Tonight I went to see WALL*E. I'd read several blogs and reviews about this movie and everything I'd read was good, so although I didn't know much about it, I shelled out the $8.75.Ummm ... hmmm.
Maybe I didn't get it. I mean, I got it loud and clear. The message couldn't have been more overstated. We are a fat, lazy, wasteful culture trashing our planet. I realize the movie is supposed to be an exaggeration, but even for Hollywood it seemed very overdone.
What I didn't get is why everyone loved this movie so much.
I'm a communications person. I'm definitely a dialogue girl and this movie had very little of that. I'll admit ... it was pretty amazing how much they communicated without anyone talking. I can appreciate that. But I think the dialogue-packed Gilmore Girls is more my style.
Have any of you seen this movie? Maybe you can help me appreciate it. And help me not feel like I wasted nine bucks.
On a more positive pop culture note:
I just recently stumbled across Mika. If you're a Queen fan, you'll probably love this CD. It's like Euro-pop. Very fun. Makes me want to dance.
8 comments:
Hi Becky,
I haven't seen the movie...probably won't till I can rent it from the library.
Anyway, maybe this interesting take from a blog I follow, NunBlog, will help you feel like you got more out of your nine bucks:
http://romans8v29.blogspot.com/2008/07/walle.html
Huh. I'm seeing this over the weekend. It seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it kinda film. In other pop culture news, Mr. Mayer has a live album out, also available in movie form on iTunes. Just thought I'd mention that. :) Happy 4th!
Ooh! I'd love to hear what you thought of the movie after you see it, Fay. And thanks for the Mayer news ... it WILL be a happy 4th now!
Nate, I love that you get your movies at the library. I totally do the same thing.
Woohoo for free movies!!!
Wall E never appealed to me. Something about a robot putting a bra over its eyes just screams Short Circuit Part 6. I'm more the Kung Fu Panda kinda gal.
I'm sorry you didn't like it! I'm one of the ones who drool over this movie.
I think perhaps the love/hate relationship with it lies in its genre: It's science fiction and speculative fiction (and a whole lot of people hate that genre).
It's in the same genre as speculative fiction such as 1984 or Brave New World, which critique society by taking a current cultural trend and extrapolating it 700 years to see where it will plop us if we keep following the same path. So, yes, WALL-E is overdone in that this is the method of speculative fiction. In Brave New World (my favorite book), Huxley illustrates a hedonistic world completely numbed and controlled by free drugs and free sex. Over-the-top? Yes. But that's the way speculative fiction operates.
I thought it was better than some doomsday sci-fi flicks/books, in that it does end hopeful (probably thanks to Disney). What I found very striking is that instead of ending with the typical Dr. Strangelove ending of flying in on a bomb while singing a merry song (which happens in a lot of these types, showing the futility of it all), it begins with a panning scene of the destroyed world and a merry song...then it takes us past that. It's not only social critique, it offers hope.
This can be seen in its portrayal of humans: Humans are portrayed really really well in this movie. Yes, they're fat, but in all human interactions, they show us their humanness. Like WALL-E connecting with the man who falls out of the chair--the man is not portrayed as a mindless idiot, but as a kind, friendly, interested person. In every single case we see human interactions, humans are portrayed as kind, compassionate, helpful, and likeable. So this is just to say that I don't think it's a one-sided "humans are idiots" movie at all.
It is critiquing our lifestyle, but it's also offering hope and not demeaning us.
Amber, I knew you were one that liked it. And actually, your explanation helps ...
Still not my favorite movie, but I think I get it.
Gilmore Girls rock!
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