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Bud Brewster
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 Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 7:12 pm Post subject: Wall-E (2008) |
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I love Pixar's movies!
I like all of them!
Except two. "Up" is one of them. This one is the other.
Nobody wants to read my list of reasons why I didn't care for this very popular movie, so I'll just get a discussion going by stating the biggest reason.
I was a little put off by the idea that the people of Earth ruined the planet with pollution, then they went off in a gorgeous starship and sat around doing nothing until they were all obese.
Not exactly Gene Roddenberry's vision of mankind's future.
I know, I know -- it wasn't meant to be taken seriously. I'm being an old curmudgeon. It's a children's movie meant to entertain adults as well. Lighten up, Bud!
Right?
I guess I get a little crazy when it comes to suggestions about mankind's future. And this movie suggests that mankind will end up both dumb and fat! 
That's not the fate a cockeyed optimist wants to hear . . .
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sat Dec 23, 2017 10:00 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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orzel-w
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| Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2015 12:45 am Post subject: |
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First of all: Lighten up, Bud!
How you could seriously object to such a lighthearted portrayal of future humankind, when that's where we're headed, is beyond me. Your hostile reaction suggests you're in a state of denial.
Second, how could you possibly let that aspect spoil the endearing charms as depicted in the "human" traits of Wall-E and his pet cockroach with its typically "cockroachy" traits? My greatest delight in today's CGI animation works is how close they are able to come to portraying the subtleties of human characteristics (even if the characters aren't supposed to be human) and those of other species as well.
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WayneO
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trekriffic
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Joined: 19 Feb 2015
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| Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2015 10:55 am Post subject: |
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Yeah Bud... lighten up man! It's a kid's movie! 
It's not inevitable that humanity continues on a lazy, downward spiral to oblivion either. Remember how it ends? The spaceliner returns to earth and the obese passengers exit the ship, taking their first tentative steps towards a new and, what we are left to believe is, a better future. So there is a message of hope for humanity there. |
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Bud Brewster
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| Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2015 11:17 am Post subject: |
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| orzel-w wrote: | | How you could seriously object to such a lighthearted portrayal of future humankind, when that's where we're headed, is beyond me. Your hostile reaction suggests you're in a state of denial. |
I'm sure I misread this, Wayne. You seem to be saying I shouldn't object to a lighthearted portrayal of humankind's future as fat, lazy, dimwits because "that's where we're head".
Golly, if "that's where we're headed", it ain't lighthearted, it depressing!
And you said I was "in a state of denial" because I reacted negatively to the idea that we're headed towards that sad fate. What should be feeling? Apathetic acceptance? 
Seriously, though, I didn't feel hostile towards the movie, I just felt deeply disappointed in Pixar. These are the brilliant people who showed us toys that demonstrate heroic behavior, cars that lived in a caring community, and a rat that became a master chef.
Just to give me a better understanding of your own thoughts on this matter, how did "Wall-E" compared to "Ratatouille" and "Toy Story 3" -- in terms of your emotional reaction to the plot and your ability to identify with the characters?
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Last edited by Bud Brewster on Tue Mar 27, 2018 8:21 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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orzel-w
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| Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2015 1:19 pm Post subject: |
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I see you're still having problems with your lighten up assignment, Bud. But as to your question...
| Bud Brewster wrote: | | Just to give me a better understanding of your own thoughts on this matter, how did "Wall-E" compared to "Ratatouille" and "Toy Story 3" -- in terms of your emotional reaction to the plot and your ability to identify with the characters? |
I haven't seen Ratatouille. I got misty over TS3. But I was also upset with Andy for giving his toys away, knowing he would come to regret it as he got older, regardless of the circumstances that made it seem imperative at the moment. (Of course I never owned any toys with secret lives. I think...
But I don't recall offhand if he was giving them away only "temporarily". Anyway, this is an apples/oranges comparison. I don't require all movies to prompt the same emotional reactions or levels of reaction in order to enjoy them to approximately the same degree. It's more like how each movie treats the subject matter within the context of the story.
Now I have to go lighten up.
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WayneO
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Bud Brewster
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| Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2015 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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| orzel-w wrote: | | I was also upset with Andy for giving his toys away, knowing he would come to regret it as he got older, regardless of the circumstances that made it seem imperative at the moment. |
Really? Doesn't that sort of miss the point of the movie? Andy allowed the toys to continue making a child happy, instead of condemning them to become fondly remembered keepsakes from his youth that molder away in his attic.
That's a central element of the film's message -- the toys' urgent need to be owned by a child who adored them and played with them regularly.
Toy Story 2 was all about the tragedy that almost happened with Wody and his partners from "Woody's Round Up" because Al tried to send them to a museum in Japan.
Toy Story 3 showed us that Andy still loved the toys, but he realized that putting them in the attic was selfish of him -- and very bad for the Toys, although he didn't know that.
You'll love "Ratatouille". It's Pixar at its best. 
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Last edited by Bud Brewster on Tue Mar 27, 2018 8:16 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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orzel-w
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| Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2015 3:20 pm Post subject: Re: Wall-E (2008) |
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| Bud Brewster wrote: | | I guess I get a little crazy when it comes to suggestions about mankind's future. And this movie suggests that mankind will end up both dumb and fat! |
You'll also get a little crazy when it comes to a bunch of toys despairing over being put away in a box. And this movie suggests that this is a prime consideration in the disposition of said toys. At the end of the movie, you're happy not only for the little kid who gets the toys, but for the toys themselves.
Are we debating real world prejudices or emotions generated by suspension of disbelief?
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WayneO
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Bud Brewster
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| Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2015 8:38 pm Post subject: Re: Wall-E (2008) |
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| orzel-w wrote: | | Are we debating real world prejudices or emotions generated by suspension of disbelief? |
Don't see how either of those apply here. In fact, I have no idea what "emotions generated by suspension of disbelief" even means. 
But you were just joshin' about being upset that Andy gave his toys away, I'll bet. I gave a long and unnecessary lecture that stated the obvious. Sorry . . . 
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Last edited by Bud Brewster on Tue Mar 27, 2018 8:17 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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orzel-w
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| Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2015 9:39 pm Post subject: Re: Wall-E (2008) |
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| Bud Brewster wrote: | | In fact, I have no idea what "emotions generated by suspension of disbelief" even means. |
That's a reference to your feeling sad because the toys are unhappy. Toys can't be happy or unhappy. You are accepting within the context of the story that they can have emotions by suspending your disbelief (plus a little help from remembering any fantasizing about your own toys as a child).
By the way, you do realize your Wall-E "poster" is for the video game rather than the movie, right? 
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WayneO
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Bud Brewster
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Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2015 10:28 pm Post subject: Re: Wall-E (2008) |
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| orzel-w wrote: | | Bud Brewster wrote: | | In fact, I have no idea what "emotions generated by suspension of disbelief" even means. |
That's a reference to your feeling sad because the toys are unhappy. Toys can't be happy or unhappy. |
Ah, I see what you mean.
And of course, the fact that toys don't feel happy or unhappy isn't really relevant, because all fictional characters -- human or otherwise -- are equally imaginary. The suspension of disbelief that occurs during any movie we watch pertains to our responding emotionally to the fate of the characters as if they're real people or real aliens or real sentient-mobile toys.
Powerful stuff, that suspension of disbelief.
_________________
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Last edited by Bud Brewster on Tue Mar 27, 2018 8:20 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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orzel-w
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| Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 5:06 am Post subject: |
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What bearing do Ratatouille and Toy Story 3 have on a discussion of Wall-E, anyway? They're not even the same genre.
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WayneO
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Andrew Kidd
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Joined: 20 Feb 2016
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| Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2017 9:19 pm Post subject: |
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| I love the first half of the movie; it reminded me of the robot stories of Clifford Simak and Lester Del Rey, and hit the same chords I felt when reading Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains." The second half, alas, came off to me as cliched and predictable. It didn't say anything new that Kornbluth and Pohl had sixty or fifty years earlier. |
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