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| WALL-E (2008) |
While the beginning of WALL-E is a lovely silent film (and would’ve been a fantastic short film), when you brush away the artifice and the adorable little robots, all you have is standard Disney fare: a male protagonist and a female helper, told from his perspective. Why the robots are gendered at all isn’t clear; the movie could’ve been about their friendship–and far more progressive than the heteronormative romance that ensues.
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| WALL-E “dating” EVE |
EVE is sleek and lovely, and is physically able to do things WALL-E cannot, but she’s part of an army of task-oriented robots. The mere push of a button shuts her down, and she lacks the self-protectionist drive that WALL-E exhibits when his power reserve drains. He is, of course, beholden to no one since the humans left Earth; he is autonomous and self-sufficient. EVE, on the other hand, is fully robotic: she’s a badass, complete with gun, and she’s more intelligent and cunning than WALL-E, but she’s been programmed to be that way. She’s an advanced form of technology, but she needs WALL-E to liberate her.
WALL-E, it seems, has developed human qualities on his own. He is also capable of keeping up with a robot approximately 700 years newer (read: younger) than he is–an impressive age gap in any relationship. EVE worries over WALL-E and caters to his physical limitations (he is, after all, an old man–with childlike curiosity), acting as nursemaid in addition to all-around badass. Who says we can’t be everything, ladies? While EVE doesn’t have any of the conventional trappings of femininity, she’s a lovely modern contraption with clean lines, while WALL-E is clunky, schlubby, and falling apart (not to mention he’s a clean rip-off of Short Circuit‘s Johnny 5)–reinforcing the (male) appreciation of a certain kind of female aesthetic, while reminding girls that they should look good and not worry too much about the appearance of their male love-interest.
More contrary opinions about WALL-E–including the troubling way it portrays obesity–on:
If you know of some other good discussions on the film, leave your links in the comments.
These are all valid criticisms of the movie, and all of those things bothered me. However, I loved the fact that Eve saved WALLE’s life at the end. I also loved how the misfit robots (who didn’t function according to their society’s expectations) helped save the day.
I just want to comment on the age gap: When is it ever implied that Eve is “new”? She may have a sleeker design than Wall-E, but I don’t think it’s ever confirmed that she just came off the assembly line.
I mean, we have bulldozers and we have iPods. I think the reasonable assumption to make here is that Eve is almost as old as Wall-E and has also developed a personality of her own (though one that she’s forced to conceal under the watch of the Axiom)