Wall-E

I was surprised that we would be viewing Wall-E in a material culture class thinking back on my initial interpretation of the movie. After seeing Wall-E through the lens of material and media culture articles, the movie was given a new meaning for me. Our most recent readings about technology's effect on our culture and what this may mean for out future seems the most relevant link to Wall-E. The most prominent subject of Wall-E is the overtaking of Buy n' Large. Not only was everything in the "future" sponsored by the big box store, much like our Wal-Marts and Sam's Clubs, but they are even portrayed in a position of power as if they were a governmental power!
Their tools of manipulation link strongly to Baudrillard, Poster, and Jenkins. Using media, in this case personal televisions, Buy n' Large alters the lives of the modern Americans on board.
Try blue, it's the new red" is an announcement being made aboard the ship. The passengers unawareness of life outside of their chairs, "I didn't know there was a pool!" and other comments that lead to the recognition of their fellow passengers further exemplify their absorption into a technology lead life. The Captain of the space ship is an even strong exaggeration of how dependant humans have become on technology. His inability to read a "manual" without "Otto/Auto" is not that far off from where Baudrillard and the others are suggesting we may be with our continued reliance on technology!
Seen through fresh eyes, the allusions in Wall-E are innumerable and all the while paint an eye-opening, somewhat sickening and horrifying, picture of where we may be heading.