Christian themes in "Wall-E"

Sorry for the double post - but the Dallas Morning News column was well-done, too - a good synthesis of the discussions here.

Unfortunately my "revolutionary act" of gardening seems to be mostly enriching the bugs ...

Read your comboxes, Rod! I posted that excerpt from the World interview here over a week ago... Was absolutely thrilled to find it!

http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/interviews/andrewstanton.html

Having just seen the film, one thing that struck me is that the film is an artistic refutation of the dominant world view in the secular world, that of philosophical materialism (which leads--the movie implies--to the consumeristic materialism that wrecks the world.)

The robots, first Wall-E and then Eve, learn to transcend their material/mechanistic programming directive in order to long for and then experience love. Then, aboard the Axiom, lead the humans back to love and relationships by knocking them off their easy chairs, and away from their TV/computer screens.

Also, at the end, after Wall-E has given his life to allow the return to earth, Eve transplants a new mother board into him; a new heart and brain. By materialistic calculation this would give him another identity; he would no longer be Wall-E. And indeed at first he just starts to fulfill his mechanistic directive and seems not to know who Eve is. But Eve calls him back by reminding him of their connection of love. He "comes to himself" and is restored by her love, as his love had previously called her to transcend her mechanistic directive to love him.

Clearly this spiritual relationship of love involving their souls is what forms their essential identity, not their merely their material substance, although this is clearly necessary for them to live as well. The Christian doctrine of embodied souls illustrated.

while on the topic of movies - Christians will (and this Buddhist did) find nothing even remotely spiritual in the latest Batman film. Dark and brooding... check. Heath Ledger's Joker being beyond sadistic... check. Unexpected twist at the end... double check. Redemption of the fallen... you'll have to see it for yourself. I suggest waiting until it's in the cheap seats. Better yet, save your money and go see Wall-E (again).

Something that stuck with me about the film was that these humans seemed to have a longing for something; but they knew not what. Yes, they were as "comfortable" as they could be. But there was something about pictures of the Earth that really captured the captain. There was something so right about it. There was something so right about the connection two people had once they realized how disconnected they had been. A longing for something we were designed for. I was wondering if I was reading too much into the symbolism of that. Designed to love. Designed for a new/re-newed earth. We, as the humans in the movie once they got back to the home they were designed for, have a lot of work to do, huh?

Just saw the movie this weekend. I loved that this spiritual message (and challenge to think about the way we live) was coming to us courtesy of Disney, in an environment where we were collectively sitting on our tushes being entertained. Paradoxes.

I couldn't decide whether the use of the Apple boot-up music chord for Wall-E's recharging was affectionate or a sly commentary on Apple's part in the "entertainment-distraction-disconnection" of our techno life. Perhaps both. Anyway, it gave me a good chuckle.

I did not read all of the earlier commentary so apologize if I'm rehashing, but I appreciated that that Wall-E's development beyond his robot paradigm starts with the simple decision to save things he thinks are worth keeping. Having musical theatre somewhat implanted on my psyche, of course I applauded the use of "Hello Dolly!" and the wondrous "they're dancing!" of the infantilized humans.