Communications and Media

The endearing Pixar movie WALL-E (2008) has been chosen for this movie review, because it holds precious insights about emerging social and environmental issues. These issues are humanity versus technology, technologys dominance over humanity, and humanitys perverse love affair with decadent consumerism. It is a sentimental movie about a simple dream of a robot, which merely wanted to be with someone he can hold on to- physically and emotionally.

What will happen to the world after centuries of robotic technology advancements and consumerist culture development WALL-E (2008) answers this question in a tale about robots loving like humans and humans acting like robots. WALL-E stands for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-class. He is the only remaining robot working after the humans left and resided in the spaceship Axiom. His dull routinary life changes pace when EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) is dropped off by Axiom to find signs of terrestrial life. WALL-E previously found a plant, which is of no primary concern for him. His main obsession is to hold someones hand, which he has seen from Hello Dolly on VHS. He falls in love with EVE, who after finding the plant, is taken back to Axiom. Lovestruck WALL-E accompanies EVE and their adventure together ends with Axiom returning to earth for Operation Re-Colonize. This movie is a top-rate animation movie because of its insights on the impact of consumerism and technology on human civilization, and through the interplay of emotions and action-filled events, Stanton (2008) depicts a world of decadence- it is ideally perfect, because the problems of poverty and inequality are resolved, but pragmatically insensible, because of the eradication of human creativity, critical thinking, and physical mobility.

This movie is a top-rate animation movie because of its insights on the impact of consumerism and technology on human civilization. The first scenes of the movie show the world as a garbage pit. It is a scene that is not highly improbable with the rate of consumption of human beings. The consumerist culture generates heaps of garbage, as advertisements and the media inundate people with the images of endless consumption for various aesthetic, social, and political reasons. The consequence is the accumulation of natural resources and non-recyclable goods. The human beings seemed like parasites, because they left the world after they thrashed it. The movie also depicts the effect of technology on human civilization by generating a culture of laziness that inhibits human creativity, critical thinking, and physical mobility. The humans had become robots themselves. When robots can do everything for human beings, obesity will surely become the norm, as the film shows.

The storyline and issues that WALL-E tackled are serious emerging concerns for humanity. There is no need for special effects, if you want the world to understand that people cannot be consumers without soon facing the consequences of their actions. The movie breathes a silent prayer, and a hope that this future will not be a not-so-distant reality for Earth.