I said Wall-E is a post for another day. This is that day.
I love me some cartoons! I adore Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks for the, mostly, wonderful animated movies they put out. Finding Nemo, Meet the Robinsons, Toy Story, Cinderalla, King Fu Panda, The Incredibles…I love ‘em…I’ll watch them when my kids aren’t around. I’m not ashamed of that.
I am not going to be bashing Wall-E…and I’m assuming that most everyone who’s going to see it has and I’m just the only slacker mom who waits until the weekend before it’s gone from the theatres to finally pony up the $800000 it requires to take 3 kids to the movie, get popcorn and drinks (although I did stuff my purse full of candy purchased at Walgreens prior to movie time….shhhhh, don’t tell).
We loved it. The kids loved it. I was giggling along with it. I almost shed a tear….as I did in Lion King and Bambi and that All American Girl movie…when Wall-E lost his memory and seemed to be completely rebooted. It’s a good movie!
What I found disturbing was how the humans were portrayed. And then I thought about it and was mentally jolted, cattle-prod style.
Brief explanation for those who don’t have kids to drag you to every G-rated movie ever. Thank you, Nathaniel, for having moved on to Iron Man and Lord of the Rings. Anyways, the premise of the movie is that we destroy earth with the build-up of trash and pollution. We send humanity in a space ship out somewhere to hang for five years while there is a massive cleanup on earth, making it inhabitable again. Doesn’t so much work. Soooo, humanity has been hanging in space for somewhere upwards of 700 years! Wall-E is a piece of robot machinery that was left on for whatever reason and has been working away on earth, blah blah blah….not really the point of this….he’s CUTE.
What they did was show that in 700 years, all the humans were grossly obese, incapable of human contact, they only functioned through computers, were toted around in hover-chairs (which did look kind of rockin’ cool) because they were no longer able to walk and had turned into a society disconnected.
I came home to get the kids bathed, in bed, kissed and tucked good night and then sat down at my computer to think about that.
Let’s see.
700 years ago.
Would anyone have been disturbed to know that in 700 years we would be destroying the planet with our chemicals, toxins and overuse of natural resources? Would they be surprised to know that the national obesity rate is over 33%? What would they think to know that we have machines that facilitate the majority of our human contact. For the love of Joe, I’m sitting in front of a computer AT.THIS.MOMENT. writing a post for a website read by people I’ll probably never meet, who are sitting in front of their computer! Yet, many feel like close friends, we communicate more frequently than I do with members of my own family. (SHAME on me). I’ve gotten to the point that I am more likely to text you than I am to call you, I can get my point across in fairly few words and move on. Peter and I have been known to IM or text each other while sitting in the same room…granted, usually it’s because we want to tell each other something that we don’t want the kids to hear, but STILL!
I’m a little scared to think what another 700 years could do.
Are you?
on Aug 14th, 2008 at 6:52 am
I saw a trailer for Wall-E in the theatres, and immediately dismissed it. After reading this (and other comments – you’re definitely not the only one who liked it) I may have to reconsider.
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on Aug 14th, 2008 at 7:40 am
That is exactly what I came away from Wall-E feeling! I purposefully walked everywhere that evening cause I felt so guilty driving. Unfortunately, I got over it, but it really did make an impression on me! It is scary to think about it!
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on Aug 14th, 2008 at 8:11 am
I think that you got the intended message from the movie. More importantly, I think they wanted the kids to think about that nice and early, and Disney provided a great stepping stone for a family conversation, I think.
That said, I did not see the movie but heard it was really good. My kids are (thank God) well beyond the animation age for the most part.
BTW, I am a firm believer in getting movie candy at Walgreens! LOL
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on Aug 14th, 2008 at 9:35 am
I’m the world’s biggest fan of Pixar movies — I’ve been known to watch them WITHOUT my kids around. That said, my first reaction to WALL-E still stands: “I’m getting lectured about conspicuous consumption and consumerism … by DISNEY???”
on Aug 14th, 2008 at 9:57 am
I just took my oldest daughter to see Wall-E last week. I thought it was adorable too! I have to admit it was kind of weird sitting there stuffing my face with buttery movie theater popcorn and chocolate covered raisins and gulping down a GIGANTIC diet coke. The diet coke cancels something out right? I kept on thinking wow…I need to go buy some fresh veggies and run the 5 miles back to the house!
I hope that’s not how humans turn out! Although I do agree those hover chair things did look pretty cool. As I sit here on my couch with my computer in my lap. It may not take 700 years after all!
on Aug 14th, 2008 at 11:52 am
GAH. I saw that movie too, and I totally agree. And there is a point in rj’s comment, Disney?!? Glass houses and stones aside, I think it is a really good platform for family conversations. As far as the human portrayal, I think its grossly exaggerated; however, perhaps there is something there to consider….
on Aug 14th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
You know the funny thing is I saw that with a friend of mine who I went to college with. She was still living near campus finishing her degree (read: she is on the seven year plan for a four year degree). She wanted to see the movie and I thought I had nothing better to do so why not, I was so annoyed that she wanted to walk to the movie theater and the whole way complained about how far the walk was (in actuality I am just lazy). Following the movie I definitely felt like a loser I wanted to drive six blocks? Really when I’m totally capable of walking. It was a great movie with a great message.. I think the human portrayal was an example of a worse case scenario, sometimes you need that to grab the attention of someone. I really saw it as an excellent platform for discussion with kids and who knows something I might show in my classroom when learning about pollution.
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on Aug 14th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Woo. Sounds kind of creepy. When I first saw the previews, it looked kind of AI. Did you ever see that movie? There are no humans in the future of that movie.
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on Aug 14th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
But will you be spared from Space Chimps? I’ve been ducking the kids on that one for weeks.
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on Aug 14th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
I love Disney Pixar too but I hate that !@#%ing vault that they throw all the movies into. Sleeping Beauty is coming out Oct, 7th, and I can’t wait. She’s my favorite princess. My husband says, “leave it to you who likes the princess that sleeps, and not the one that cleans.”
We saw Wally too. Had the same feeling. I hope that when they defrost mine and Walt Disney’s head in 700 years, they put mine on a Cindy Crawford type body, and I can by pass the whole decrease in bone mass, increase in body fat phase. Walt Disney can fend for himself but I’m guessing he’d get first dibs on Troy from HSM’s bod.
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on Aug 14th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
I did not see the movie but often think how much the world has gone down hill just in my 50 years here. Personally I pray God does not ever allow it to go that far……He gave us this world to take care of and we let Him down.
on Aug 14th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
I took Juliette to see this movie a couple of weeks ago. I’m the first one to admit that I’m a “hippie” and that we all need to take a good look at how we are treating our Earth, blah blah blah, and I just couldn’t stand this movie.
Like you, I didn’t like the way humans were portrayed. I just thought the whole thing was completely over done. There’s no way my three year old picked up anything from this movie other than that Wall-E was cute and Eve was his girlfriend. I just sat next to her the entire time saying “Are you serious?”
I kinda thought that Disney was slightly poking fun at itself though. The whole “Utopian” society, the real premise behind EPCOT and what it was supposed to be in Walt’s eyes. While I thought their “green” movement was a bit overdone … I think they came out and laughed at themselves for thinking the future with everyone living in harmony would have a happy ending.
BTW, Anissa, I felt a bit of a tear when Eve went to hold Wall-E’s hand ….
on Aug 15th, 2008 at 1:40 am
Eh, the way I see it 700 years ago we had diseases and famine, before that we were cavemen, it was no better then either. If anything we’re living in the best times for nutrition, medical care etc. And I figure we communicate more because of technology, even if it isn’t face to face! I would have no idea who you were, living on the other side of the world! I wouldn’t be amused by your family antics or touched by Peyton’s battle. So it’s a positive for me!