Wall-E is one of my favorite post apocalyptic films depicting a world in which humanity cared so little for the planet that it made trash bots and decided at the very end to just abandon Earth rather than saving it; leaving behind an entire species of robots, one that even becomes sentient enough to develop its own personality. Just to then play God and abandon it. In most part I highlight the extreme dark nature of Wall-E for a joke, but I’m not wrong. Wall-E depicts a very real future where nothing destroys humanity besides themselves and their own hubris. The lack of care for the very planet that loved and raised them caused a dystopian world. Of course there’s a happy ending at the end of it; the humans come back after living in a paradise for generations as they decide once more to struggle for something they love. It’s a really sweet movie and very beautiful, but also it makes complete sense that people would rather focus on advancing technology than focus on what they have right in front of them. I mean they built first the garbage disposal bots, and then a giant AI ship that would be able to carry people for generations, and then multiple robots such as Eve or the Ship AI that do have distinct personalities and goals that aren’t entirely connected to people. Yet none of that matters in the face of the natural, once they find it after years of being separated. They do use their technology for good in the end, to cultivate Earth back with life and a population. Wall-E is an environmentalist post apocalyptic sort of dystopia and I can appreciate it for that.
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