Weighing in on WALL-E

by Carly Keidel

I recently saw the new Disney movie "WALL-E" after hearing very positive reviews from several friends and A.O. Scott, a film critic with whom I tend to agree. This case was no exception; I think "WALL-E" is a great, powerful piece of entertainment. But this blog post is not about my personal movie taste, but rather, the film's commentary on obesity and society.

"WALL-E" tells the story of a robot whose life's work is to compact trash and clean up planet Earth, which can no longer sustain life due to the severe pollution and vast build-up of material waste caused by human beings. While the robot, named WALL-E, tries to clean up Earth, humans are living in resort spaceships in the great beyond, basking in comfort as machines cater to their every whim. People have been aboard "Executive Starlines" for hundreds of years now, and are accustomed to a life in which they rarely have to lift a finger: they spend 24 hours a day floating on mobile chaise-lounges, while robots zip all around them, cleaning, serving liquid meals and desserts, providing digital entertainment and communication, and disposing of the trash. And oh, the trash. Trash is a big theme in this movie, both as a visual motif (think skyscrapers composed of wall-to-wall compacted material goods) and as the cause of mankind's downfall.

Some critics, such as those from Slate and Gawker, have slammed the film for blaming the Earth's decline on obese people. My understanding of the movie pointed to a different cause and effect relationship: People left Earth because it was filthy and overrun with scraps. This build-up of trash was due to widespread excess and overconsumption of all kinds: big cars, big houses, big closets, big toy chests, and big entertainment systems. Consuming too much and recycling too little on a global scale rendered the planet uninhabitable. People were shuttled into space by a fit and trim spaceship captain. Over the course of 700 years in space, everyone - babies, adults, and even the ship's crew - became obese as the result of technological progress that enables, even directs, people to live ultra-sedentary lifestyles and drink endless supplies of liquid calories all day long.

Another criticism of the film is that obesity is the result of personal laziness. Again, I just don't see it. "WALL-E" promotes the argument that obesity is the result of technological progress making most human activities - such as walking - obsolete. Why scrub the floor when a robot just arrived to take care of it for you? Why stand when you can sit? When technology switches the default behavior from labor-intensive to labor-free, and the majority of people follow the default, does that mean people have become lazy? Or are they merely in sync with the times?

Where WALL-E does warrant criticism for its commentary on obesity is in the film's portrayal of obese people as infantile. There were several moments in the film during which I cringed at the depiction of obese people as helpless, under-stimulated, physically indistinguishable from one another, and wholly dependent upon machines for basic self-care. But even here, I think the film attributes obesity not to personal failing or lack of responsibility, but to the toxic environment that drives overconsumption and under-activity from the earliest stages of life to the end.

Comments

[Robin]

Carly,

I agree with what you said except for that last bit. I think the point was that humanity had become infantile - physically helpless, mentally weak, and physically and culturally homogenized - because people had become so reliant on machines, not because they were obese. Similarly, the show suggests people had become obese due to a sedentary lifestyle, not because the people were infantile. In other words, although humans in the show were both obese and infantile, it was never implied that they were obese *because* they were infantile or vice versa.

[Ang]

But you're still supposed to be disgusted by fat people. That's the point: "Ewwww!"

[Robin]

Ang,

At no point in the movie was I "disgusted" by the human characters. I felt sorry for them.

And if the point was to make us find the human characters revolting, then why did my 5-year-old identify the captain as a "good guy" and why did the entire theater cheer when the captain stood on his own two feet and throttled the robot?

What you're "supposed" to feel after seeing that movie is disgust for our consumerist society, not for the obese. Indeed, I thought the movie made a wonderful case against the relentless marketing that contributes to obesity and overconsumption in general.

[Mara]

Slate's nuanced, Insightful review of Wall-E has drawn alot of controversy from commentators who are keen to preserve obesity as a topic for fun and all manner of hatred. Gawker, on the other hand, doesn't even Try to be fair about things:
"They're [the creators of Wall-E] shaking their heads at the people who pull up to the drive thru in their SUVs and buy six Gordita Supremes and scarf them down, sitting in their idling car on the side of the road...So I don't blame Pixar for depicting a disgraced humanity as lazy blobs. But Pixar isn't saying "look at the fatties," I don't think. They're saying "look at the liquid cupcakes in their hands."
Well, Excuse me, Gawker.com (and those who support this movie), if I express Doubt as to whether people will make that fine distinction - or if it even really matters if they do! This movie's message is: Fat = Greedy, Fat = Overconsummer, Fat = Lazy. What ELSE is NEW, huh??? It's the same old sh*t fat people Always have to deal with! I have a message, too: Wall-E = Oversimplificatin for the purpose of scapegoating.

[Michael]

I am also conflicted about this movie's message about obesity.

I agree that the human characters in the movie are not being blamed personally for their obese status. From the emotional advertising to the infants on the ship to the personal video screens obscuring the existence of opportunities for physical activity, the movie clearly lays out obesity as a consequence (perhaps unintentional if you are a generous observer) of social and environmental engineering (by a corporation). As noted, the heroic humans in the movie, including the captain and the woman who saved the infants, were obese just like the rest of the human characters.

That said, when I was watching the movie, the laughter from the crowd in the theatre at the plight of the humans on the ship did not sound empathetic. Perhaps I am overly sensitive given the Rudd Center's work to combat weight stigma.

If the movie's depiction of an obese future for all of us motivates the public to oppose social engineering that promotes obesity (such as advertising unhealthy food to children), is it worth the risk that obese people in today's society will be stigmatized in the process?

[C. Griffin]

This comment continues a back-and-forth I have been having with Lucy Wang (full disclosure: we're facebook dating). First, Lucy's last reply:

---------------------------
hmmm...I don't agree that the message was "overweight tend to regress to baby-like status." I didn't see the people as baby-like. The people were not like mentally infatalized - they were very active but just addicted to communicating through their computer interface. I thought the critique was that the ease of virtual communication made people more isolated and disconnected from each other and their physical environment. That was the story of the two people who met Wall-E and started talking to real people.

Also, I don't think the message was about individual responsibility for fat. I guess you could interpret the movie as either saying (1) the entire society gets more lazy and irresponsible, so they get more fat, or (2) the entire society is subject to common environmental pressures that makes it easier to get fat. I interpreted the movie as saying the latter, which takes away individual blame.

And, I think it's true, that environmental factors do affect obesity propensities (the Slate article I thought was irresponsible in its treatment of science on this and other points). And we should be paying attention to these environmental / societal / structural factors because these are the only things that we can control. Genetic propensities are almost impossible to change, and individual factors like personal resolve are just beyond the control of government.

Anyway, I thought the movie raised consciousness about the trade-offs that we face. Improving technology, making things faster and easier is certainly progress on one front, but may come with unintentional costs to our quality of life. But I think that is just common sense and not that controversial.

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And my response:

The people portrayed on the Axiom ship were infantile in their facial expressions and renderings not in their overall behavior or mental acuity. I think the artists were walking a fine, but intentional, line between portraying adults but suggesting that they had somewhat regressed to a childlike state. Whether their weight caused it or followed from it is impossible to tell. But the message was pretty clear to me.
I do agree that the movie’s overall message was communal in theme. If an entire society falls prey to a mega-corporation that promotes consumerism above all, then we will have an Earth that can’t sustain our waste and force us to a radically different lifestyle. But, there was something about the lifestyle on the Axiom that suggested people can become overweight through indolence, the kind fostered by virtual communication and virtual food. As I tried to suggest in a previous post, the artists could have portrayed the Axiom adults as average-weight zombies, hooked into their Barcaloungers and communicating via screen. The choice to equate the zombie-like state with continual food intake and weight gain had to be deliberate.

[K]

Also, you forgot about the bone density argument loss, Car.
Director Andrew Stanton explained...
"...the reason we don't send a man out to Mars right now is because if we do, they'll come back with almost no bones because disuse atrophy will kick in with very little gravity and osteoporosis will occur and you will lose a large percentage of your bones, and you'll just be this jello blob... I thought that was a great metaphor for having to grow up again and stand on your own two feet." Hence, kiddo. Hence.

[Margaret Diamond]

I think the above statement by Andrew Stanton about Zero gravity and osteoporosis may not have been obvious to many moviegoers - I had to be reminded of it myself.

[Noa]

Not having seen the movie yet, I can't say, but I doubt the characters were portrayed as people crippled by space station life. Other science fiction movies I have seen included some kind of artificial gravity (magnetic boots, spin creating inertia) that let space station dwellers live with physical movement.

Anyway, I think the director's osteoporosis rationale is a distraction. Even if current science disallows artificial gravity, Wall-E is definitely science fiction. Other science fiction movies already blazed a trail for the director to follow (for example, 2001: A Space Odyssey).

Viewers of this movie seem to see the human beings in Wall-E (who ALL happen to be very fat) in this manner, to quote Robin: "What you're "supposed" to feel after seeing that movie is disgust for our consumerist society, not for the obese."
The fact is, "disgust" is what alot of people feel toward fat people and obesity. As regards Wall-E: No, it's Not their fat you are "supposed" to hate - you just to hate how they/we consume so much - except that the humans in Wall-E also happen to be really fat, every one of them. So, it's Very intertwined and connected, the obesity, the overconsumption and the resulting "disgust". I haven't seen Wall-E yet. I definitely will. I might like it. It might have many great qualities. Also, I do not believe in censorship. However, it's valid to criticize Wall-E as unfairly stirring up fat bias. It oversimplifies things. WHY do people overeat? WHY do we, as a species, overconsume? And WHY should fat people take the hit for all this? It's Not fair.

[Mara]

(above comment, from me).

[Lucy Wang]

I actually thought Wall-E did a good job of humanizing fat people.

Contra fat stereotypes, the fat people in the movie were portrayed as utterly normal. As we see futuristic society through Wall-E's eyes, we recognize the same traits and tendencies in ourself. Morever, the movie specifically shows us that fat people do fall in love, do act heroically under pressure, etc.

Far from inducing disgust, I think Wall-E shows us that fat people are just people.

[Lucy Wang]

Quick follow up -

As to why the fat people are portrayed as de-individualized blobs, I think this is also to de-emphasize the individual and place the focus on the societal influences.

[Mara]

Lucy, you could be right. However, what many normal weight people do not (or truly cannot) factor in is how shameful it is to be fat in this culture. Being fat and watching a movie like Wall-E would be a shaming experience for many people, especially if watched in a public theater (never mind eating popcorn at the same time). There you are, the viewer, and all of a sudden, you are seeing a movie in which a bunch of lazy, gluttunous, overconsuming FAT people are shown. It's not fun, if you have weight problems and issues, and you see this type os movie. It seems to me that a fat person is "Exhibit A" to Alot of people, in terms of all that is wrong with America...and maybe even the world. Obesity is not as simple as the fact that a person "overconsumes" food, although that is a real issue with weight gain. But, again, why this overconsumption? And is it the Only reason for weight gain? It's all too easy to make the assumption that obesity is due to morally negative factors within the fat person's psyche, such as laziness, ignorance, addiction, greed, and so forth. I think movies like Wall-E might promote an overly simplified view of obesity.

[Mara]

Then again, is it Wrong to have anti-heros and outright villans in movies to be made fat, ugly or Old (and sometimes all 3)? Disney cartoons like Ariel show a young, pretty mermaid girl who wears a clam-shell thing any Victoria's Secret model would be proud to don. Ursula, the arch-enemy of sweet, virtuous Ariel, is a creature that is fat and ugly. I guess it's just tradition to hate on fat, old or ugly. Getting back to Michael's point - does any of this help Anyone to eat better? I kind of doubt it...

[Sam]

Mara, who said that any of this is meant to help people eat better? Pixar isn't trying to give a nutrition lesson, but rather, motivate people to consume fewer material goods, recycle more, and have greater respect for the planet.

[Luka]

For obesity epidemic is not to blame people’s life style. The basic science about weight gain/weight loss is based on misconception. That is reason that till today no one was bale to pinpoint the environmental changes that are responsible for epidemic of obesity.

I am sure that in near future the medical and obesity expert will re-educate them self about basic science of weight gain/weight loss.

By the way, already a few decades the obesity effects more and more population. What make thin people to think that they will not in near future be morbid obese? Is it counting calories and/ or energy balance?
Please see on what kind of science is based present scientific explanation about weight gain/weight loss.

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT COUNTING CALORIES AND WEIGHT CONTROL
http://www.biomechanicsandhealth.com/calories.htm

and

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT ENERGY BALANCE AND WEIGHT GAIN-WEIGHT LOSS
http://www.biomechanicsandhealth.com/energybalance.htm

[Deirdre]

I saw Wall-E over the weekend. I thought it was both brilliant and terrifying. But I'm not a movie critic, so this means nothing.

But i did have a different take on the message of Wall-E.

I honestly did not see the connection between obese citizens being to blame for the demise of the planet. I looked at it differently - big corporations that promote bulk. Wholesale warehouses, plastics, big lifestyles, accumulation of 'stuff' - and big everything. That's where we are today, and I found it to be daunting, but quite symbolic.

The human characters on the spaceship became obese over the course of 700 years as the result of technology (yes) - but the irony was to spoof our present cruise ship industry - which promotes gluttony and sedentariness.

I think the message may have come off offensive - that I will agree upon - but there were a lot of keen messages regarding our society and our planet that should be considered.

[Mara]

Deidre, I respect your opinions on this movie. I Do know people who love to go on cruise ships. They diet to "save up" for the extra calories they will eat on the cruise. Whatever one thinks of this strategy, they are not fat. As for buying in bulk, plenty of normal to thin surburbanites do that. I'm sure fat people also go on cruises And shop at big box stores, but not only them. And so: why do ALL the characters have to be fat in this movie? I will know better when I finally do see it - on DVD. (I've heard the director wanted them to be like babies, which is an interesting concept). Still, is it a surprise to anyone that fat people do Not enjoy being compared to infants? From what I hear of this movie, I think Wall-E is putting the "bulk" of overconsumption onto fat people. I think that is very simplistic and judgemental, if true. I've heard of kids with eating disorders watching this movie and getting worse. Is this a good message to send to kids? To encourage them, however subtly, (or Not) that fat people are to blame for the mess the world is in - and Will be in, via this imagined, fantasy creation of spaceships 700 years hence, filled with fat people?
Frankly, I think that ship could be filled with thin people - working out obsessively on their bodies and getting into fights over which is the most perfect lettuce to eat and workout to do. Selfishness and greed can manifest in Many ways, folks.

[Deirdre]

Well... yes... the director probably wanted all the obese sedentary characters on the luxury space aircraft/cruise to be childlike to make this point: Technology is DUMBING DOWN society. I'm pretty sure this point has been made a few times. It really isn't a direct connection between (as you put it) "fat people". You're being too subjective, Mara... and taking a film (which you haven't even seen yet) and making it personal.

I will say, with regards to the target audience, the symbolism definitely will not be received by the average child (or many adults) and that showing obesity and its 'handicaps' (as clearly depicted in the film) does more harm than ever good for the resolve of social prejudice or bias. I would have preferred a PG rating for this reason. I, too, cringed at the sight of a sea of helpless obese characters sliding across the floor of the ship - and hearing laughter in the audience. I will always be sensitive to the social discrimination of overweight and obesity - and hate to think a movie like this could promote the wrong message to the wrong audience (meaning children).

That being said, however, this film was made to try and portray - using symbolism, not prejudice - where we are headed if we keep along the path we're on (a bit extreme, I'll admit). Again, I thought it was effective and scary - sort of a wake up call for humans to start taking back some of the physical activities we've surrendered to technology and to stop buying in to every 'easy out' that comes our way.

What would be the message, then, if all the inhabitants of the space cruise ship were thin or anorectics? It would not send a message as to where we are heading as a society obsessed with bulk and ease.

[Mara]

Deidre, I agree that the message of this movie is probably not that fat people need more mockery and hatred directed their way. Yet, if that is the outcome...
As for technology dumbing us all down, yes, I've heard this argument numerous times. I think an equally valid argument can be made that technology is also smartening us all up, as well. The point is, relatively few things in life are either ALL good or ALL bad, despite heated arguments to the contrary. This movie, for instance, appears to have some good points and is very creative. Yet, criticism of it is also fair. Telling me I'm "subjective" - well, yes, I am. So are you and everyone else here who comments. Subjectivity plays a real (and sometimes quite valid) part in how we All view the world, whether or not this will be admitted (or even acknowledged) by people. No, I haven't seen the movie yet. I can still give some interesting opinions on it - informed by both subjectivity and insight. Of course, when people agree with each other, this accusation of subjectivity rarely seems to occur.;)
Back to the movie: are these viewers laughing AT the fat characters or laughing because technology has made them all so very helpless? I doubt we can know, but it's fair to conclude that the viewers are probably laughing at both the helplessness And the obesity of the characters - that they go hand-and-hand in this movie and in the minds of many people.

[Noah]

I went to see the movie recently with someone important to me who does not read this blog. They are overweight. While watching the film, I cringed during moments that made people with extra weight seem childlike, foolish, or unresourceful. It was embarassing to have recommended the movie.

Thankfully, the person I was with seemed to enjoy the movie, and at the end of it, said, "That was great!"

Whether the director or Pixar should care is their perogative, but it would have been smart of me to think ahead so that I was not shamed by the movie choice.

By the way, "bnl" stood for Buy 'n Large", as in, buy and enlarge. That play on words was a turn-off right there.

[Mat]

Anyone who criticizes this movie for being anti-fat really misunderstood the movie. When you're angry or have a negative perception of something that is all you're going to see. I wonder how many angry viewers failed to understand the concluding message of Wall-E? That is, fat people helped to save and regenerate the world that 'normal weight' society destroyed.

[whizkidforte]

I just saw that movie on the final night aboard the Disney Wonder last summer, and it was really provocative. I had a knack watching this, as good comes from a sad future.