Have you ever been haunted by loneliness and abandonment? Do
you have the courage to take in the stress of being left behind and forgotten,
and become the last human on Earth? Do you possess a sense of wonder, to see
the world with an optimistic outlook no matter what kind of an absurd situation
you find yourself in? Would you be surprised if all these serious issues are
explored in an animated feature for kids? 10 years ago, the wonderful animation
studio, Pixar, made a film so thoughtful and heartfelt that not only it attracted
the attention of kids, it also managed to capture the hearts of adult viewers.
That film is my favorite animated feature of all time – Wall-E (2008)!
Wall-E is a one-of-a-kind film. Because while the film
appears to be a kiddy movie, the themes behind that are far more philosophical than
an average cartoon. I have often doubted if Wall E is really a film intended
for kids – because when you watch in a different stage of your life, you will
have a different impression about that. When a kid watches that, he will
certainly be fascinated by the cuteness of the robot and the slapstick moments.
Yet, when an adult watches that, he will more likely be identified with the robot
and feel sympathetic about Wall-E’s situation. While the film touches with more
obvious film like technology and environmental issue, that is also heavily
influenced by two of my idols’ ideas- that of Friedrich Nietzsche and Stanley
Kubrick. To be honest, I find ‘Wall-E’ quite a dark film (the kind of movies I
like), and there is certainly a Kubrickian feel to it – of course because it
was clearly inspired by ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’. The first 40 minutes or so of
the film, which almost contained no dialogues at all, would certainly become a
textbook example of visual storytelling, and I am sure Kubrick would be
impressed if he was still around in 2008. Indeed both films were about very
similar issues and they could be considered as cinematic version of Nietzsche’s
philosophy, and this aspect will be the main theme of the first part of the
2-part article.
When I first watched Wall-E back in 2008, I was almost
brought to tears at the end of the film, which is very rare for me especially
for an animated film (‘Grave of the Fireflies’ is another one). Not only the
emotional impact from the film has moved me, I was also touched by the fact
there were some people who were willing to take this risk and made a film that
would inspire the viewers and led them to self-reflections. In an age full of
films that we did not bear to watch, this Pixar film clearly stood out. The
members in the audience will certainly agree, because many people believe that
Wall-E is one of the best films from Pixar ever, and the film is currently the
highest ranked Pixar film in the IMDB Top 250 List. I am proud of the fact
that, when the later generations come to watch the film of our generations,
they will still view films like ‘Wall E’ in awe.
A brief sketch on the plot. The story takes place in 2805.
Not only it sounds absurd, it is even more so because Earth is basically
uninhabitable, and the mega-corporation has already evacuated all human beings.
What is left behind is loads of garbage and a type of trash compactor robot –
known as Wall-E (Waste Allocation
Load Lifter: Earth-Class). Soon, all the Wall-E robots have stopped functioning, except
one – our protagonist in this story (Wall-E hereafter). Wall-E has developed
sentience, and while confronted by loneliness and loads of mess to clean up, it
still was able to enjoy itself by collecting nostalgic stuff through the
garbage and listened to ‘Hello Dolly’. One day, a spaceship came and sent a
female robot, EVE (Extra-terrestrial
Vegetation Evaluator) to scan around the Earth, in order to locate vegetation
and assess whether Earth is habitable. The two robots met and soon became
friends (kind of similar to getting her number?) After some confusion, Wall-E
found itself clinging onto EVE’s spaceship, which was part of the mothership
known as AXIOM. There, their adventure began. They would not only have to
protect a plant that could lead to human’s recolonization on Earth, they also
had to deal with the intrigue on the mothership, including the computer AUTO
(which was kind of like HAL in 2001, a clear inspiration from Kubrick’s film). Would
Wall E and EVE pick up their courage and save humanity from the dead end?
Before we move onto the more contemplative issues of the film, it is noteworthy to see that the filmmakers have placed a lot of emphasis on the techniques to the film, more than just offering a great story. In fact, like another great animation, Akira (1988), which I will talk about soon, the creators of Wall E have taken a lot of inspirations from real live-action films, because they wanted to enhance the realism of this animated feature. Some of the scenes of the film are reminiscent of the widescreen composition of Panavision films, and the beauty of these scenes can rival any ‘real’ scenes in non-animated films. The lighting, composition, and sound effects possess a quality and seriousness comparable to any great live-action films.
That leads us to the more serious themes of the animated
film. Many viewers are especially impressed by the first half of the film,
because its execution is so original that it not only possesses a visual rigor
comparable to Stanley Kubrick’s greatest work, it also possesses philosophical
contemplations similar to Friedrich Nietzsche’s most iconic teachings. The
beauty of this sequence is in the complete lack of any dialogues or sentimental
scenes – that is pure cinema. No wonder some viewers even compared this film to
some of Charlie Chaplin’s most wonderful silent films, such as ‘City Lights’,
because Wall-E is literally the Chaplin or Buster Keaton of robots. The
sequence is 100% about visual storytelling, and what the creators from Pixar
are so wonderful about is that they can use such a minimalist style to
establish the storyline and personality of Wall-E, and the imaginations behind
that would even impress creative thinkers like Nietzsche. The magic behind the
sequence also delivers an emotional impact to many viewers, because in that
sequence Wall-E is isolated and alone (with a cockroach as a companion and a
video of ‘Hello Dolly’), and that is a situation akin to the scenario found in
Albert Camus’ absurdism. To me, Wall E is not merely a film about garbage
problems and obesity – it is a film about existentialism, the meaning of one’s
existence.
Why do I have to put in so many abstract thinkers’ ideas in
my article, as it will certainly spoil the entertainment value of this great
cartoon? Because if you wonder why Wall E is so popular among mature audience,
the connection is exactly because they understand these underlying messages
from this apparently simple cartoon. While we may not be in an absurd situation
like Wall E, we are more than likely to deal with situations we do not want to
get involved with, that ‘Oh, I have to clean up all the mess alone’ sentiment,
and the bolts of loneliness and depression about our situation. Aren’t all
these ideas covered in Nietzsche, and indeed many inspiring thinkers’ work? Wall-E, though just looked like a cute and
yellow robot, possessed many of the human characters that the audience could
easily identify with. Wall-E could be compared to many iconic figures in
philosophy. He could be like Nietzsche’s Zarathustra, because the robot was
isolated and alone on Earth, and certainly nobody could listen to or appreciate
whatever he did on Earth. The scenario for him was against him because all the
other robots similar to him have stopped functioning, so he could no longer
count on any type of herd effect (from Nietzsche), and he had to bear a cosmic
form of indifference and loneliness, easily seen from Camus’ or Lovecraft’s
work. Regarding Wall E’s duty – trash compaction day after day after day –
viewers could also compare that to the Sisyphean struggle, from Camus’ ‘Myth Of
Sisyphus’. Having to do senseless things no one would care about or place any
importance on, one would question the reason why they had to do this shxt job (like
Tyler Durden in ‘Fight Club’?!), and quite easily felt into a sense of
depression, because the senseless work has to be repeated endlessly and one
would have no self-actualization because they could not meet their potential.
This is not a scenario merely from some one’s pipe dream – for example, many
people indeed stranded in their career development, doing jobs that they had no
interest in other than getting paid. They could just easily fall into an
existential crisis because they did not feel they had met their potential and
failed to find a meaning in their lives. Indeed, Wall-E is the last robot on
Earth, yet, at the same time, an existential hero who inspired many viewers.
Here comes the turning point. One would be surprised that,
given such a nasty and forceful situation, Wall E is not sad in anyway
regarding his existence. In a nutshell, the reason is because Wall E possesses
a character trait that Nietzsche could call that ‘strong’. Wall E was able to
sustain the monumental loneliness, because he could find a different
perspective from his situation and turn it into a positive and optimistic point
of view. This little robot has always got a sense of wonder around his world,
even if it was basically littered with all kinds of junk. To some mindless and
oblivious people, there are undesirable trash that could be disposed of; but to
Wall E, these items raised awe and nostalgia, and he treasured all these items.
Because Wall E could assess his situation in a revolutionary angle, he has the
ability to make a fundamental change to the ways people look at things around
them – exactly an attribute of ‘Nietzschean strong’. Like Sisyphus, Wall E felt
gratified even without any kind of connection, because he knew he has possessed
an optimistic outlook and pursued his own passion and interest in such a lousy
world. He did not fall into the trap of nihilism, and strived to find meanings
for himself. Wall E is the kind of character who does not want to be
categorized by others. Maybe in a corporate point of view, he is a type of
robot with an expertise in trash crushing; yet for this particular Wall E, he
is able to define himself – a curator of old stuff, a music lover, a bit of a
romantic and so on. Anyone should be inspired by Wall E, because only you can
define who you are, not your degree or salary sheets. All the so-called
categorizations are nominal, and they bear not much meanings to know oneself –
say you are an engineer, so what? You can just enjoy art as an amateur
interest. If you understand what your true passions are, you will live a
gratifying existence no matter what kind of situation you find yourself
in.
Wall E may be the last bot on Earth, but it certainly is not
the ‘Last Man’ in the Nietzschean sense. To Nietzsche, the Last Man is the
opposite of the Ubermensch (Over-Man’. While the Over-Man strives for a higher
level of meaning in his life because he feels he has the passion and drive to;
the Last Man is more than happy to say in form of stasis and OK with the
current situation. While Wall E is assigned merely to deal with the trash on
Earth, he has gone much further than that. He is getting more like a Ubermensch
than a mere loner. That is the reason why Strauss’ ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’
has been featured in the film. Not only is that a tribute to ‘2001: A Space
Odyssey’, clearly Wall-E’s trajectory of existence is also very similar to that
of Zarathustra. Wall E is sort of the Adam on this dystopian Earth, he needs an
opportunity to prove himself, and show his potential. That is where our goddess
enters the picture – EVE !
(1/2)
by Ed Law
Film Analysis
