Critiquing Consumerism and Representing Traditional Gender Roles: The Exploration of all that is WALL-E

 

Opening Scene of WALL-E

Directed by Andrew Stanton and released in 2008, the film Wall-E depicts a cautionary tale about the dangers of consumerism. The film exposes the devastating effects of consumerism in two main ways: through the degradation of the environment and the portrayal of the movies characters as completely brainwashed. Despite the film's futuristic qualities and commentary on modern consumerism, traditional gender roles are not challenged.  

Effects of Consumerism on the Environment 

Upon the first few opening scenes of WALL-E, viewers are presented with the powerful image of skyscrapers made out of cubed trash. As the film progresses, we actually see WALL-E beginning to build one of these garbage foundations as he places the cubes in a square formation. The symbolism behind these images is the building of a society out of literal garbage. The extreme consumption of products by consumers left Earth in the state of a landfill, completely covered in trash. Instead of building infrastructure out of more traditional materials like metals and wood, they are forced to build with the only thing left in the wake of consumerism, trash.                                                               

Towers made of trash

The buildings of trash are not the only ways viewers can identify the extreme toll consumerism left on the environment. When the caption of the Axion learns the truth behind the Earth's condition, it is revealed that the air on Earth was too toxic for life forms to survive. What viewers can infer from this is the extent to which consumerism must have run rampant for conditions to be so bad. When WALL-E is on Earth, we see the skies full of fog with no sunlight getting through. As industrialization has taught us, the more natural resources we burn to produce materials and fuel vehicles, the smoggier the skies become. For the skies to still be full of fog seven hundred years after the Earth was uninhabited, the influence of consumerism must have run rampant. 

WALL-E himself represents the exact opposite of the consumerism ideals. Instead of constantly obtaining new things and throwing away others, WALL-E repurposes almost everything he finds. He throws away material goods like diamond rings, and instead chooses to keep things he can use, like the box rings come in. It is practices like repurposing, that oppose the ideals of consumerism, that benefits the environment. Had all of civilization carried on this way, Earth would not be left in the state of a landfill. 

Gender Roles Pertaining to this Theme

Emerging from the vestiges of life on Earth, a small green sprout appears. This green sprout, a symbol of life, is key to understanding how traditional gender roles continue to be represented in WALL-E. When Eve stumbles on this green sprout, a hatch opens on her body and she places the plant inside. Eve having life inside her body is a clear representation of motherhood, something associated with traditional female gender roles. Furthering this representation of the traditional female gender role is the state Eve is in after finding the sprout. She completely shuts down as her sole purpose, obtaining a life-form, is complete. This is in complete contrast to WALL-E, who finds the plant mildly interesting but continues to work after its discovery.  

Brainwashed Portrayal of the Film's Characters 

The consequences of consumerism in this dystopian universe are seen not just in the state of the environment, but also in the state of the film's characters. When viewers get a look at what life upon the Axon looks like, it it is clear how consumerism runs the lives of everyone aboard. When the newest trend is wearing blue instead of red, all of the passengers immediately change to follow the trend with no thought what-so-ever. In doing this the passengers are engaging in fast-fashion, a major component of modern consumerism. 

Axon passengers in red

From birth, the people aboard the Axon are taught the ideals of consumerism. We see this in a scene where the children aboard are learning their ABCs. For the letter B they are taught always buy big. This encourages them to not only continue the harmful shopping habits that led to the degradation of Earth in the first place, but to do so in large quantities. 

WALL-E once again serves as a symbol of opposition to this consumerism brainwashing by being completely unbothered by the culture when he boards the Axon. WALL-E shows no interest in following the trends of the time and stays focused on his mission to find Eve. WALL-E not only doesn't give in to consumerism practices, but he actually helps other break from it. He gets two of the passengers off their devices and gets them to engage in the real World. Their break from the consumerism world is represented in their outfits changing from blue to red, symbolizing how they no longer care to mindlessly follow consumer trends. 

Gender Roles Pertaining to this Theme

Once again Eve is placed into the traditional female gender role when it comes to the context of consumerism. When WALL-E needs a repair or spare part, he has the independence of thought to salvage the part himself. While we see Eve do the same at the end of the film, this is only something she engages in after being shown by WALL-E. When Eve gets designated as "defective", she follows the captain's command to get repaired while full-well knowing there was nothing wrong with her. The only time Eve breaks from the consumerism mindset and salvages parts herself is when she was caring for WALL-E. Even in doing so, Eve is still fulfilling the traditional female gender role by playing the part of a care-taker. 

Final Thoughts

While the film WALL-E makes progressive strides in its criticism of modern consumerism, it falls flat when it comes to evolving gender roles. WALL-E and Eve continue to carry out "normal" gender expectations throughout the film. Though WALL-E pronounces Eve's name as "Eva", her real name coincides with that of Eve from the biblical story involving Adam. The story of Adam and Eve and WALL-E and Eve share many parallels as both couples are founders of life/humanity. So no matter how progressive the technology in this dystopian world is, the plot of WALL-E essentially has the start of life on Earth begin with a similar gender dynamic.