Crazy about Wall-E

Over a couple bottles of Cherry Lambic the other night, two friends and I had a serious discussion about WALL-E. Every since I saw the 15 second teaser for the film, I've been driving by billboards saying "Waa-AH-lee!" My friend who is a designer loved the beautiful simplicity of Eve; her elegant shape, articulated hands and Japanese inspired eye expressions. She remarked on the fact that Eve is the first woman, the character is shaped like an egg and she puts the plant, a living being, inside of her. Our male friend wondered why Eve was so focused on her directive while Wall-E abandoned his the moment she arrived and never went back to it. We wondered if it was because he had outlived all the other Wall-Es and had seen the futility of his work. Or because he was just a much older robot who realized there were more important things in life than work. Eve, on the other hand, is young and eager to please. She doesn't even know she can defy her directive until the second or third time it threatens to overtake her consciousness.


My dad, a week ago, remarked on the statement it makes about the uselessness of what we do for "work" on this planet and how what's truly meaningful in this world is our interactions with other people, and love. We chatted about the comment it makes on how we've cut ourselves off from those interactions in our roles as consumers of product and entertainment. I couldn't help thinking it probably will take us destroying the planet, 700 years and a couple of robots to finally realize how incredible and beautiful life (other than us) on this planet is. But will we really just be able to come back and start over?

I saw it as a film about a character who has a simple dream, and even in the complete absence of possibility that it will ever come true, continues to dream it. The dream, I venture to guess, is what made him live longer than all the other Wall-Es. It's what makes him special. When an opportunity arrives for him to fulfill his dream, he seizes it and he never lets go. He doesn't look back and never questions his mission. He just, with blind and enduring passion, follows that dream. Eventually, Eve decides that she wants it too and must make her own sacrifice to have it. No matter how you slice it, it's a special film, like so many of the Pixar movies.

I rented the silent film, The General, after my dad suggested that Wall-E was similar to Buster Keaton. I don't really see the resemblance in the character but the story, of a man who continues to pursue something even when the odds are stacked against him, is very like Wall-E. I like the idea, though, that the character of a robot who doesn't speak and doesn't look human, would communicate the way a silent film actor does. My friends and I said that we loved the way that through one word, said in dozens of different ways, Wall-E's emotions are brought to life. After the Lambic, we walked home saying "Eee-EEE-vah?" and "Waa-AH-lee" and giggling like little kids. Then we saw a bus stop with a poster of the movie and took pictures of it. When can you remember seeing a movie that provoked both serious discussion and childlike glee?