Wall E: An Analysis

The film “Wall E” depicts our planet as destroyed where the humans left the Earth in order to facilitate the restoration of the planet. The story revolves around one robot whose sole function is to clean the earth. The film implies that it is the last remaining unit of its kind operational on earth but still continues to work. Eventually, the robot meets with another robot who is introduced as “Eve” whose main task is to evaluate the different planets in order to determine those that can sustain life on the planet. The story then moves to outer space where an enormous cruise ship are carrying the humans where we see a very different lifestyle than that we have today. Their lives are characterized by stagnancy due to the nature of entertainment in the ship and their dependence on science and technology for their needs.

 In a way it depicts a kind of utopian society where the needs of the individuals are provided to them even. The ship does not show that the people in this setting suffer from any kind of unhappiness since their lifestyle is based on instant gratification and entertainment. With this in mind, we will analyze the film focusing not on the machines but at the situation of the humans in the ship using the ideas in the books “A Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley and Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman.

The book “A Brave New World” depicts a world based on dependence on a strict case based on genes and indoctrination and a lifestyle that promotes instant pleasures through sex and a drug called soma. The World State is a place that sacrifices new and critical thinking for the peace and harmony that they enjoy as well as their current lifestyles. It is essentially a stagnant place devoid of any new ideas and creativity since it is a world designed that way. No lessons about the past or the present seem to be shown but rather focusing on the existence and maintenance of the present. Those who are deemed to disobey the system and its order is seen to be sanctioned to exile to other areas of the world.

The book of Neil Postman, “Amusing Ourselves to Death” analyzes the society’s entertainment climate and relates it to how it becomes detrimental to the society. It is a book that alerts its readers about the current state of entertainment and how we relate and react to. This book discusses the way that television changes our lives especially in the field of intellectual development and learning. It argues that the existence of television removes the urgency and importance of vital social issues and showcases them in a form of entertainment. Issues are not taken seriously and thus its importance is simplified. Mr. Postman also discusses the relationship of the television with learning where we no longer turn to books and other media for sources of information where we assume that the television will provide us with the information that we really need. The television now acquires another function, that of education. A media whose main function is to entertain becomes a preference for learning. Here Mr. Postman argues that because of this preference, the journey of learning and development has transformed and surrendered itself to the world of entertainment.

An analysis of the Movie “Wall E” and its relation to the two previously discussed books show us that the world in the movie provides us with a utopian vision of the world as well as provides us a glimpse of its possible horrors. Here we see that a culture of unchecked consumerism will eventually lead to the destruction of the planet where we will be forced out of our home planet and eventually rely on the machines to provide us with our needs and entertainment. Here we see that they have created a new society that does not require a planet to sustain it. They also found a way to justify and maintain their way of life without being accountable for their previous degenerative and wasteful actions, They justified their new society based on the idea of entertainment and instant gratification of needs, wants and desires while the machines do all the work to rehabilitate the planet.

This situation is much like the situation of Aldous Huxley’s book especially in the theme of escaping their realities through entertainment and pleasure. Also, we can see certain similarities of the lifestyles in the “Brave New World” and the “Axiom” especially on the way that they maintain the society, essentially through enculturation through reproduction, Sleep Learning (Hypnopaedia) and indoctrination of ideals and cultures. It relates to the book of Postman in terms of the idea of entertainment being the main consideration where important matters are not taken seriously and left to others to deal with. It shows that we prefer not to become accountable for the current state of the society as long as we are enjoying ourselves and becoming entertained.

We see that the culture in the cruise ship is controlled and maintained by the machines, no longer by people. This caused the people to have their minds dulled to the point that they do not even know what other things are available around them as well as the things that are happening around them. Their world became so small and confined only to their preferred sources of entertainment that it seems as though they are no longer aware of the much bigger world around them. The world in the movie shows that they are ruled no longer by logic and reason but are now ruled by their desires. We see that they become confused by new ideas since they were not taught how to think outside of their desired. We also see that their actions are no longer their own and is regulated by the machines where those that are “different” are usually seen as “disruptive” and must be eliminated. Apparently this book seems to be similar to the book of Huxley by showing the differences in the life of the “Savage”, John where his ideas about the state of different aspects of the World State were seen as subversive and are readily dismissed. Postman can be related to the film where he shows that the television as mode of entertainment does not develop intellectual and cognitive facilities since it becomes the information become warped and entertaining. This would also usually means that it has a dulling effect on the mind of its users. Here we see that the film shows that the humans were no longer the masters of their fate but rather slaves to their desires.

Another instance in which the movie relates to both books is in the realization that survival is different from “living”. The books and the movie shows that there is a difference in both especially since they are based on a culture of stagnancy where there is little or no room for self improvement. They are greatly confined to their current situations where their lives revolve around the same routine of entertainment.

Bibliography

Achermann, J. (n.d.). Review of Amusing Ourselves to Death. Retrieved May 6, 2010, from http://www.rogerwaters.org/nowthis.html

BLTC Research. (2008). Aldous Huxley: Brave New World. Retrieved May 6, 2010, from BLTC: http://www.huxley.net/

Bookrags. (n.d.). Brave New World Book Notes Summary by Aldous Huxley: Plot Summary Book Notes Summary. Retrieved May 6, 2010, from Bookrags: http://www.bookrags.com/notes/bnw/SUM.html

Donald L. Fry, V. H. (1986). Review and Criticism. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media , 357-366.

Sparknotes. (n.d.). Sparknotes: Brave New World: Plot Overview. Retrieved May 6, 2010, from Sparknotes: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/bravenew/summary.html