One of the first things that stands out to me in this movie is the fact that society has become a technopoly. When Wall-E and his "girlfriend" enter the spaceship we see that people are bloated and fat from being plugged in and utterly dependent on machines. There whole "society" and existence is dependent on machines. The structure is topsy turvy as the machines define the human's existence so to speak. The people are obese and "comfortable" as they are continuously fed and entertained by technology. They are technically alive but yet they are not functioning the way a human should. They have given up there humanity. These are not people who are interacting with one another. These are not people who are communicating, thinking or even moving. This kind of hits home when we watch it. I think of how we tend to be so plugged in so much of the time that we are not experiencing all the nuances and pleasures of the unique position of being human.
In response to the reading I think that it shows how the decisions on how technology will take its place in society will determine our future. I don't believe that technology is necessarily bad but do we really have to invent every labor saving device just because we can. Maybe as individuals we do need to rethink where and to what extent it belongs in our life.
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I have never seen Wall-E but can relate to how computers and technology encourage our society to withdraw from human interaction in terms of immediate communication. By allowing computers and technology to run our everyday lives we become much more sedentary. This is one of the problems with technology as I see it.
ReplyDeleteI thought of one example regarding this issue. Look at the Wii game console. If you have played it I am sure you know that it can be fun. However, as kids today are more inactive than previous generations, they have used game consoles to incorporate exercise. Wii has a fitness game that can simulate running and other forms of exercise. I do not understand this. Whatever happened to going outside and getting some "real" exercise?
I have seen WALL-E before and I love it! I think it's a great movie and I agree that it does say something about our socity and what can happen to future generations if were not careful. The movie highlights on the dependence of technology and how the "machines" are the one's in charge of the humans. It's a scary concept but true none the less because we are the ones creating the technology.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Anna that because of technology and specifically in the movie, the people were missing out on all of the wonderful experiences of living. Instead they were connected 24/7 to machines and were missing out on so much. I think that the people in WALL-E were in-fact communicating but in a different form. There are scenes where they are on the phone or have a video feed but what was missing is the face to face communication...until of course WALL-E saves the day! =0)
I have not watched the movie Wall-E, but the interactions of the robots sounds like it is a glimpse at what our culture could become if we become too dependent on technology. I think that this shows that if we stop communicating with others face-to-face and only use mediums like the computer and texting, we are setting ourselves us to be somewhat like robots... I think you make some really interesting points about watching how much our society relys on technology and how we use it.
ReplyDeleteI have seen Wall-E before, and I think the point you make about humans becoming like robots is very accurate. I think about all the time I spend glued to a computer or a cell phone – it’s a lot of time! Even though I consider myself an outdoors person, I work inside in a lab where a lot of my work is based around computers, I use my cell phone throughout the day, and I love to use the internet to communicate, check the weather, and waste time. I hope we start to realize how much we have come to depend on technology, and start to wean ourselves from it.
ReplyDeleteYou thoughts on Wall-E are absolutely correct and so insightful in my opinion. When I watched the movie a while back, I thought the future of humans portrayed in it was shocking and disturbingly accurate. It's obviously a political film (most animated movies are in one way or another) but the warning it put out there about where our society/culture will end up if we continue down the path of technological dependence for everyday things as well as entertainment and happiness is an important one everyone should pay close attention to. Wall-E discovers a whole new world outside of his own and meets new robots, including Eve- there's a whole naturally amazing planet outside of the internet/computer. It's beautiful and there for the taking. Do something meaningful with your life that involves something not manmade...because one day you'll wake up and realize you've spent your whole life looking at pictures and videos and descriptions of things instead of forming your own experiences around them.
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