The apocalyptic qualities of WALL-E

            “Whether one sees in John’s visions the destruction of the whole world or the dark tunnel that propels each of us toward our own death, his final vision suggests that even after the worst we can imagine has happened, we may find the astonishing gift of new life.”

            This quote from Elaine Pagel’s article, “What Revelation Reveals,” points out the hopeful nature of the end of apocalyptic myths. The 2008 animated film, WALL-E, includes an optimistic sentiment throughout the film which expands at the end. WALL-E finds a single sign of life on a seemingly lifeless earth and rescues mankind from its consumer culture and excessive waste. The small plant he finds represents “the astonishing gift of new life” that Pagel mentions in her article, and eventually leads to a bright future for mankind back on earth.

            In his comic, “Apocalypse Left and Right: A Graphic Primer,” Dan Archer quotes end time predictor, Jerry Falwell, as saying, “I believe in the pre-tribunal coming of Christ for all of his church, and yes, I believe Jesus is coming a second time and will be in the future.” Predictions of the end times by present day religious fanatics such as Falwell tend to include this idea of a single person who comes to save all those who are righteous. In WALL-E, WALL-E fills this role. The fate of the planet and its former inhabitants fall upon him. Like the characters that fill this role in other apocalyptic stories, WALL-E is on the fringe and viewed as irrelevant or outdated. Although it is a lighthearted children’s movie, WALL-E, includes many characteristics of apocalyptic tales.

Religion in film: Why?

Throughout our discussions and readings this week, we continually returned to the subtle religious symbolism that films often allude to, and so I ask; How are films and religion interconnected and what motivation do movies have to include religious symbolism? 

Movies are known to incorporate religion within their storyline.  For example, according to Professor Plate, The Matrix has many similarities to Buddhism, and Star Wars shares similarities with several different religions.  Movies can also include actual symbolism as well such as Charlotte’s Web, where the lights in the barn formed a cross. 

The reason I believe that films look to connect with religion is because it makes viewers more attached to the plotlines because they feel more personally connected with the stories being told.  Religion can be very personal for people, so seeing films mirror religious storyline can cause people to associate movie characters with religious figures.   Also, its very convenient for filmmakers to lean on religion to develop stories, as Professor Plate said in his writings, “thousands of years and thousands of cultural locations have provided contemporary filmmakers with a storehouse of grand stories that are endlessly adaptable into the audio-visual medium of film. Because myths are inevitably mashups, directors and screenwriters can cull from stories told through the ages, and often told again in ever new forms.”  Due to many religious stories being so well known and developed, it’s easy for filmmakers to draw upon these stories to redevelop as movies.

So to answer my purposed question, I feel that filmmakers interweave religious symbolism both in the plot line and in the set design and they do so both out of convenience and to allow audience members to feel more personally connected with the story they’re watching. 

 

The Resurrection of the Religious Film

            In Sacred Matters, Laderman discusses the prominence of religious themes and imagery in all kinds of mainstream films. As seen in class, even movies that seem secular often contain some sort of religious or divine imagery, which occur as early as a studio logo during the opening credits. For example, we examined the motif of a pan down from the cosmos to the actual story in Star Wars. While this is an example of a religious image, there are also deeper religious themes throughout the movie. The most obvious seems to be the idea of “The Force”, which is some sort of spiritual power that permeates the universe. Sayings such as “May the force be with you” and the zealous belief that the force will make things right are strikingly similar to the role of God in Judeo-Christian religious stories. The broad idea of the “light side” versus the “dark side” is similar to the battle between good and evil, and more specifically God and the Devil. Even further, the lure of “the power of the dark side” that Darth Vader and the Emperor continually try to push onto Luke Skywalker is reminiscent of the snake in the Garden of Eden. Underlying themes such as these can be seen in countless Hollywood films, including Disney as Laderman discusses. However, currently there is an interesting trend in popularity for openly religious mainstream films.

            Recently, there has been an increase in (blatantly) religious Hollywood movies. For example, in March Darren Aronofsky’s Noah opened number one in the box office and globally was a booming financial success. Future movies such as Exodus (based on the story of Moses), and Mary, Mother of Christ further illustrate this shift from overtly religious films traditionally being independent productions to big budget Hollywood movies. It is interesting to consider why, in the face of rising secularism, religious movies are becoming more mainstream. Is this reactionary to this rising secularism, or are we as a society simply enthralled with traditional religious stories regardless of belief?