Thread by @joshua_r_eyler

#PixarinApril discussion time! Today we're covering WALL-E, one of Pixar's masterpieces. It's their first film that doesn't actually seem to have been made for children but for adults.

When I discuss WALL-E in my classes, there are 3 major areas we explore: the environmental apocalypse, the religious imagery, and the philosophical message about life and living. The 1st two feed into the last. #PixarinApril

The environmental message is pretty clear. Human consumption ran wild & the earth could no longer keep up with the production of waste so people were forced to flee into outer space, leaving only WALL-E units in a futile mission to clean up the planet. #PixarinApril

The scenes of an abandoned earth are as eery as they are prescient. Massive Buy-n-Large stores have taken over everything, and the CEO of BnL is the world leader (!!!!!!!!). Neither of those things leads to good ends for human beings. #PixarinApril

The truly sad part is that nothing changes once humans are on the space crafts. They are still governed by consumption, Buy-n-Large runs their lives, and they never look up from their screens. #PixarinApril

Remember, that WALL-E was made in an era before smart phones, but it somehow predicted that, given the choice, we would rather be immersed in a virtual world than to experience what is in front of us. #PixarinApril

Now for the religious imagery: Andrew Stanton directed this film and he has been very open about his faith and its impact on this film. The use of imagery tied to Judaism and Christianity is intriguing, complex, and underscores the large message of the film. #PixarinApril

First we have a robot named EVE who, with WALL-E's help, identifies a life-giving plant which will help to offer a kind of rebirth on earth for human beings. This is pretty in-your-face in terms of symbolism, but it works for the film. #PixarinApril

Once on board the Axiom, we meet John and Mary (two names laden with Christian significance). They are the first to realize that life is about more than screens and they find meaning in each other. #PixarinApril

They also help WALL-E in the key scene where he sacrifices himself to save the little plant (and, by extension, human beings). One need not have a Ph.D. in literature to see the messiah-like position in which the filmmakers place our beloved robot here. #PixarinApril

But what's the purpose of using this imagery from both the Jewish and the Christian scriptures? This is always the key question for interpreters of stories and films. There has to be a *reason* for it, or it's just gratuitous. #PixarinApril

In this case, the religious imagery woven throughout keeps pointing us toward the idea of rebirth--in this case, the second chance humans will have on earth and the plant that gives them this chance. #PixarinApril

Finally, for me everything in the film comes together with the Captain's brave line: "I don't want to survive; I want to live!" My students & I always read Henry David Thoreau's "Where I Lived and What I Lived For" from Walden before we discuss the end of the film. #PixarinApril

We particularly dive into Thoreau's idea about "living deliberately" and what that means. The Captain is talking about this kind of living--living with intention, living with purpose, taking every experience and getting every drop of meaning out of it that we can. #PixarinApril

Prior to this revelation, nobody on the Axiom had been living deliberately. They've coasted through life, being handed everything they needed, completely absorbed in life as fed to them through their screens. #PixarinApril

Until John and Mary are forced to see the world for the first time, and until the Captain sees the plant, this kind of living seems inevitable. #PixarinApril

But at the end of the film, the people on the Axiom prove that they are the kind of courageous, wonderful beings that WALL-E believes them to be (through his collection of oddities), and they stand up (literally and figuratively) for a new way of living. #PixarinApril

Most of all, and especially at this time, I think it is important to note that this is a film about hope. As long as we are able to find it within ourselves to stand up and face the world, there will always be a little plant guiding our way with hope. #PixarinApril

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

**Remember that video modules are on hold for now, but I hope to get back to them in a few week. #PixarinApril

Oh, one more thing: I want to note that I know of discussions in the Disability Studies community criticizing the film about its portrayal of body weight. #PixarinApril

It's an important conversation to have. The filmmakers themselves have responded that the bodies of the humans on the Axiom are meant to reflect what happens from an evolutionary perspective after centuries without gravity. #PixarinApril

There is a scene in the film that addresses some of this, but it does there is always a difference between intention and effect. #PixarinApril