The year is 2805. The human population is living in a cruise spaceship called Axiom. The only ones left on Earth are a Waste Allocation Load Lifter, an adorable robot known by the acronym WALL-E, and a friendly cockroach.
Of all the predictions in storytelling about humans and artificial intelligence coexisting (or not), Pixar’s description in WALL-E seems the closest to what I think tomorrow will look like. They will easy our lives until we forget who’s in charge.
Inaction, escapism, and laziness: these themes have been explored before in other classic sci-fi stories. What differs in Pixar’s version is the tenderness in which the story is told, which brings a sweet hopefulness to this dystopic future.
Let’s discuss the future of Pixar’s WALL-E. This is Sci-fi in Perspective.
It’s a beloved, old-enough movie, but I’ll issue a SPOILER ALERT, just in case.
WALL_E: a summary
The themes I mentioned before are the elements connected to the dystopic background of the story. But WALL-E is more than its setting. It’s a narrative about loneliness and connection.
Human’s easy life, provided by big corporate BuyNLarge, comes with a cost: Earth becomes a wasteland. They at BuyNLarge propose a solution to this problem, taking upon themselves the task of cleaning up the planet. And while they do, humans can enjoy a five-year space cruise aboard the Axiom, comfortably cared for by automated systems. Not a worry in their lives; just waiting to come back home.
Well, BuyNLarge fails. Earth becomes a place where no life can survive.
But they did not inform the humans in Axiom, preferring to leave them with the hope that their problems would be taken care of. Over seven hundred years later, WALL-E and his friend cockroach are the only ones left on Earth, incessantly following his directive to clean up the mess. In its lonely mission, WALL-E develops an admiration of human traditions by watching old movies where people happily dance together and flirt.
One day, a probe lands on Earth and leaves behind another robot, one searching for signs of life. The Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator (EVE) is initially skittish, shooting everything that moves. WALL-E manages to not get shot, and they eventually form a bond—a connection that moves the primary plot.
WALL-E and EVE’s relationship is lovely. But that’s not what I want to talk about today. Let’s focus on the background plot from now on.
Wasting our future
Despite being a family-friendly brand, Pixar doesn’t shy away from exploring somber themes. WALL-E’s longing for connection and heartwarming relationship with EVE effectively make us forget that the movie’s setting is a corporate dystopia at its core.
Society was lured by the comfort offered by BuyNLarge, giving the company a pass to do whatever it takes to make life more convenient. As the company grows, the waste they produce amounts to an irreversible situation: life on Earth becomes unbearable.
When the people at BuyNLarge finally decide to take action against their own mess, it’s too late. And it’s not that they are admitting their wrongdoings; they are living up to the promise of making people’s lives easier.
Pixar’s depiction of the CEO’s moment of “What have I done?” is interesting. He is in despair. It was never BuyNLarge’s intention to ruin life on Earth. It was NOT pure capitalistic evil (greed) that moved them forward. Their sin was to overlook the situation and kid themselves into thinking they were the good guys.
And the people are no less innocent in this turn of events. In fact, the absence of a clear evil villain highlights the population’s role in this scenario. They willingly transferred the responsibility for their own future to a single, supposedly well-intentioned entity. And, let’s be honest, outside of the Pixar Universe, no corporations (nor governments, for that matter) are ever well-intended enough.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Panem et circenses
Despite hitting close to home, the future depicted in WALL-E is a reinterpretation of the old political satire called Bread and Circuses by Roman poet Juvenal (c. 100AC). Yep, it’s an idea that old!
‘Bread and Circuses’ refers to the public approval of an entity (the public services in Satire X by Juvenal, BuyNLarge in WALL_E) not because they are doing an excellent job but by the satisfaction of distraction and diversion.
Eat bread, enjoy the circus, be happy, and forget about your troubles.
It’s a concession to laziness and ignorance that symbolizes the end of society.
Pixar never overtly lays down the implications of BuyNLarge’s actions. The company provided a five-year cruise ship that lasted for over 700 years to entertain the population while making Earth habitable again. Still, surely they could never accommodate the whole population. Who were those who stayed behind? What was their end?
The ending montage made it look like the returning humans could rebuild Earth from scratch, but it would not be that simple. Mass extinction had happened, and there was no going back from it.
Naturally, WALL-E is not the first to use this political satire in a sci-fi setting. This is the whole point of the classic dystopic novel Brave New World. But let’s not spoil another story.
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Pixar’s heartwarming narratives don’t allow for a deep exploration of the heavy themes it tackles. This doesn’t mean the movies are bad or futile. If anything, we all crave hope in a world that’s looking more and more like a dystopia.
What do you think of WALL-E? Does it depict a plausible future? Let me know in the comments.
See you next post,
Ra.
Carla Ra is a scientist by day, sci-fi writer by night.
You can check out her anthology ARTIFICIAL REBELLION here.
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