rooting for a robot

on the terrifying yet hopeful dystopia that is Wall-E

Estimated read time: 3.5 minutes

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WALL-E opens in the year 2805. The world is covered in trash. Humans have long ago left Earth for life spent in a spaceship, with robots to cater to their every whim and VR headsets strapped to their heads. Meanwhile, back on land, government-issued robots have abandoned their task to clean up the endless sea of garbage to make life inhabitable again.

All except for WALL-E, who is watching Hello Dolly! on repeat (via VCR) while he single-handedly attempts to resuscitate a planet overflowing with the outcome of centuries of overconsumption and corporate greed. WALL-E tinkers in his home with his friend Hal the cockroach, daydreaming about falling in love just like Barbara Streisand, seemingly content in a world he has been left to heal all on his own.

I watched this with Ollie, not realizing the severity of the plot and the darkness that outweighs the joy of seeing two cute robots fall in love. “Where are the people?” he asked, as the camera scanned to see a world filled with mile-high skyscrapers constructed entirely of garbage. “What is wrong with them?” he asked in horror, seeing the humans on the spaceship so glued to their virtual reality sets, they have forgotten how to think on their own.

In one scene, two humans are sitting in chairs next to each other, actively on FaceTime WITH EACH OTHER. They are so wrapped up in their screen addiction, they do not realize the person they are talking to is two feet away. Highlighting the many pitfalls of substituting technology for in-person connection and community, the film emphasizes our need for physical movement and in-person connections, for fostering our very own creative thoughts and ideas, for touching grass and plants and consuming food grown from healthy soil.

Luckily, Wall-E ends on a hopeful note. Together, Wall-E and fellow robot EVE rescue the plant that is the key to restoring life on Earth. In a landscape of moronic humanity and a catastrophic environment, two well-meaning robots with true personalities plant the seed (literally) to help humanity take its first steps back to the land of truth. Without even speaking, these robots captured my heart and helped soften my darkest thoughts.

As I write this, I sit in the United Terminal at Philadelphia Airport. It’s 5:30am. Sure, many people are on their phones, checking the news or email, catching up on texts. But even at dawn break, a multitude of folks here at Gate D3 are very much alive and active. TSA agents are cracking jokes and swapping tales. A Grandma and her grandson (adorned with matching pirate hats) watch in awe as their Auntie Anne’s pretzels arrive on the counter fresh out of the oven. A man is entertaining his toddler daughter with two baby dolls, both of them grinning ear to ear.

With Wall-E on the mind, I can’t help but notice the trash can four feet from me. People walk by in droves, many of them tossing plastic coffee cups and water bottles inside as they head to their respective gates. But then our plane arrives, and with it the eighty people on board. They deplane and enter our gate area, anxiously walking right past me towards baggage claim. Many of them stroll slowly, the air of sleep still draped over them, a blanket that is hard to take off before the sun has risen. But many are excited. They’ve arrived back home, eager to see their families, their beds. Or they are here for adventure, the City of Brotherly Love calling their names. They are in movement. They are thinking for themselves. They are humans, most of whom are operating without the constant assistance of robots.

I am about to board my flight. There is no doubt and no argument that we as a society have a major problem with overconsumption and addiction to screens and virtual realities. But, I will look out my window of the plane and see hundreds of miles of untouched land. I will listen to Barbara Streisand and feel just as much ambition as Wall-E did while he watched Hello Dolly!. The sky is still blue, the grass is still green. Barbara will teach us how to dance and sing and fall in love, and Wall-E will remind us to keep going and to never, ever give up. Put down our phones and tinker in our homes filled with projects galore and the effervescent music from the 60’s. Barbara and Barnaby said it best and WALL-E agrees, so I’ll end this with their voices ringing in my ears, smooth as butter and as hopeful as a sunrise.

“Put on your Sunday clothes, there’s lot’s of world out there
Get out the brillantine and dime cigars
We’re gonna find adventure in the evening air
Girls in white in a perfumed night
Where the lights are bright as the stars”