Have you ever played one of those word games where
you say the first thing that comes to mind? When I hear “apocalypse” I think
“sin”. And I’m not talking about our Ten Commandment standard brand of sin, not
like telling a lie or cheating (both very atrocious acts). I’m talking about
the type of destruction and chaos that can only be caused by a complete dearth
of morals. Some of the staple apocalyptic films that Christopher Anderson names
in “Post-Apocalyptic Nostalgia: WALL-E,
Garbage, and American Ambivalence Toward Manufactured Goods” are
caused by natural disasters, the meteor in Independence Day, but other such as
the threat of mass nuclear destruction in The Day After, are examples of human
flaw. A lack of respect for human life, a lack of kindness and morality.
That's not what happens in Wall-E, the
humans aren't these morally corrupt and utterly lost people. They're just lazy.
They’re just content getting big off of their liquefied meals and watching
their TV screens, and it is this contentment that landed them on the Axiom in
the first place, not a purposeful disregard for the Earth and the life on it. Anderson
lists human consumers at one of the targets that Wall-E blames for the state of
the planet. And while it is highly likely that Pixar is aiming its warnings of
consumption and capitalism at the viewer, I don’t see any blame being put on
the human characters in the film. They’re happy, go lucky people. When Wall-E
saves the day, they all cheer. When they roll out of their floating bed/chairs
they all helpfully attempt to catch someone else. Maybe this lack of apparent
blame and finger pointing is due to the fact that the humans on the Axiom now
are generations past responsibility for their situation, but unlike other
classic post-apocalyptic films there is no moral wrestling or blatant guilt.
While that addresses the post-apocalyptic” points
that Anderson makes about the movie, I find his ideas on nostalgia much more
interesting. One of the most intriguing points that he mentions is Pixar’s
careful placement of objects from Up and Toy Story that are strewn amongst the
garbage that Wall-E collects. He calls this irony, because Pixar seems to be acknowledging
that it is also an enabler of consumerism that will lead to heaps of
merchandise in a landfill. However, I don’t believe this was Pixar’s objective
at all. I believe that the memorabilia from those movies, and other historical
time periods such as Sputnik and the Rubik Cube, is placed in the film because
looking back on where we have been is a part of living. And furthermore, it is
not just about our fond memories of history, but the “junk” we buy is proof
that it happened, that we lived and that people before us lived, for those that
come after us.
Wall-E doesn’t just collect Barbie dolls and old
sporks, one of the nest inventions of our time by the way, he collects music
and movies. Wall-E collects the things that define human culture. We’re all
going to go someday, and who’s going to remember that if they don’t find any of
our stuff? Who’s going to remember that Will Smith was the first rapper to win
a Grammy or that Sally Ride was the first woman on the moon if I don’t keep my
Fresh Prince reruns or Nasa T-shirt? We should recycle and take care of our
planet, not forget memories for the sake of adopting this anticapitalistic attitude
against buying stuff. Have you ever opened a woman’s purse or a little boy’s
book bag? All that stuff in there, well that tells you who they are.
Wall-E is a musically inclined type of fella that
appreciates a good velvet box. He has good taste in Christmas lights and likes
classical movies. His personality is not defined by this stuff, but it is his
personality that defines the stuff he collects. Have you ever met an antique
stamp collector? I know a couple people who seem like the stamp collecting type
of people.
No comments:
Post a Comment