Ok so I have seen people wonder why Terry hates Joe Gardner or is obsessed with her quota to the point of becoming the closest thing the movie has to a villain. Turns out she doesn’t hate Joe Gardner (why should a cosmic being even care about a single human trying to enjoy life) and is, indeed, quite compulsively preoccupied with her job, but for a reasonable cause. According to me, at least. Here’s why.

Let’s get started with the Accountant herself. Terry likes counting things: she not only keeps track of souls going to the Great Beyond, but counts pretty much everything she sees, even insignificant details, like - how many times one Jerry blinks in front of her. She counts even while talking, doesn’t probably need sleep nor breaks. Counting is so natural for her that all she needs to do her job is a giant abacus: the most advanced man-made calculator would be no match for her computing skills, one might infer.

Terry likes orderly arranged sets of objects, classifications that work, flawless maths. She is a representation of Order and if the Order itself could speak or act, it would speak and act like Terry does: it would speak and acknowledge itself as the Order To Be Kept. It is hinted that Terry freaks out at whatever minor element/event she might perceive as threatening to the Order as a System. In the movie she is promptly aware of the soul count going off, takes it very seriously, and must fix it somehow – especially after realizing that none of the Counselors are going to take it as seriously as she does. Her purpose is to Safeguard The Integrity Of The System. Striving to do so, she comes off as an absolute control freak, methodical and pushy, overly zealous and over-organized.

But here’s the thing: Terry can’t let any minor inconvenience happen. She cannot (and will not) turn a blind eye to any potential hazards to the Order as a System. This is because she is not oblivious to the fact that even the slighest perturbation could initiate a chain of unpredictable events that would eventually disrupt the System, turning the Order to chaos. Even a single soul setting the count off is an element of chaos, and One Who Safeguards The Integrity Of The System cannot allow nor tolerate it, as it would just lead to more spreading chaos. The tendency of the Universe towards maximal entropy is a natural one, while opposing it has an energy cost, it requires control: the System can’t be left unattended, as it would spontaneously unravel and turn to chaos. Terry the Accountant, as the Universe Being Self-Aware, is acutely conscious of that.

It’s safe to assume that the Universe Being Self-Aware also experiences Desire For Self-Preservation (eg. Terry displays traits of anxiety and reacts to physical pain in the movie). Given that the evolution of the Universe to a state of thermodynamic equilibrium (maximal entropy) would ultimately result in a heat death (and the Universe Being Self-Aware is determined to push it back as far as possible), Terry “overreacting” to a single soul missing should be nothing unexpected. She won’t let the whole process start on her watch. She doesn’t hate Joe Gardner, nor is chasing him down just for the sake of being praised at the end for a job well done. She’s merely fulfilling her purpose. Because the concept of heat death is very scary.

Sources:

Soul, 2020

Some wikipedia

Me overthinking cartoons