Structural Analysis of WALL-E

Structural Analysis of WALL-E

           

Over the course of over two decades, Disney-Pixar has produced numerous animated films. These films have been very successful in challenging their viewers to examine the world around them. Pixar’s contemporary film, WALL-E, addresses many issues in modern day society such as the over-reliance on technology and the lack of respect for nature. WALL-E takes place in a dystopian future where Earth is uninhabitable for humans. Humans have abandoned the planet, leaving robots behind to clean up their mess. On the spaceship, the humans on a giant spaceship captained by an evil robot where all their basic needs, and more, are met without them leaving their high-tech chairs. Humans are so obese that they cannot walk and machines and robots do everything for them.

The main character WALL-E is a robot whose purpose is to clean up the mess that the humans left on Earth. WALL-E has a fascination with Earth’s history and spends most of his day collecting trinkets with his only friend: a cockroach. When Eve, a high-tech female robot, comes to Earth to check its capability to sustain life she meets WALL-E. He shows Eve the plant that he found on Earth and Eve takes the plant back to the spaceship where all the humans live. WALL-E hitches a ride to the spaceship with Eve and the two go on a crazy adventure, which results in the mutiny of the evil robot and convincing humankind that Earth is again habitable. Andrew Stanton, director/writer of the animated film WALL-E, when explaining the plot said, “This little robot has the desire to understand what living is all about while the people who truly have the gift of being alive have lost it” (Tranter, 38).

Structuralism is a method that humans use to make sense of the world. It is not a definite truth or science and is framed through the differences between cultures. Structuralist theory’s purpose, according to John Fiske, “is to discover how people make sense of the world, not what the world is”, and he goes on to say that structuralism “denies any final or absolute scientific truth” (Fiske, 109).  The structuralist theory is categorized in many ways; binary oppositions are used in order to separate two precise categories that are absolute on each side. A binary opposition defined by John Fiske as, “a system of two related categories that, in its purest form, comprises the universe” (Fiske, 110). Binary oppositions are tools that can be used to analyze characters and messages found within the film. Creating binary oppositions according to Levi-Strauss is “the fundamental, universal sense-making process” (Fiske, 111). The characters or categories that do not fit within the binaries are known as anomalous. Fiske defines such anomalous categories as, “one that does not fit the categories of the binary opposition, but straddles them, dirtying the clarity of their boundaries” (Fiske, 111).

Humanity vs. Technology is a binary opposition that is present in WALL-E.  The binary of humanity is shown in the film as the characters that display human-like traits. Through the context of the film, one can suggest that humanity is shown by WALL-E. The behavior of WALL-E throughout the film shows many instances of human-like qualities. This is prevalent in the scene when WALL-E first looks at Eve. Romantic music begins to play and the pink accent around WALL-E’s vision implies that he feels affectionate towards Eve. WALL-E also shows a human-like quality through his collecting of things from Earth’s history.  All of these human-like qualities reinforce WALL-E’s presence in the humanity binary.

Constructed from evidence within the film, the binary of technology is defined as any characters that function is a controlled environment and lack human-likes qualities. The humans that live on the spaceship resemble the technology binary. Andrew Stanton would agree in the film, “humanity is not even living; nobody is living except for WALL-E” (Tranter, 38).  Although not literal, the meaning of this statement is that the humans living in the artificial space environment are not living natural healthy lives and are functioning like machines.  The environment the humans live in within the film is essentially mass-producing consumers and not individual people. For example, a scene in the film shows children being taught the alphabet using only terms about consumerism. This scene is a prime example of the controlled environment. The lack of human-like traits is shown by the elimination of any need for physical activity on the spaceship. Another scene in the film shows a human fall out of their chair and not being able to get back in it without help from technology.

The binary of humanity vs. technology in the film WALL-E contrasts how the binary opposition would be set up naturally in modern day society. The failure of this unnatural society conveys a message that reliance on technology upsets the balance of nature and is an unhealthy way of life.

The anomalous character that straddles the binary of humanity vs. technology is the captain of the spaceship. When the captain is first introduced the film he is a lifeless blob that lives in a hovering chair just like the rest of the humans. He is so accustomed to the effortless consumerism lifestyle on the spaceship that the captain forgot what it was like to live a natural life. The captain falls into the technology binary because like the other humans aboard the spaceship he mindlessly goes through his daily routine not thinking for himself and lives in a highly controlled environment. A prime example of his mindless routine and controlled environment is displayed in the scene where the captain does his status report of the ship. All the captain does is ask the computer the status of different aspects of the spaceship and the computer answers “unchanged” for all of them. The computer monitors everything on the spaceship by itself. However, when Eve returns to the ship with the plant the captain has a change of heart. He is reminded of Earth and decides that he wants to restore humanity and go back to Earth. The hopes of living a natural life on Earth and beginning to think for himself show human-like qualities that support the captain’s position in the humanity binary.

A huge turning point in the film is when the computer tells the captain that he will survive if he stays on the ship, “he counters with ‘I don’t want to survive. I want to live’” (Tranter, 38). This scene and the corresponding quote are evidence of the first human in the film that makes an effort to return to Earth and try to restore the natural balance of nature. The captain’s prevalence in both binaries identifies him as an anomalous character.

The binary of New technology vs. Old technology supports the idea of simplifying technology in order for it to naturally coexist with nature. In modern day society, technology is becoming more complex and dominant each day. The simplification of technology would lead to an approach that helps avoid human technological reliance.  The less humanity relies on technology the closer it will become to restoring the natural order of the environment. The binary opposition of Humanity vs. Technology sheds light on how over consuming can lead to the loss of human identity. The binary shows the fictional but possible outcome of humanity if consumerism continues to grow rapidly. In an attempt to preserve a naturally healthy way of life humans must be responsible for technology and understand the seriousness of consumerism and the reliance on technology in our everyday lives.

Work Cited

Graham, Ian. "WALL-E's World: animating Badiou's Philosophy."(n.d.): Print.

Tranter, Paul, and Scott Sharpe. "Disney-Pixar to the Rescue: Harnessing Positive Affect for Enhancing Children's Active Mobility." Journal of Transport Geography(n.d.): 34-40. Print.

           

Fiske, John. Introduction to Communication Studies. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge Classics, 2011. Print.