Rhetoric in Wall E

So we've been watching Wall E in class, a movie by Pixar that was released several years ago. A lot of people really like it--I am among them, though I feel like Up and Toy Story beat it. In any case, the message of the film is pretty obvious even from the get go: we are literally destroying the earth to the extent that if we don't leave it, we won't be able to survive. It's message also revolves around technology making everyone fat and lazy, and that technology we glue ourselves to often blinds us from the world (like how John is amazed with Wall E's appearance and even the fact that the ship has a pool).

Firstly, even from a simple narrative standpoint, this movie hits the nail on the head. We get our protagonist, who is just as lost and confused (but eager to learn) as we are, Wall E. He goes through some trials, grows, and enters in a conflict. The beauty of this movie is that the conflict seems so simple: Wall E doesn't want to be alone, and thus wants to make EVA his friend. Or his girlfriend, even. I dunno, robots. Anyway, the simple conflict is put front and center for us, but then there's this other, major conflict that overlaps the entire thing: people returning to earth. In a sense, you have two completely different stories going at the same time that are connected only in that Wall E and EVA interact with both of them in some meaningful way. The best part? The conflict that should apply to us more--saving the earth, etc.--is put in the backseat, and yet that seems to make it even more effective.

So how does Wall E drive it's message across? Simple: by showing you what could be. It's very obvious from the film that we are in the future and that this isn't some fantasy world: this IS Earth, and this COULD and WILL happen. While children may miss that point, the adults in the audience--the parents, that is--will catch it. Even so, children leave that movie remembering what it was about: a dystopian future that was saved by a tiny robot and his flying friend. A future that was saved by preserving plant life. Subconsciously, they make that connection. Or at least they should.

Of course, if the movie was just all "MESSAGE" and no substance, it would still fall flat. This is another reason why the relationship between Wall E and EVA take center stage: it gives us an emotional connection, and thus we want Wall E to "win" as it were. He's just like us, and he's all alone in this huge, desolate world; if you don't want that to happen to someone on earth--or to earth in general--then you better start cleaning up your act now.

Pixar has always been pretty brilliant (except with Cars, which in my opinion is mediocre at best), both with the messages they instill and with the level of entertainment and emotion they can invoke on their audience, all without dialogue. Sure, there's dialogue in the movies, but they never tell you what's really going on. You infer it yourself through cleverly concealed clues.

Next Time: Well, I'm sure I'll think of something.