BUT, I have to totally agree with Lynn saying that it is hypocritical. After I bought my ticket to the movie, they handed me this little plastic packet for my daughter, similar to something you would get in a happy meal. Inside was a cheap plastic Wall-E watch, and several “collectors” cards. You can’t even set the watch to the right time. More trash. And you can’t tell me that this movie isn’t going to be marketed so that kids don’t want the “stuff” that goes along with it.

Visiting estate sales is always a wake-up call to me, as I am terribly sentimental and tend to keep and save EVERYTHING. Walk around in a true estate sale and look at the collectables and bric-a-brac that were so special to the individual. It is always an impactful moment to me to realize that these treasures are not valued by any of the person’s loved ones and are sold as so much junk. Every time I go home and toss some things, de-cluttering and editing my stuff to a more manageable level. I feel an enourmous weight lifted off of me each time.

Wall-E painted a nightmarish future softened with humor and heart. It managed to avoid being self-righteous or didactic while tackling the lofty and crucial theme of environmental conservation. Even though I feel a twinge of guilt sending trash to the landfill each week, I’d never quite thought about the grand scale of pollution the way this little film presents it.

I’m glad this generation of kids will have Wall-E’s images and message to reflect on as they grow and make decisions that impact the real future of the Earth. Sorry to be corny and ironic, but Wall-E planted a seed. It’s up to us to nurture it and think about the impact of our habits and values.

That said, I had a very different reaction to the movie. It’s a cute movie - who wouldn’t love the story line between Wall-E and Ev-uh - but the message was so heavy-handed that the main thing I took from it was Hollywood, once again, trying to change the world and tell us how to live our lives. I’d swallow this a bit more easily if it weren’t so hypocritical. I wonder how many of the people who worked on the movie abide by the “less stuff is more” philosophy in their personal lives.

Personally I think the freegans make a better social commentary than do the Hollywood and Washington elite attempting to convince us to reduce our carbon footprint while they cool and heat their 20,000 square foot homes. If you’re interested in this, check out the energy use of Al Gore’s home at the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. Freegans understand that all true leadership happens by example, not brute force. http://www.tennesseepolicy.org/main/article.php?article_id=367

But that’s just MHO.

I have since learned that there is a group of obese people that take the people on the space ship as some sort of commentary on America or the evils of obesity. The problem, of course, is that the movie takes pains to show the evolutionary concept of the body changing due to the lack of gravity and muscular straining. Its not obesity for the sake of obesity, its the change due to biology and environment. Micro-evolution is a proven scenario.

There are lost of other great themes in the movie, like our unhealthy consumption of “food,” that Wall-E does a good job of addressing. Great film and thanks for your post!