The Conflict Between Humans And Technology In The Movie WALL-E

When it comes to depicting the conflict between humans and technology in the movie WALL-E, the filmmaker shows the conflict in numerous ways throughout the film. The essential part of the film is to show what could happen when it comes to the reliance on technology or robots. In the film, we see Earth in the 29th century, it is covered in waste and there is not a single sign of life on it. Humans have neglected to take care of the environment to the point it where they were evacuated and forced to live in Space in these giant ships called Starliners which were created by a company. That same company had then created and left these robots on Earth that would clean up the mess. These robots were made to compact the trash but in the end only one was left working which is the main character WALL-E.

Despite humans being the cause of ruining the environment, they decided to use technology to create robots that would clean up the mess they made. This shows that humans relied on a machine to clean up the mess instead of doing it themselves. Due to this reliance on the robots and the robots being a fail, it has caused an extension to them living in the Starliners rather than Earth. Another example that shows the conflict between humans and technology is when we see how the humans in the movie live in the Starliners. In the Starliners we are introduced to advanced technology that was created. We see robots doing various jobs, holograms, and even chairs that float in the air with a screen to watch things on. These chairs also give the people on the ship the things they need to live so they never have to do it themselves. Due to the technology being so advanced, it allows people to not have to put in any effort in doing things. It had also caused them to become completely incompetent in doing things themselves.

Some may question why this movie was made and why the focus on the environment along with robots and humans. A possibility is that the filmmakers wanted to focus on different themes that all affect one another. The first theme being the environment and what could happen. In the movie we see that the environment is completely ruined. There is not a sign of a single human, animal, or even plant life. All there is, is the waste that was created and left there by humans. It is a warning to the audience that without taking care of the environment properly, we can end up killing forms of life and ruining Earth. The second theme focuses on technology. In the film we see various uses of technology. Technology had taken over everything that was being done and had caused humans to rely on technology. Luckily the filmmaker was able to pull these themes off successfully due to the style of how they made the movie. Instead of it being something that could be depressing or sad, the filmmakers decided to make an animated film and use the perspective of a little robot. With the use of the little robot and making him a little quirky, and the use of a love story with another robot, the filmmakers were able to make the story light-hearted but still project the main themes and concerns. In the lecture, WALL_E and the Human Condition, it is mentioned that ‘WALL-E mediates human development. Provides a bridge between analog and digital (7)’. Due to the bridge between analog and digital in the movie, it allows the audience to relate to the movie more realistically. They are able to connect more with something that they recognize which then helps connect them even more with the movie and the themes.