The critically acclaimed Wall-E, Pixar’s newest masterpiece of computer animation, provides a stunningly rendered crystal ball into the future of
Wall-E’s future is neither original nor surprising. Humanity is forced to live aboard a large spaceship after reducing the earth to an uninhabitable pile of garbage. The spaceship looks like a cross between Star Trek and the Embassy Suites, and is dominated by that final end game of capitalism - the single corporation Buy and Love, makers of everything in existence. Human beings waste away in these confines aboard hovering adjustable beds, consuming composite meals that appear to be glorified slurpees, and getting their sole sensory interaction from television sets planted sixteen inches from their face. Consequentially, these human beings are all 250 pounds, glob-like masses of fat and receding bone structure. Interaction with other humans is passé to the point of non-existence, as every need is fulfilled, actual work is non-existent and every stimulant is provided by constant television. (Unfortunately due to its G rating my questions on procreation went unanswered.)
As the film progressed and the conceptualization of this future solidified I was shocked that the film makers could get away with inserting such an obscene and frightening indictment of the very mass audience it is appealing to. Wall-E’s future is obviously American – from the red, white and blue logo of Buy and Love to Fred Willard’s turn as its CE0, portraying the same ‘awe-shucks’ country club white man the Bush Administration has been pushing as an ideal authority figure for years. The animators do a good job blurring the edges of this harsh future - their human beings are rounded and puffy, more akin to gerbils than real humans, and are intended to give the audience a guilt-free way of indulging in a great American pastime - laughing at fat, lazy and stupid people. Had the film featured real, live 250 pound actors it would have acquired an immense darkness.
The cartoonish feel of the movie also masked its direct correlation to modern society. Aside from the spaceship and an arbitrary date (2145 or some near future) the symbols of decadence in this future are directly relevant to current culture:
The constant television is an obvious - the movie provides a visual picture of the future had we not listened to mothers everywhere, got outside, and drastically reduced our time in front of the ‘boob tube.’
The hovering car/bed is a rendering of a blueprint that has been developing in men’s minds for years, a simple accumulation of the lazy gizmos and gadgets we have lusted for and depended on for years – Segways, Barcaloungers, cars, and for the geezers, Rascals. It also incorporates my deepest disappointment with modern society - the inability to develop a hover board. (Come on MIT, what the fuck are you waiting for? Michael J. Fox gave us the idea decades ago!)
The one-stop meals in 20oz Kwiki-Mart form are also eerily familiar. I just watched a Wendy’s commercial for its new “Snack Wrap.” In the commercial they use the ridiculous promotional rhetoric of the wrap being “one handed” three times. The apparent implication of this solicitation is that Americans are so busy they can afford no more than three minutes to eat lunch, and not only are they confined to these dire time constraints they really can only afford to use one hand, seeing as their other hand is constantly busy doing other things. The commercial features a slender, attractive blond woman running through her office snatching papers and eating her delicious Snack Wrap one-handed. Cynically I thought, “I would probably die from exhaustion in two days if I was ever THAT busy and substited on Wendys,” but I realize the real message – why use antiquated things like utensils and two hands when you can eat processed chicken and stale tortillas ONE HANDED, and for just 99¢!
Wall-E’s future is upon us, yet the most frightening and dire consequence of the formulation of this future is the breakdown of communication between fellow humans. The side story of the film is that of a fat couple, who become dislodged from their televisions and hovering recliners (Oh, that lovingly stubborn WALL-E!). Their first experience of eye contact is the spark for the downfall of this future. This re-establishment of human contact and ostensibly, community, is the cure to the ridiculous end of current capitalist culture.
****
This post was not intended as a movie review or ranting on the ills of capitalism. The immediacy of this future should serve as a signpost, screaming at us to go another way. That this warning comes in the form of an established multi-million dollar film franchise and not some neurotic bookworm locked in the basement at
