WALL-E, the latest in a string of Pixar
spectaculars, opened this past weekend and we thought it would be a
fun movie for the whole family. Who doesn't love a story about a
cute little robot and his escapades in space? Well, it was a fun
movie in some ways and it certainly provided the clever animation and
storytelling that we
have come to expect from Pixar. But I found it
more disturbing that I did entertaining and, honestly, that made me
love it even more.
The ads for the movie focus on the antics of a robotic E.T. look-a-like. What the movie trailers don't let you in on is that WALL-E isn't just any robot. He spends his days on what is left of the Earth after the “progress” of humankind polluted and depleted it to the point hat the Earth is no longer able to sustain life. The humans, having left to live “in space,” leave WALL-E behind to clean up the mess.
The bulk of the story revolves around WALL-E's relationship with a bot named EVE who is sent back down to Earth to search for signs of life. While the story on the surface appears to be about WALL-E's relationship with his new friend, the underlying story of the human destruction of the Earth is
unavoidable. I won't ruin the entire movie for those of you who haven't yet seen it, but the message of the movie (cleverly left out of the movie trailers) seems to be that the need for connection and relationship is more important than our need for more stuff...that our current focus on materialism will lead to the destruction of the planet that is our home. It's a wake-up call for all of us, not-so-hidden under the surface of a light-hearted, fun, family movie.
Environmentalists have been sounding this same alarm for some time now and yet many of us seem not to be hearing it. Why is this?
In an earlier post “The Voice of the Earth” I asked the same question.
“We can even get most people to understand how our modern society is polluting and compromising the very environment that supports us. But there is a disconnect that occurs right here. We recognize our dependence on our environment and we recognize our part in destroying it...yet many of us our unwilling to do anything about it. How can that be?
Do we have a death wish? Has mankind as a whole become suicidal? Are we just too stupid to see the power of our own actions to change the outcome? Or, have we become so overwhelmed with the magnitude of the problem that we feel there is simply nothing we can do? “
More and more, I believe it's the latter...that we are so overwhelmed by the problem that we choose to ignore it, hoping that it will wither go away or somebody else will fix it for us. The trouble is that it's not going away, unless we all decide to fix it and it is within our power to do so. We simply need to recognize what aspects of our modern lifestyles are creating the environmental issues that we face and take it upon ourselves to change. We need to set an example for those around us and to join forces with others who are like-minded. We need to work from the bottom up and pressure those in power to get with the program.
Taking personal responsibility and changing our own behavior is not only the first step but perhaps the easiest step. It's getting others to recognize the issues and to be willing to do their part that is the challenge. As Theodore Roszak expressed in his book “The Voice of the Earth,” the scare tactics of environmentalists don't seem to be working.
Perhaps the approach is too direct, too scary. When we are brought face-to-face with the reality it is just too overwhelming. Maybe an indirect approach is the answer. Maybe the subtle style of the folks at Pixar can do more to further the environmental agenda than the environmentalist's portents of doom.
Will everyone who sees the movie get the message? I don't know, but I can't help but to feel hopeful. Meanwhile, I encourage everyone to see the movie. Even with it's doomsday scenario, it still manages to be a fun and entertaining story that the whole family will enjoy. The bonus is that it manages to be so much more than that. Let us know what you think.
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