WALL*E: Leftist Propaganda?
July 2, 2008 by Jane Boursaw
I can’t get on board with this one. Some folks are calling Pixar’s WALL*E leftist propaganda, saying it touts the message that humans are bad for the planet. Ok, I admit I left the theater thinking, wow, this is how we could end up if we don’t pay more attention. But let’s just be clear here. It’s a movie! About a little robot!
What do you think? Does WALL*E send the message to our kids that we’re doing serious damage to the planet? Do you agree with this, or are they making too much out of it?
Without seeing the movie, I can’t really judge. But I do think that movies can have a message without being “propaganda.” I doubt the entire purpose of the movie was to preach, like Reefer Madness or something.
This is insane! Wall-E is a fictional story about an eccentric robot who breaks away from his program and experiences life & love in outer space. Why are people so paranoid that the mere mention of a trashed-out Earth makes them cry foul? This movie has a not-so-veiled message, yes: don’t get so caught up with your computer screen and Laz-E-boy that you forget to look out the window once in a while. Don’t get so lazy that you forget how to walk and think for yourself. Liberal propaganda? Get real.
Even if Wall-E was showing little kids what waste producing, ignorant planet destroyers we are, would that really be a bad thing? Besides, can we really call it propaganda? It’s science-fiction after all. It is meant to envision the future and a bleak future, albeit still pretty darn hopeful, is not so outrageous.
Interestingly enough, the leader of the world was the CEO of Buy n Large (Wal-Mart). It’s an interesting metaphor for the world being controlled by commerce. It’s not propaganda, but rather an idea to show people the truth behind pollution and the distribution of power to monopolies.
I have seen it. It’s cute, endearing, beautiful and at times touching story about a self-aware robot. It’s only human to want to influence our fellow humans, for their own good of course. The best way to do that is to stir up the emotional pot and then slip in your real message when they aren’t looking. Call it social engineering, propaganda, mind control, manufacturing consent, whatever, this is a textbook example. It’s not obvious to everyone only because we spend our lives emerced in it.
Like all science-fiction, it explores possibilities.
Like what could possibly happen if we produce while not recycling/reusing/incinerating. Obviously, it would pile up like in the movie.
As for “leftist”, it has so many definitions that I don’t even know what that means, so it’s best left unused.
Propaganda depends on ones intentions, so unless you’re psychic, we’ll probably never know.