[Homestead] Wall-E

Gene GeRue genegerue at ruralize.com
Tue Jul 8 06:47:27 EDT 2008


Has anyone seen the new move, Wall-E? What is your reaction?

This is from the blog of Andrew Sullivan:

Rod Dreher sees an Aristotelian conservatism in the new Pixar classic.  
It's a post with all the usual Dreher qualities, and well worth reading:
"Wall-E" says that humans have within themselves the freedom to rebel,  
to overthrow that which dominates and alienates us from our true  
selves, and our own nature. But you have to question the prime  
directive; that is, you have to become conscious of how they way  
you're living is destroying your body and killing your soul, and  
choose to resist.
"Wall-E" contends that real life is hard, real life is struggle, and  
that we live most meaningfully not by avoiding pain and struggle, but  
by engaging it creatively, and sharing that struggle in community. It  
argues that rampant consumerism, technopoly and the exaltation of  
comfort is causing us to weaken our souls and bodies, and sell out our  
birthright of political freedom. Nobody is doing this to us; we're  
doing it to ourselves. It is the endgame of modernity, which began in  
part with the idea that Nature is the enemy to be subdued -- that man  
stands outside of Nature, and has nothing to learn about himself from  
Nature's deep logic.
Like Rod, I keep thinking about the movie. It draws together a lot of  
amorphous feeling right now - the gnawing sense that modernity has  
begun to undermine the natural conditions of its flourishing - and  
focuses it. The two most powerful factors, to my mind, are the  
confluence of destructive technology and religious terrorism and  
climate change with highly unpredictable repercussions. It is hard not  
to feel a Babelian quality about our current moment; and Rod's crunchy  
conservatism speaks to it powerfully.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/


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