I really like the way you tackled the limits of personal accountability. And the hopeful message at the end is beautiful. I believe there’s hope too. Wonderful essay.
@@TheAnthonyMarlowe Another fun fact is that utilizing the most effiecient modern farming methods and ideas could theoretically fit all of the planet's crop growth into an area the size of the USA state of Iowa (just size, not literally that location).
Absolutely ridiculous awful take. The "limits of personal accountability" is absolute bilge and i cant believe im hearing this woman talk about it. No demand, no supply. Obviously corporations are the biggest issue and we need to vote better officials. But what, they're just going to exist in a world where everyone is antivegan and rages at personal accountability? No LISTEN TO THE DAMN LORAX. "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better-it's not." Shirking off personal accountability and telling yourself "all that matters is that i check a box on a ballot" is NOT CARING A WHOLE AWFUL LOT. Caring enough to not partake in activities that destroy the planet, people, and other nonhuman animals is. Educating yourself and others enough to avoid greenwashing and to be informed on carnist and consumerist tactics is. Because when you care enough to do that, that mindset and those actions affect others. They influence friends and family. They move the tides of society. They create those future government officials worldviews. If there aren't 0 waste vegans, there won't be 0 waste vegan officials to vote for, and absolutely nothing will change. Also there are literally no limits of personal accountability. Download a single app or go on reddit or educate yourself on how to track your daily impact as a vegan and see the dramatic effect you have on everything from water usage to animals spared to gas emissions. It is INSANE. Yes even with the majority of the world being nonvegan. If every current vegan in the world became an activist and convinced 100 people to go vegan, the world would be vegan. My number is currently 15 and it only took about 2 years of doing some personally hosted activism events where I didnt even have to do anything except pay people a dollar to watch 5 minutes of Dominion. Fucking chase accountability and if anyone tells you its meaningless, educate yourself enough to be able to confidently tell them why they are wrong.
One of my favourite Disney flicks, WALL.E is just so endearing and innocent, compared to the more pragmatic EVE, and you just root for him to succeed against the corruptive universe he's stranded in.
@@GlamorousTitanic21 that one was wrong, but the thesis about garbage wasn’t. Fun fact: all the garbage on the planet could fit into a hole the size of Rhode Island. This is propaganda, total garbage.
What makes me sad now watching WALL·E as an adult is the fact that as kid I thought that the world would change and try to avoid a future like the one in the movie. But now as I watch as an adult I can see how naive and hopeful I was.
@@underwirez our oceans already have enough trash in them to suffocate wildlife and form roaming islands of garbage. Extreme weather only gets worse year after year while the people in power pretend nothing is changing. We have oil companies that have lied about the environmental impact of their product for decades and even now that it's public knowledge, most world governments aren't doing anything. Countries like America outsource all their problems and look away, just like the people who fled into the cruise ships. Musk wants to build a Mars colony to leave a dying Earth. We are only throwing up more and more space debris as we become more reliant on a worldwide wireless life. Meanwhile app companies are entirely transparent about their attempts to ensure maximum engagement through emotional manipulation so you always focus on their product and give them more money, like with gaming, even if their monetization tactics are directly linked to gambling addictions, nobody is stopping them and companies promote inherently predatory behaviours. Facebook is a great example, they have actual internet monopolies in some countries and nobody can do anything about it. We are watching our planet die while extreme consumerism is left unchecked. This pandemic only stressed this system further and will help accelerate what's already happening. Economic decline and a global hellscape of our own design. Google can run TH-cam at a loss as a free platform because it means other platforms struggle to get a foothold and ensures that TH-cam stays on top of the video sites. Monopolies exist everywhere in the tech industry. We haven't seen a serious trust bust in America since Bell.
@@underwirez You're right, there won't be cruise ships in space and an army of robots cleaning up in our absence. We'll just make the planet so uninhabitable that our species will go extinct.
Absolutely hitting the nail on the head, if profit is the only motivating factor then we will never effectively address climate change. In fact most things, other than consumption, will be next to impossible to meaningfully engage with. Also, this is one of my favorite movies, and a go to if I want to cry.
Bingo. Certain corporations profit from wrecking the economy. Our corrupt campaign finance system allows corporations to legally bribe the government. If one of those two things don't change, we will never fix the environment.
It's easy. Through colonialism but also hard work and innovation western countries have made themselves the most desirable places to live on the planet. You can get anything if you only have money and get it fast too. People have not one but several cars, big houses, expensive hobbies, and go on tropical holidays. So which thing do you want to give up first? Okay, we have a few martyrs for the cause that profess to live a zero-waste lifestyle while dumpster diving but other than that... *crickets chirping* Yeah, exactly. You didn't live and work all these years to use a bus, move to a microscopic apartment, and only travel in your dreams. Frankly, your ancestors literally killed and enslaved for the right to have this comfort. If misery and poverty became your lot in life who knows what you would do. And that's an honest answer. Everything else is just meaningless flapping our mouths with some sad music in the background. But yeah Greta Thunberg's English is soo good and her language soo emotional. I wonder if she moved to a wooden hut already,
One thing that this movie did that was almost too on the nose, but I genuinely love non the less, is how dehumanizing blind consumption is. The people go from Fred Willard to literal cartoons. We physically see them lose their humanity in the timeline of Axiom captains and we also see how hard it is to get that humanity back. They can't just get off their hover chairs and start anew, the human physiology has changed. Likewise the repair of the earth will take more time than any one person's lifetime. The damage doesn't go away because you wake up. There is no easy fix, nor quick, fix, but it has to be done if any actual change is the goal.
Also imagine an all tomorrows-like aftermath: “The remaining human lineage, a surplus of fatty tissues and tapering ideals, found itself on the planet that once cradled its ancestors. But they found the earth lacking, as they found themselves lacking, and so they changed themselves, not only physically, but psychologically as well to be fit to the task of re-colonization of the now almost alien biosphere of their ancestral home. Unfortunately the consequences of this change were, as always, conflict. Conflict with those they shared ideals with but could not agree with otherwise, and those who held no sympathies for their own kind in the end. But for all its loss, mankind had returned home, and while little could be said for the planets decimated ecology, perhaps, they will return their home to what it once was, not a corporate hellscape, but the tundras, valleys, oceans and deserts that the Earth once was.”
Great essay! Corporations will attempt to weasel out of the problem they've created, by shifting the blame, trying manipulation tactics, anything but fixing the problem itself - because that would lose them money.
Corporations have only created the environmental problem by creating stuff that ordinary people want to buy. Let's imagine for a world that all that stuff had instead been made by the state, in a perfect socialist utopia, with no profit motives anywhere - how does that result in any less CO2 being dumped into the atmosphere?
I loved this, especially the part about personal accountability being a sham. There's also a fine line between understanding that we as individuals are not the problem, but not giving into complacency and nihilism. I hope we collectively fight for change. Also WallE is so underrated, I loved hearing your analysis!
This is literally my favourite ever Disney movie. It’s so different from the typical Disney film. As for what the people do for work, I’m kind of assuming that the people on the axiom in the first place were probably the most wealthy members of society, because I doubt they let everyone on for free. So maybe the billionaire class and their descendants are all that’s left which is a grim idea but very likely to happen.
Unlikely, all of mankind boarded ships similar to the Axiom, we only follow that one ship because it's relevant to the plot. Which means all other ships are still in space waiting for the signal to return to earth, but won't receive or respond to it due to the last message from the President of Buy n' Large instructing the Auto-pilot to simply stay in space. They aren't the ultra wealthy, they're just the lucky ones that managed to make it back.
@@mrbigglezworth42 okay i dont if this is dark beceace these people will never return to earth or just iteresting beceace the ships are utopia's anyways
This is why WallE is my most favourite Pixar film. It speaks about the future and the whole capitalism and consumerism concept is just getting started.
I think an important note is that individual action is still completely necessary. We all need to take responsibility for our actions or inactions. We also need to make companies responsible in the same way.
As always, this was a fantastic and concisely thorough discussion of an important topic. I really appreciated the hard work that was clearly put in. The sidenote on Dr. Seuss was surprising and great to see tied in. Thanks for all you do. Keep it up!
@@theopayne2425 sure, but kids can't play with an nft. So really, you have the environmental impact of the nft, plus all the toys they were going to sell anyways.
"It's just a matter of convincing those in charge, or voting in those who get it." Orrrrrrrrrrrrr removing the barriers by replacing it with a system where we decide things for ourselves instead of entrusting a small number of people whose wealth depends on contributions from folks who are highly incentivized to make sure they don't fix the problem.
Wall-E wasn't the first form of media to do the concept of human civilization fleeing Earth in the distant future due to excessive pollution, leaving robots to clean up their mess. That honor goes to Vectorman, a 1995 Sega Genesis game that was Sega's answer to Donkey Kong Country. Vectorman is an Orbot (a robot made of floating orbs) and his job is to dispose of refuse by taking it to the sun. He wasn't alone in that goal, as there were many other Orbots assisting him (hence why Earth looks half-decent in the game). One day, Raster, the master Orbot, accidentally had a working nuclear missile attached to his programming, and became Warhead. He mind-controlled all the Earth's Orbots to do his bidding, wanting revenge on the humans for the state they left Earth in. Vectorman was out of Warhead's range, as he was taking refuse to the sun at the time, and he alone had to take on his former allies and defeat Warhead to save the Earth in time for the humans' return.
I friking cried, dude. This video was recommended to me at a hard time and your hope at the end really hit me. I think hopefulness is the best way to tackle the subject. Ecoanxiety is an easy thing to succumb to and despair will just make people abandon more, but hope makes people want to fight for what they believe in. It’s really hard on a personal level to not spread disfaith and hopelessness, but it is helping no person or cause to do so. Thank you for reminding me and I pray I don’t forget.
I love the analysis here! It has really opened my eyes on the whole climate situation and realise that this is not an easy thing to get rid of over night. Overall it really helps educate people on how and why this is a prevelent issue and what we could do to change for the better. Overall a splendid video, I also hope that there is still a chance to turn things around
i really resonate with the taking the path of least resistance point. most of us are aware of society and the economy's detriments, but changing the way you live to purposefully be harder really isn't the first choice for most. i want to be eco friendly, but am i part of a capitalist society who really enjoys the dopamine rush from buying cheap commodities from amazon? yes. my mom is always complaining about the housing market crisis, but at the same time she is interested in investing in homes. which is essentially adding to the fuel of the crisis. i asked her about her hypocrisy in this once, and she said it was survival. just as you said, you can critique the social norms but sometimes you need to participate in them in order to live an easier life.
I adore WALL-E and I think this is a great analysis of the film. I also fell into the trap of believing the responsibility of "saving the Earth" fell onto me as an individual. Hope to see change in the future. Great work!
Watching WALL-E was the start of me deciding to take an education where sustainable development is at the center. I got my bachelors degree in Energymanagement on the 27-01-2022 and started a Masters degree in Building Energy Design on 01-02-2022. I am not sure that we, as a species, can ever solve the climate crysis but I, as an individual, is doing _all_ that I can to get the tools and cognitive framework to deal with the problem. Still, with all the knowledge that I have obtained on this issue, I am still as scared and nervous for the future, as I was back in the day when I decided that I wanted to at least try and contribute to solving humanities worst ecological crysis. And when people aske me "Are we going to make it?" my answer, after all this time, is still "Well, I don't really know..." and that scares the shit out of me man...
This video was FANTASTIC. I'm surprised it hasn't blown up already, but I'm thankful to have found a video essay with the depth I was searching for for analyzing Wall-E's themes. I'm glad I found this channel :)
Axiom, noun: MATHEMATICS "a statement or proposition on which an abstractly defined structure is based." As my math teacher termed it, "A statement that is accepted without proof."
I cannot thank you enough for creating this video. It is incredibly well-executed and sequenced. In particular, I was in genuine delight to hear you quote (on multiple occasions) The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells and This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein. Those books (and others from Klein’s works) have really stood out to me as authors who genuinely understand that nature of the beast we are against. Your section referring to greenwashing and individual responsibility had me shaking with excitement, anger, and fear. This is because the tie-in with your sources, and how even when/if we “know what to do” or “have the tools necessary” to fix the problems, we are still virtually powerless. WALL-E is my favorite movie of all time, and I am happy I stumbled upon your video, when I dronishly searched “wall e video essay”.
Thank you, I appreciate it! It’s a complicated issue for sure, I think those books are a must-read for anyone trying to understand the problem. One of the things I love about Wall-E is it didn’t try to place blame on ‘the individual’ in its messaging, which seems rare in films that do any kind of social commentary
Great vid about one of my favorite movies of all time! Your upload was timely; my husband and I had a fight the other day over plastic wrap of all things. He's Jordanian and I'm American, and Jordan is definitely suffering from the climate crisis (not to mention the ever-prevalent trash on the side of the road). We generally agree on most things, so I was shocked by his anger after I called him out for using plastic wrap to reheat dinner. His argument was that individual decisions didn't matter in the big scheme of things, so who cares about plastic wrap? I understood his logic, but I still thought his opinion was selfish and short-sighted until I saw your video. Now, I'm re-contextualizing his reaction - he'd just gotten back from his visit home for the first time in years, and he left with a strong conviction to never live there again. We live in Michigan partially because we hope to protect our future children from the climate crisis. My husband is comforted knowing we are surrounded by the Great Lakes. He is a climate migrant, leaving behind thousands of years of family and culture to make a better life for our family here. If you asked him why he left, economic instability and corruption are at the top of the list. But we're talking about a Middle Eastern country, home to the most refugees per capita of any country (except Lebanon, but I bet Jordan is #1 now), with a limited social safety net and rampant income inequity - don't tell me climate change isn't a significant driver of these problems! The real irony here is that Jordan has never had an oil industry, so they can't even fund their own climate change adaptation measures. Jordan is one of the largest recipients of US foreign aid; I have a feeling this is going to cost us a ton of money over the long run. At least oil and gas executives get to tell their shareholders that their stocks broke records in 2021. Not sure what that means for our family in Jordan though.
Thanks for sharing your story! I think you and your husband were both right in your own ways, though it's great that you tried to examine it from his perspective. The argument kind of reminds me of my parents who are a bit too into consumerism, but they grew up poor in the Caribbean, so these different contexts really impact our lifestyle choices. We also left because of economic/political instability, but hurricanes have been ravaging the islands for years now too (and will likely continue). So as you touched on, climate change has/will become intertwined with most societal problems as conditions grow worse, especially in more vulnerable parts of the world
First, I wanna say thanks for sharing ur story! I just have a question- what did u mean about climate change causing wealth inequity & other social issues? I would have thought it’s the other way around.
Sorry for the nitpick, but when citing experts and scientists, it's probably better to cite their papers rather than news articles, since papers are the scientists actually communicating their findings while news articles always have the primary motive of clicks and profit above pushing the truth. Good video otherwise.
You don't think scientists are affected by the profit motive too? They are always on the hook for more funding. (This is not a criticism of scientists, if anything it's a criticism of capitalism that the profit motive affects *everything.)*
Honestly I do believe the Director, it was Pixar in the late 2000s, they didn't do anything short of extraordinary in world building even if it was minor to the plot.
Absolutely shocked and appalled that it was intended as a robot love story rather than a cautionary tale about consumerism. Like WHAT? How can you even come up with such a brilliant woke idea and then make it just a background for ~robots~ out of all things to fall in love? Execs being execs and selling the idea of how bad it is to sell stuff, wow… disappointed but not surprised Thank you for the essay!
one would argue that making it about a love story rather than talking directly about humans poisoning the earth allows the secondary message to be easier to digest, if this movie was solely about how people are ruining earth, much less people would have seen it and even less would consider it one of their favourites. It's important to consider that even if the major point was to tell a love story, it still opens a massive debate.
@@FalloutKlingon Well, I agree that background in general can pull off the main message just fine, you’re right, but as for the robot romance…. I still don’t get it, they’re robots (cries in stupid). I enjoy a ‘what if inanimate objects had feelings’ trope as much as the next man but it just neither makes sense nor appeals to me. Sure Walle is hella cute and Eve is aesthetics goals (for 2008) but honestly… probably a me-problem, but ehh. I would prefer the A-plot to be something else then
i think the buy now pay later thing is basically implying that everyone on the ship was accruing debt to BnL, and that hypothetically when they got back to earth, if BnL had still been a thing, they'd have to pay that off like credit card debt
I hope you'll forgive a side note, not intended to detract from your messages. The name of the corporation in Wall-E "Buy N Large" is clearly derived from the common English phrase "by and large" (sometimes, sadly, mis-rendered as "by enlarge"). Interestingly it's pretty clear that this phrase has only survived in common usage due to its being completely misunderstood. It sounds as if it means something to do with the larger part of things, or something of the kind. The original meaning of the phrase has nothing to do with largeness is the general sense (and, of course, it has nothing to do with buying, or, in the common sense, being 'by' anything). The phrase comes from sailing ships, and their use of the wind. A ship sailing 'large' was basically using its sails to go downwind. A ship sailing by the wind was using its sails to sail across the direction of the wind (as in tacking). So the phrase originally meant "with the wind or across it", or more generally "in one manner of sailing of another". If the phrase were clearly seen to reference modes of operation of a sailing ship, I expect it would have disappeared from common usage by now. It survives because it sounds as if it means something else. Mind you, I still hear people using "hoist by his own petard", and how many people have any idea what that means? (Basically, "blown up by his own bomb".)
I was genuinely told that the human population “didn’t leave earth because of the garbage, but because the earth wasn’t sustainable anymore.” There was somehow no mental connection between garbage literally covering the Earth, and it being unliveable. Wild
Good video but I disagree that we can "vote" for a better future. A precious few politicians actually have our interests in heart and even fewer receive enough public support/are endorsed by ruling parties to even have a chance at making a change. Direct action is the way to make the world a better place, not hope that some guy at the top might get enough votes to do it for you.
I get where you're coming from! Though I will say political activism is the most advocated course of action when it comes to how we can contribute as individuals. Out of curiosity, what does 'direct action' look like to you on a specific level? I'd like to know your thoughts :)
@@QualityCulture I'm a big fan of "dual power" in terms of revolutionary action. Building up community systems (community farms, community defense, tool libraries, food banks, ride sharing, local energy grids etc.) that are more sustainable and reduce reliance on both corporations and government. Of course that's more of a long term solution to our problems. Unfortunately I can't think of many short term solutions that are both effective and legal. Protesting might work but many places are cracking down on even that.
Don't underestimate the power of boycotts and strikes. Organized Boycotts to halt the economy. Strikes to halt all production. Now, the people on top will have to listen, it's simple but difficult to pull off.
Blind consumption is disconnecting, and it's only when people on the Axiom stop their consuming that they are able to connect. Connection also brings meaning to things. WALL-E has all sorts of trinkets and items that have no meaning to him until he connects with EVE. Suddenly the lightbulb, the Rubix cube, the lighter, they all now have new meaning to him. This message seems even more on the nose with how consumption of social media has led to people actually becoming more disconnected from each other over the last decade.
While I am very much concerned with the threat of our ecosystem collapsing, I have a hard time to understand the personal responsebility argument. Sure, the fact that I travel exclusivley via public transport (Living in Europe is amazing) doesn't make a blimp on overall carbon emissions... but me not buying a car is a choice that, in the long run, means losses for the manufacturer. Not much maybe, but while carbon emissions don't concern them a loss in profits is their waking nightmare. Yes, I am aware that cars are a necessity for many people these days and public transport can be really awful. But I see people driving their cars for half a mile to get their groceries and that's a symptom of their thought patterns. It's just easier and nicer and that's that and it makes us into sick creatures like seen in Wall-E. And this thought pattern continues into other parts of our lives. I stopped eating avocados when I learned about the horrible ways in which this industry destroys ecosystems. I stopped buying fast fashion, since same thing and also high quality clothes (not some brand stuff...) will keep much longer and can often be mended. I very reluctantly bought my second smartphone this week, after the first one finally gave out, erving me for five years. It's an unfortunate neccessity that I have to use this device, but I will not do so once per year to bump up my social status. I simply refuse to give them money if I don't have to. I will not buy that chocolate bar since the beans had to travel way too far for my taste and exploitation is rampant in the priduction of luxury goods. This is the bit of power that I have in the sadly capitalist world. This is the only stick I can throw and hope that somehow, if enough others throw theirs at well, the goliath will think about adapting it's course to something that doesn't provoke sticks. Like using less plastics, not shipping wares thrice around the world to get every last possible bit of those sweet profits or maybe even rethink strategies like planned obsolescence. I can use this teeny bit of power and put it into things I want to see flourish. AND I think that this power is greater than my vote. My reasoning is simple - the mindset we consumers employ way to often (it's easy and comfortable/makes me feel good) applies in exactly the same way to our politicians and the CEOs of the world. Here in Europe we started to panic a bit earlier than the US and since then a lot of promises were made. Guess how many were carried out. It's always negotiations and if we are being honest, a lot of shady deals. Politics and economy are not seperate, they feed each other. To rely on politicians is effectivley pushing away the problem for someone else to deal with it. "I can't do anything, besides ticking a box" is something many people feel comfortable with these days, but are you aware how this dampens the urgency we all should feel? So yes, my very reduced lifestyle is not going to change much and I think it wouldn't be viable to everyone... but all of us westerners with our ridiculous consumption could cut back on some of the luxury stuff we indulge in. We really don't need this much stuff. I don't want to sound like Tyler Durden but his premise has something to it: things you own end up owning you. That's why I am very much willing to cut back on tropical fruits, electronic luxuries and so on. This also means I save a ton of money as a side effect and can invest it in things that will hopefully last me longer. Everyone always talks about the companies and how much they are earning and THEY are the problems... but we can't ignore one fact: WE are the ones throwing money at them. They wouldn't have anything, if they didn't sell their shite to us. To use an analogy I always thought fits: we are the first district in the Hunger Games. So yes, we totally have power. Not by believing people, who show us time and time again that they either can't or won't attack the problem properly... but by understanding, that they will do ANYTHING for their sweet money. So let's keep it dangling in front of their noses until they behave better and thus earn it once again. (On a sidenote though, we need nuclear power. And GMOs. I'm serious, being afraid of progress never helped us out. This fear of new tech is essentially what made us burn coal for 200 years ffs... Please just trust the science, NOT environmentalist groups. They don't understand what they are talking about. Sincierly - a Biologist.)
I agree with you, it will also be important to normalize less consumption, it's just that it only makes a difference if a large majority of people are doing the things you described. And it's extremely difficult to convince people to give up even modest comforts (plus it's hard to keep track of things like where your food came from if you're struggling to even get food on the table), which is why these things must be scaled by politics so these industries can be regulated. For example, if people in the US operated more like Europeans (would be nice to have reliable public transport 🙁), we'd cut emissions by a lot. We all do carry a burden of responsibility but I think this needs to be addressed on a larger scale so that people have the opportunity to make better choices. (And agreed, the fear-mongering surrounding GMOs & nuclear isn't helping)
@@QualityCulture That's very true, I get where you are coming from. And it's 100% easier to have my lifestyle over here in the EU with densly knit infrastructure. The US has so many socioeconomic problems, nurished by a messy, dark history... and you are right to say that these people can't really change things. Having read about the issues with food deserts (I think that was the term?) where fresh produce literally can't be bought for miles ... I get that for many people their daily struggle is a fight for survival. The really shouldn't be stressed further with such demands, life can be hard enough without the burden of a global crisis added to it. People who manage to retain some optimism under these circumstances are incredible. But you Americans are brilliant at not giving up. I admire that a lot! I guess I just fear the possibility that people will take this message and use it as an excuse to do nothing at all. On the other hand I guess people who don't want to deal with our situation will always find excuses. Additionally too much pressure makes people go defensive and that's when you lost them for good. Thank you for taking the time to reply! I get now where you were coming from and mostly agree. I guess my own perception is partially influenced by the cultural differences. Keep up your brilliant work, I really enjoy your writing style and presentation. Thank you for sharing it with us!
i agree to almost everything you say, but nuclear power?? "nuclear fear mongering"?? i fail to see how a technology that is not only dangerous to operate, but also creating waste that cannot be stored nor processed safely is the solution to increasing pollution issues. sure, for now it can cut back on carbon emissions by replacing fossil fuel plants, but at the cost of effectively permanently dangerous waste piling on and on, surely contributing to its own form of environmental pollution?
@@ssword123 you dont need to worry about nucler waste. most reactors are using very old technology but modern reactor tech has already fixed the waste problem by converting it into harmless materials during power production
I think the biggest contribution to why the movie aged well isnt just because it fits current global issues, but the fact we as a generation who grew up with this movie became more aware. I dont necessarily believe movies "age' well because it fits current circumstances. I think it its more of the movie critiquing fundemental human hubris that sometimes will always come back regardless of where we are in history.
This is a well done video, but I end up feeling somewhat unconvinced. The points are valid and logically solid, but they all rest on an assumption about democracy that I believe is demonstrably untrue. The crux of this problem is well illustrated in a line near the end: "Public support and technology are already there, it's just a matter of convincing those in power of the urgency, or voting in people who already get it". I believe this is a fundamentally incorrect statement. Capitalism will not end because you voted the right guy into office, it's a wider systemic issue that, I would argue, cannot be solved. It's pretending that politics can be formed to a fundamentally altruistic mold, and "with the right people in power", that things will just fix themselves. I would say that no matter how many "good" people you elect to offices, the fundamental structure of... power, really will thwart them at every turn. Even you pointed this out in your video, with Seuss's slide into a capitalist position as a result of the world around him. How would you intend anyone, including yourself, and more importantly these politicians you want to elect to ever escape this trap of endemic capitalism? Politicians make decisions based on money, content creators make decisions based on money, even I'm making decisions like that right now. How does one "good apple" in some office, somewhere change any of this? Even if you plucked a perfectly angelic character from the lands beyond AND managed to elect them to the most powerful position on the planet, they wouldn't be able to do much of anything without first engaging in the capitalist system around them to gather allies and consolidate power. Even the best human is just a human, and without the ability to collect and exercise power in a liquid format (see: Capitalism), they would only possess the power of their own voice, and nothing more. TLDR: You are suggesting that somehow electing politicians is above the grasp of capitalism. I don't believe that, and I would argue that seeing politics in this way leads to exactly the situation we find ourselves in now: Leaders who appear tepidly progressive in public and ruthlessly conniving literally anywhere else. They're just playing the game, like everyone else. I would be curious to your view on this, however. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you?
I understand where you're coming from and I don't even necessarily disagree with what you're saying. I think through this video I'm searching for answers just as much as anyone, and rather than throwing up my hands and saying "I guess we'll just die then" I wanted to end with a more hopeful/practical mindset, especially because when we're made to feel powerless that's what we become. Though I wasn't suggesting that electing good people will end capitalism or that the problems will fix themselves somehow. On the contrary, these problems will be difficult to address even with outstanding leaders. On a practical level, I just meant politicians' choices need to be more in line with increasing clean energy + decreasing the use of fossil fuels, which I think is possible. It's true politicians aren't above the grasp of capitalism, I wasn't trying to suggest that either haha (I implied the opposite via Klein's excerpt), but social progress has occurred in the last 100 years regardless of that. I can imagine people in the past lamenting that things would never change for the better (and many accepting it as "just the way it is"), but changes did happen through political activism. I don't want to get stuck in the notion that this is the reality that will always exist; this is just one speck in time, so I still want to try to improve things even if it seems impossible in the here and now. And it appears activism is the most relevant way to do that right now. Maybe I'm naive but I guess I'd rather live with defiant hope than give in to paralyzed despair. I hope I've answered your question. And thank you for disagreeing respectfully, I appreciate that!
Thank you ,Wall-e is my favourite pixar film ever. I study animations now in my masters and still write an essay about walle if i have the chance. Thank you for this
An excellent video! WALL-E remains my favorite Pixar film, and we are still speeding headlong into the sort of future it depicts. I do have hope in the (very) long term, but I expect that a better future is centuries away. It seems likely that the many stresses of climate change will ultimately wipe away the civilization that created it. Humanity as a species will survive, but many millions will not make it, and those who make it through will not look fondly on their 21st century ancestors.
IDK elections around the world from 2019 to 2022 have shown that activism and voting don't seem to get the job done, we might need to go for something more direct. Whether that is revolution, or building our own communal structures outside the current power dynamic.
This is such a distraction. Stopping capitalism has been a problem for about 150 years, while stopping climate change has only been a problem for about 40 years, and despite that we have made quite a lot of progress on the latter and essentially none on the former. Trying to rebuild society from the ground up as a way of stopping climate change is basically saying "Oh this problem is too hard to solve, so I'm going to put all my efforts in solving this even harder, maybe impossible, problem instead."
@@alexpotts6520 But the current society encourages some behaviours which are extremely damaging to the cause of stopping climate change. The progress we have made is FAR too slow because every step of the way Megacorporations are fighting us..
@@000Dragon50000 Okay, let's say you get your way and every single one of those megacorporations gets taken over by the state, which goes on producing the same stuff but without making any profit. Does that, by itself, do *anything* to reduce carbon emissions? If anything, it would enable us to consume a little more, since now we're not paying an effective "tax" to the shareholders of the companies we buy stuff from... the enivornment quite frankly doesn't give a shit about the economic structure under which fossil fuels are burnt, those emissions count exactly the same regardless.
The fun thing about the continued decline of the environment is how cartoons like the original Lorax and Wall-E, which received criticism when they came out for being preachy and too on the nose about environmentalism, only become more justified over time as our planet continues to deteriorate and get hotter. Isn't that fun?
this needs more views to get more or these ideas out there. in such a fact that only someone in power can do something then getting as many people to see as many side of the climate crisis it could take just one person to be touched and do what's right.
When I saw this video I clicked immediately! I love Wall-e and am also an environmental studies major so this was an incredibly educational and fun video to watch. Thank you for all the time and research you put into your videos! :)
Profit isn’t the only motivating factor though, sustainability and reliability are equally important in a “capitalist” system. I love the movie but honestly it’s one of the most far fetched movies in the Disney canon. Also “free market capitalism” has raised more people out of poverty then any other economic system ever tried. It’s improved the lifespan and standard of living of humans on this planet better then any other system ever implemented.
When will Wall-E 2 be released? At the beginning of the film, we were told that more ships were sent into space. But we are only told what happened to one of the ships.
Something that's worrying with Net Zero goals is that it only focuses on lowering carbon emissions, but has nothing on oil or coal consumption. In the event of an apocalypse that leads to civilization reverting to pre-industrial levels, a supply of coal and oil will be needed to jumpstart it. That's why even if climate change wasn't an issue we'd still have to transition so that we have an emergency save. We burning the backup power without making the main stuff.
my only critique of this movie is the fact that all the people got fatter the more dystopian things got, and then got thinner when things got better in the credits. i wish people could stop acting like fat people are symbols of overconsuption, laziness, and capitalism, it's such a bad and harmful take, it wouldnt hurt to take that out
It’s easy to feel powerless, but never forget you vote with your money! If you don’t like the way a company operates, don’t buy their stuff. We need to be educated consumers!
I really liked the construction and plot story of WALL-E, this movie is very much a piece of artwork that no one understood; the few people who did understand began looking for better greener solutions (without going eco-crazy or greenwashing). I have been once or twice to Disney, the second time me and my cousins and my brother - we were kicked out because our annual pass was not available (not paid for). Very long story cut short - anyways after arguing with the security and the managers, we waited inside "Disney cells" and before we left we took the wrong turn down there and ended up looking at five large dumpsters, most of them we could see had edible foods, toys still in their original packages, plastic umbrellas, among other gross things. Then the security guards stood in front of my brother and told us to leave (obviously they did not want to call in the police) because Disney doesn't want to taint "The Most Magical Place on Earth" with lawsuits, from previous years from deaths, employee accidents, underpaid labour among other things. Apart from Disney's history of washing their faces with sainthood and still managing to allow this movie to be created and marketed it only shows how ironic their actions have been for many decades. *I love the fact that Pixar execs and animators created WALL-E* Disney, Amazon, Costco, among other capitalists, will never change their ways, it is up to us the consumers how we change our behaviour and vote for the right politicians to create clean-energy bills. I have to agree that with the right leaders at the helm, they can guide or at least try to enforce better ecological and renewable solutions. We have many smart men and women in universities. The colleges can create think-tanks and clubs "how to reimagine this..." and scientists who can create or think outside the box. Thank you!
Idk, capitalists will sell anything to make money, up to and including selling anti-capitalist messages. (Compare the prices of a plain t-shirt, and that t-shirt with Che Guevara's face on it.)
I finally saw WALLE. It was good. How to Train Your Dragon was the best of the western animations. UP is Pixar's best movie. Nonetheless, I am amazed that WALLE aged so well. I like that artistic idea of putting a few real people in an animation (Typically it is the the way around)
I really like the way you tackled the limits of personal accountability. And the hopeful message at the end is beautiful. I believe there’s hope too. Wonderful essay.
Fun fact: all the garbage on the planet could fit into a hole the size of Rhode Island. This is propaganda, total garbage.
@@TheAnthonyMarlowe garbage take
@@TheAnthonyMarlowe Another fun fact is that utilizing the most effiecient modern farming methods and ideas could theoretically fit all of the planet's crop growth into an area the size of the USA state of Iowa (just size, not literally that location).
Absolutely ridiculous awful take. The "limits of personal accountability" is absolute bilge and i cant believe im hearing this woman talk about it.
No demand, no supply. Obviously corporations are the biggest issue and we need to vote better officials. But what, they're just going to exist in a world where everyone is antivegan and rages at personal accountability? No
LISTEN TO THE DAMN LORAX.
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better-it's not."
Shirking off personal accountability and telling yourself "all that matters is that i check a box on a ballot" is NOT CARING A WHOLE AWFUL LOT.
Caring enough to not partake in activities that destroy the planet, people, and other nonhuman animals is. Educating yourself and others enough to avoid greenwashing and to be informed on carnist and consumerist tactics is. Because when you care enough to do that, that mindset and those actions affect others. They influence friends and family. They move the tides of society. They create those future government officials worldviews.
If there aren't 0 waste vegans, there won't be 0 waste vegan officials to vote for, and absolutely nothing will change.
Also there are literally no limits of personal accountability. Download a single app or go on reddit or educate yourself on how to track your daily impact as a vegan and see the dramatic effect you have on everything from water usage to animals spared to gas emissions. It is INSANE. Yes even with the majority of the world being nonvegan.
If every current vegan in the world became an activist and convinced 100 people to go vegan, the world would be vegan. My number is currently 15 and it only took about 2 years of doing some personally hosted activism events where I didnt even have to do anything except pay people a dollar to watch 5 minutes of Dominion. Fucking chase accountability and if anyone tells you its meaningless, educate yourself enough to be able to confidently tell them why they are wrong.
One of my favourite Disney flicks, WALL.E is just so endearing and innocent, compared to the more pragmatic EVE, and you just root for him to succeed against the corruptive universe he's stranded in.
technically it's Pixar, Disney just slapped a brand name on it
Go watch The Film Theorist’s video on the dark truth of WALL•E and it’s cannibal connection.
Fun fact: all the garbage on the planet could fit into a hole the size of Rhode Island. This is propaganda, total garbage.
@@GlamorousTitanic21 that one was wrong, but the thesis about garbage wasn’t.
Fun fact: all the garbage on the planet could fit into a hole the size of Rhode Island. This is propaganda, total garbage.
i think the criterion recently made a remaster of it like its original silent film inspiration
What makes me sad now watching WALL·E as an adult is the fact that as kid I thought that the world would change and try to avoid a future like the one in the movie. But now as I watch as an adult I can see how naive and hopeful I was.
It's exactly how I felt while watching it a few months ago :"")
i highly doubt that our future would end up like wall-e's, or anything remotely like it, especially the cruise ship in space bit.
@@underwirez our oceans already have enough trash in them to suffocate wildlife and form roaming islands of garbage. Extreme weather only gets worse year after year while the people in power pretend nothing is changing. We have oil companies that have lied about the environmental impact of their product for decades and even now that it's public knowledge, most world governments aren't doing anything. Countries like America outsource all their problems and look away, just like the people who fled into the cruise ships. Musk wants to build a Mars colony to leave a dying Earth. We are only throwing up more and more space debris as we become more reliant on a worldwide wireless life. Meanwhile app companies are entirely transparent about their attempts to ensure maximum engagement through emotional manipulation so you always focus on their product and give them more money, like with gaming, even if their monetization tactics are directly linked to gambling addictions, nobody is stopping them and companies promote inherently predatory behaviours. Facebook is a great example, they have actual internet monopolies in some countries and nobody can do anything about it.
We are watching our planet die while extreme consumerism is left unchecked. This pandemic only stressed this system further and will help accelerate what's already happening. Economic decline and a global hellscape of our own design.
Google can run TH-cam at a loss as a free platform because it means other platforms struggle to get a foothold and ensures that TH-cam stays on top of the video sites. Monopolies exist everywhere in the tech industry. We haven't seen a serious trust bust in America since Bell.
@@JimJamTheAdmin truth
@@underwirez You're right, there won't be cruise ships in space and an army of robots cleaning up in our absence.
We'll just make the planet so uninhabitable that our species will go extinct.
Absolutely hitting the nail on the head, if profit is the only motivating factor then we will never effectively address climate change. In fact most things, other than consumption, will be next to impossible to meaningfully engage with. Also, this is one of my favorite movies, and a go to if I want to cry.
@@rikvis wow I've never spotted one of you in the wild, such a rare find
Bingo.
Certain corporations profit from wrecking the economy.
Our corrupt campaign finance system allows corporations to legally bribe the government.
If one of those two things don't change, we will never fix the environment.
@@tofu_golem we can't fix the environment, environment fixes itself and adapts to it, the only thing we can actually do is cease consumerism
You can’t make profit when you’re a corpse
It's easy. Through colonialism but also hard work and innovation western countries have made themselves the most desirable places to live on the planet. You can get anything if you only have money and get it fast too. People have not one but several cars, big houses, expensive hobbies, and go on tropical holidays. So which thing do you want to give up first? Okay, we have a few martyrs for the cause that profess to live a zero-waste lifestyle while dumpster diving but other than that... *crickets chirping* Yeah, exactly. You didn't live and work all these years to use a bus, move to a microscopic apartment, and only travel in your dreams. Frankly, your ancestors literally killed and enslaved for the right to have this comfort. If misery and poverty became your lot in life who knows what you would do. And that's an honest answer. Everything else is just meaningless flapping our mouths with some sad music in the background. But yeah Greta Thunberg's English is soo good and her language soo emotional. I wonder if she moved to a wooden hut already,
One thing that this movie did that was almost too on the nose, but I genuinely love non the less, is how dehumanizing blind consumption is.
The people go from Fred Willard to literal cartoons. We physically see them lose their humanity in the timeline of Axiom captains and we also see how hard it is to get that humanity back. They can't just get off their hover chairs and start anew, the human physiology has changed. Likewise the repair of the earth will take more time than any one person's lifetime. The damage doesn't go away because you wake up.
There is no easy fix, nor quick, fix, but it has to be done if any actual change is the goal.
Also imagine an all tomorrows-like aftermath:
“The remaining human lineage, a surplus of fatty tissues and tapering ideals, found itself on the planet that once cradled its ancestors. But they found the earth lacking, as they found themselves lacking, and so they changed themselves, not only physically, but psychologically as well to be fit to the task of re-colonization of the now almost alien biosphere of their ancestral home. Unfortunately the consequences of this change were, as always, conflict. Conflict with those they shared ideals with but could not agree with otherwise, and those who held no sympathies for their own kind in the end. But for all its loss, mankind had returned home, and while little could be said for the planets decimated ecology, perhaps, they will return their home to what it once was, not a corporate hellscape, but the tundras, valleys, oceans and deserts that the Earth once was.”
To be fair though they didn’t change because of blind consumption, they adapted to a new environment possible with lower gravity.
@@UCannotDefeatMyShmeat wall-e live action wall-e live action
Great essay!
Corporations will attempt to weasel out of the problem they've created, by shifting the blame, trying manipulation tactics, anything but fixing the problem itself - because that would lose them money.
@@rikvis hahaha... real funny, dude
Corporations have only created the environmental problem by creating stuff that ordinary people want to buy. Let's imagine for a world that all that stuff had instead been made by the state, in a perfect socialist utopia, with no profit motives anywhere - how does that result in any less CO2 being dumped into the atmosphere?
I loved this, especially the part about personal accountability being a sham. There's also a fine line between understanding that we as individuals are not the problem, but not giving into complacency and nihilism. I hope we collectively fight for change. Also WallE is so underrated, I loved hearing your analysis!
This is literally my favourite ever Disney movie. It’s so different from the typical Disney film.
As for what the people do for work, I’m kind of assuming that the people on the axiom in the first place were probably the most wealthy members of society, because I doubt they let everyone on for free. So maybe the billionaire class and their descendants are all that’s left which is a grim idea but very likely to happen.
That's a clever theory, seems like that's what would happen in real life (reminds me of the film Elysium)
Millionaires need people to do their stuff for them
@@ninamartin1084 Hence, automation of all physical labor.
Unlikely, all of mankind boarded ships similar to the Axiom, we only follow that one ship because it's relevant to the plot. Which means all other ships are still in space waiting for the signal to return to earth, but won't receive or respond to it due to the last message from the President of Buy n' Large instructing the Auto-pilot to simply stay in space.
They aren't the ultra wealthy, they're just the lucky ones that managed to make it back.
@@mrbigglezworth42 okay i dont if this is dark beceace these people will never return to earth or just iteresting beceace the ships are utopia's anyways
To be honest Wall-E is probably my favorite Pixar film, able to tell a good story with so little dialogue in addition to it's gorgeous visuals.
This is why WallE is my most favourite Pixar film. It speaks about the future and the whole capitalism and consumerism concept is just getting started.
This film definitely won a Golden Globe Award/Academy Award Oscar for Best Animated Feature and became a part of the National Film Registry!!
I think an important note is that individual action is still completely necessary. We all need to take responsibility for our actions or inactions. We also need to make companies responsible in the same way.
Exactly. Too often people use this as a cop out. Individual actions still matter *and* they can influence markets.
As always, this was a fantastic and concisely thorough discussion of an important topic. I really appreciated the hard work that was clearly put in. The sidenote on Dr. Seuss was surprising and great to see tied in. Thanks for all you do. Keep it up!
Much appreciated! 😊
Just so folks know, Disney made an NFT of Wall-E.
I mentioned it briefly, pretty shameless of them smh
@@QualityCulture oh sorry, didn’t finish it yet
@@QualityCulture the disney wall e nft was actually environmental friendly. And had less impact on environment then physical toys.
@@theopayne2425 sure, but kids can't play with an nft. So really, you have the environmental impact of the nft, plus all the toys they were going to sell anyways.
That will never not be funny to me
"It's just a matter of convincing those in charge, or voting in those who get it." Orrrrrrrrrrrrr removing the barriers by replacing it with a system where we decide things for ourselves instead of entrusting a small number of people whose wealth depends on contributions from folks who are highly incentivized to make sure they don't fix the problem.
Such an America-centric view. In most of the civilised world this just isn't really a problem.
This entire piece is so well researched, crafted, and delivered! Thank you for your work.
Thank you!
YES FINALLY SOMEONE WHO SEES THE VALUE OF WALL-EEEEEEE
Wall-E wasn't the first form of media to do the concept of human civilization fleeing Earth in the distant future due to excessive pollution, leaving robots to clean up their mess. That honor goes to Vectorman, a 1995 Sega Genesis game that was Sega's answer to Donkey Kong Country. Vectorman is an Orbot (a robot made of floating orbs) and his job is to dispose of refuse by taking it to the sun. He wasn't alone in that goal, as there were many other Orbots assisting him (hence why Earth looks half-decent in the game). One day, Raster, the master Orbot, accidentally had a working nuclear missile attached to his programming, and became Warhead. He mind-controlled all the Earth's Orbots to do his bidding, wanting revenge on the humans for the state they left Earth in. Vectorman was out of Warhead's range, as he was taking refuse to the sun at the time, and he alone had to take on his former allies and defeat Warhead to save the Earth in time for the humans' return.
I friking cried, dude. This video was recommended to me at a hard time and your hope at the end really hit me. I think hopefulness is the best way to tackle the subject. Ecoanxiety is an easy thing to succumb to and despair will just make people abandon more, but hope makes people want to fight for what they believe in. It’s really hard on a personal level to not spread disfaith and hopelessness, but it is helping no person or cause to do so. Thank you for reminding me and I pray I don’t forget.
I love the analysis here! It has really opened my eyes on the whole climate situation and realise that this is not an easy thing to get rid of over night. Overall it really helps educate people on how and why this is a prevelent issue and what we could do to change for the better. Overall a splendid video, I also hope that there is still a chance to turn things around
Even recently after watching my favorite movie again, this movie just aged so frighteningly accurately
i really resonate with the taking the path of least resistance point. most of us are aware of society and the economy's detriments, but changing the way you live to purposefully be harder really isn't the first choice for most. i want to be eco friendly, but am i part of a capitalist society who really enjoys the dopamine rush from buying cheap commodities from amazon? yes.
my mom is always complaining about the housing market crisis, but at the same time she is interested in investing in homes. which is essentially adding to the fuel of the crisis. i asked her about her hypocrisy in this once, and she said it was survival. just as you said, you can critique the social norms but sometimes you need to participate in them in order to live an easier life.
Every time I come back to your channel, your videos get better. Amazingly done
Thanks so much! 🙏🏽
Absolutely love this film, thank you for spreading more appreciation for this movie, Mate😆🙌🙌🙌
(Plus Bougie Remmy??🤣)
i cry at the end of wall-e every single time. and i cried at the end of this video. my earth tears earned you a sub 😭😭
That director ...what do you mean it was just a love story 🤣
Right?? 😂
In my opinion. This is second only to Rango. As one of the best animated films ever made. Pixar were at the top of their game with this one.
I adore WALL-E and I think this is a great analysis of the film. I also fell into the trap of believing the responsibility of "saving the Earth" fell onto me as an individual. Hope to see change in the future. Great work!
Watching WALL-E was the start of me deciding to take an education where sustainable development is at the center. I got my bachelors degree in Energymanagement on the 27-01-2022 and started a Masters degree in Building Energy Design on 01-02-2022.
I am not sure that we, as a species, can ever solve the climate crysis but I, as an individual, is doing _all_ that I can to get the tools and cognitive framework to deal with the problem.
Still, with all the knowledge that I have obtained on this issue, I am still as scared and nervous for the future, as I was back in the day when I decided that I wanted to at least try and contribute to solving humanities worst ecological crysis.
And when people aske me "Are we going to make it?" my answer, after all this time, is still "Well, I don't really know..." and that scares the shit out of me man...
I think it's pretty realistic except for the part about going to space instead of just dying on earth
"For one glorious moment before the worlds burns, we'll have created a lot of value for shareholders!"
This video was FANTASTIC. I'm surprised it hasn't blown up already, but I'm thankful to have found a video essay with the depth I was searching for for analyzing Wall-E's themes. I'm glad I found this channel :)
Axiom, noun: MATHEMATICS
"a statement or proposition on which an abstractly defined structure is based." As my math teacher termed it, "A statement that is accepted without proof."
Such a beautiful video you’ve made 🥰 and it came to me just in the moment when I was thinking about these topics 🙂💖 Thank you 💫
i love how wall-e is becoming popular again
I cannot thank you enough for creating this video. It is incredibly well-executed and sequenced.
In particular, I was in genuine delight to hear you quote (on multiple occasions) The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells and This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein. Those books (and others from Klein’s works) have really stood out to me as authors who genuinely understand that nature of the beast we are against.
Your section referring to greenwashing and individual responsibility had me shaking with excitement, anger, and fear. This is because the tie-in with your sources, and how even when/if we “know what to do” or “have the tools necessary” to fix the problems, we are still virtually powerless.
WALL-E is my favorite movie of all time, and I am happy I stumbled upon your video, when I dronishly searched “wall e video essay”.
Thank you, I appreciate it! It’s a complicated issue for sure, I think those books are a must-read for anyone trying to understand the problem. One of the things I love about Wall-E is it didn’t try to place blame on ‘the individual’ in its messaging, which seems rare in films that do any kind of social commentary
I literally heard two business men at the restaurant I work at saying the next big market to get in on is the anti capitalist market...we are lost.
“I don’t want to survive. I want to live!”
Great vid about one of my favorite movies of all time! Your upload was timely; my husband and I had a fight the other day over plastic wrap of all things. He's Jordanian and I'm American, and Jordan is definitely suffering from the climate crisis (not to mention the ever-prevalent trash on the side of the road). We generally agree on most things, so I was shocked by his anger after I called him out for using plastic wrap to reheat dinner. His argument was that individual decisions didn't matter in the big scheme of things, so who cares about plastic wrap? I understood his logic, but I still thought his opinion was selfish and short-sighted until I saw your video. Now, I'm re-contextualizing his reaction - he'd just gotten back from his visit home for the first time in years, and he left with a strong conviction to never live there again. We live in Michigan partially because we hope to protect our future children from the climate crisis. My husband is comforted knowing we are surrounded by the Great Lakes. He is a climate migrant, leaving behind thousands of years of family and culture to make a better life for our family here. If you asked him why he left, economic instability and corruption are at the top of the list. But we're talking about a Middle Eastern country, home to the most refugees per capita of any country (except Lebanon, but I bet Jordan is #1 now), with a limited social safety net and rampant income inequity - don't tell me climate change isn't a significant driver of these problems!
The real irony here is that Jordan has never had an oil industry, so they can't even fund their own climate change adaptation measures. Jordan is one of the largest recipients of US foreign aid; I have a feeling this is going to cost us a ton of money over the long run. At least oil and gas executives get to tell their shareholders that their stocks broke records in 2021. Not sure what that means for our family in Jordan though.
Thanks for sharing your story! I think you and your husband were both right in your own ways, though it's great that you tried to examine it from his perspective. The argument kind of reminds me of my parents who are a bit too into consumerism, but they grew up poor in the Caribbean, so these different contexts really impact our lifestyle choices. We also left because of economic/political instability, but hurricanes have been ravaging the islands for years now too (and will likely continue). So as you touched on, climate change has/will become intertwined with most societal problems as conditions grow worse, especially in more vulnerable parts of the world
First, I wanna say thanks for sharing ur story! I just have a question- what did u mean about climate change causing wealth inequity & other social issues? I would have thought it’s the other way around.
I'll never be able to express how much I loved Wall-e as a character.
Sorry for the nitpick, but when citing experts and scientists, it's probably better to cite their papers rather than news articles, since papers are the scientists actually communicating their findings while news articles always have the primary motive of clicks and profit above pushing the truth. Good video otherwise.
You don't think scientists are affected by the profit motive too? They are always on the hook for more funding. (This is not a criticism of scientists, if anything it's a criticism of capitalism that the profit motive affects *everything.)*
Great content. Appreciate all the work you put into this channel
Thank you :)
Honestly I do believe the Director, it was Pixar in the late 2000s, they didn't do anything short of extraordinary in world building even if it was minor to the plot.
Absolutely shocked and appalled that it was intended as a robot love story rather than a cautionary tale about consumerism. Like WHAT? How can you even come up with such a brilliant woke idea and then make it just a background for ~robots~ out of all things to fall in love? Execs being execs and selling the idea of how bad it is to sell stuff, wow… disappointed but not surprised
Thank you for the essay!
one would argue that making it about a love story rather than talking directly about humans poisoning the earth allows the secondary message to be easier to digest, if this movie was solely about how people are ruining earth, much less people would have seen it and even less would consider it one of their favourites. It's important to consider that even if the major point was to tell a love story, it still opens a massive debate.
@@FalloutKlingon Well, I agree that background in general can pull off the main message just fine, you’re right, but as for the robot romance…. I still don’t get it, they’re robots (cries in stupid). I enjoy a ‘what if inanimate objects had feelings’ trope as much as the next man but it just neither makes sense nor appeals to me. Sure Walle is hella cute and Eve is aesthetics goals (for 2008) but honestly… probably a me-problem, but ehh. I would prefer the A-plot to be something else then
The artists intention and audience interpretation are mutually exclusive. They’re not inherently connected
@@dariaobrien Why the fuck do you think that the robots in Wall-e are inanimate? You do know A.I. is a real thing and not just a sci-fi plot right?
I had never seen that "Verizon Chipotle Exxon" bit before, that's really funny. Great satire, close to home.
@3:53 I cannot for the life of me recall what that skeleton scene is from.
i think the buy now pay later thing is basically implying that everyone on the ship was accruing debt to BnL, and that hypothetically when they got back to earth, if BnL had still been a thing, they'd have to pay that off like credit card debt
I hope you'll forgive a side note, not intended to detract from your messages. The name of the corporation in Wall-E "Buy N Large" is clearly derived from the common English phrase "by and large" (sometimes, sadly, mis-rendered as "by enlarge"). Interestingly it's pretty clear that this phrase has only survived in common usage due to its being completely misunderstood. It sounds as if it means something to do with the larger part of things, or something of the kind. The original meaning of the phrase has nothing to do with largeness is the general sense (and, of course, it has nothing to do with buying, or, in the common sense, being 'by' anything). The phrase comes from sailing ships, and their use of the wind. A ship sailing 'large' was basically using its sails to go downwind. A ship sailing by the wind was using its sails to sail across the direction of the wind (as in tacking). So the phrase originally meant "with the wind or across it", or more generally "in one manner of sailing of another". If the phrase were clearly seen to reference modes of operation of a sailing ship, I expect it would have disappeared from common usage by now. It survives because it sounds as if it means something else. Mind you, I still hear people using "hoist by his own petard", and how many people have any idea what that means? (Basically, "blown up by his own bomb".)
I was genuinely told that the human population “didn’t leave earth because of the garbage, but because the earth wasn’t sustainable anymore.”
There was somehow no mental connection between garbage literally covering the Earth, and it being unliveable.
Wild
Good video but I disagree that we can "vote" for a better future. A precious few politicians actually have our interests in heart and even fewer receive enough public support/are endorsed by ruling parties to even have a chance at making a change. Direct action is the way to make the world a better place, not hope that some guy at the top might get enough votes to do it for you.
I get where you're coming from! Though I will say political activism is the most advocated course of action when it comes to how we can contribute as individuals. Out of curiosity, what does 'direct action' look like to you on a specific level? I'd like to know your thoughts :)
@@QualityCulture I'm a big fan of "dual power" in terms of revolutionary action. Building up community systems (community farms, community defense, tool libraries, food banks, ride sharing, local energy grids etc.) that are more sustainable and reduce reliance on both corporations and government. Of course that's more of a long term solution to our problems. Unfortunately I can't think of many short term solutions that are both effective and legal. Protesting might work but many places are cracking down on even that.
Don't underestimate the power of boycotts and strikes.
Organized Boycotts to halt the economy.
Strikes to halt all production.
Now, the people on top will have to listen, it's simple but difficult to pull off.
@@cinnamon-skateboarding5987 I don't have much faith in boycotts but I did absolutely forget to mention strikes
Blind consumption is disconnecting, and it's only when people on the Axiom stop their consuming that they are able to connect. Connection also brings meaning to things. WALL-E has all sorts of trinkets and items that have no meaning to him until he connects with EVE. Suddenly the lightbulb, the Rubix cube, the lighter, they all now have new meaning to him. This message seems even more on the nose with how consumption of social media has led to people actually becoming more disconnected from each other over the last decade.
Starliners like Axiom won't be ready in time?
That's why Billionaires starts Space-X and Blue Origin now.
Referring to him as Robert Iger: priceless
Why is this channel so underrated? It's criminal
Carbon emissions isn’t the issue - pollution is, but you can create a financial system of control with pollution.
While I am very much concerned with the threat of our ecosystem collapsing, I have a hard time to understand the personal responsebility argument.
Sure, the fact that I travel exclusivley via public transport (Living in Europe is amazing) doesn't make a blimp on overall carbon emissions... but me not buying a car is a choice that, in the long run, means losses for the manufacturer. Not much maybe, but while carbon emissions don't concern them a loss in profits is their waking nightmare.
Yes, I am aware that cars are a necessity for many people these days and public transport can be really awful. But I see people driving their cars for half a mile to get their groceries and that's a symptom of their thought patterns. It's just easier and nicer and that's that and it makes us into sick creatures like seen in Wall-E.
And this thought pattern continues into other parts of our lives. I stopped eating avocados when I learned about the horrible ways in which this industry destroys ecosystems. I stopped buying fast fashion, since same thing and also high quality clothes (not some brand stuff...) will keep much longer and can often be mended. I very reluctantly bought my second smartphone this week, after the first one finally gave out, erving me for five years. It's an unfortunate neccessity that I have to use this device, but I will not do so once per year to bump up my social status.
I simply refuse to give them money if I don't have to. I will not buy that chocolate bar since the beans had to travel way too far for my taste and exploitation is rampant in the priduction of luxury goods. This is the bit of power that I have in the sadly capitalist world. This is the only stick I can throw and hope that somehow, if enough others throw theirs at well, the goliath will think about adapting it's course to something that doesn't provoke sticks. Like using less plastics, not shipping wares thrice around the world to get every last possible bit of those sweet profits or maybe even rethink strategies like planned obsolescence. I can use this teeny bit of power and put it into things I want to see flourish.
AND I think that this power is greater than my vote.
My reasoning is simple - the mindset we consumers employ way to often (it's easy and comfortable/makes me feel good) applies in exactly the same way to our politicians and the CEOs of the world. Here in Europe we started to panic a bit earlier than the US and since then a lot of promises were made. Guess how many were carried out. It's always negotiations and if we are being honest, a lot of shady deals. Politics and economy are not seperate, they feed each other. To rely on politicians is effectivley pushing away the problem for someone else to deal with it. "I can't do anything, besides ticking a box" is something many people feel comfortable with these days, but are you aware how this dampens the urgency we all should feel?
So yes, my very reduced lifestyle is not going to change much and I think it wouldn't be viable to everyone... but all of us westerners with our ridiculous consumption could cut back on some of the luxury stuff we indulge in. We really don't need this much stuff. I don't want to sound like Tyler Durden but his premise has something to it: things you own end up owning you.
That's why I am very much willing to cut back on tropical fruits, electronic luxuries and so on. This also means I save a ton of money as a side effect and can invest it in things that will hopefully last me longer. Everyone always talks about the companies and how much they are earning and THEY are the problems... but we can't ignore one fact:
WE are the ones throwing money at them. They wouldn't have anything, if they didn't sell their shite to us. To use an analogy I always thought fits: we are the first district in the Hunger Games.
So yes, we totally have power. Not by believing people, who show us time and time again that they either can't or won't attack the problem properly... but by understanding, that they will do ANYTHING for their sweet money. So let's keep it dangling in front of their noses until they behave better and thus earn it once again.
(On a sidenote though, we need nuclear power. And GMOs. I'm serious, being afraid of progress never helped us out. This fear of new tech is essentially what made us burn coal for 200 years ffs... Please just trust the science, NOT environmentalist groups. They don't understand what they are talking about. Sincierly - a Biologist.)
I agree with you, it will also be important to normalize less consumption, it's just that it only makes a difference if a large majority of people are doing the things you described. And it's extremely difficult to convince people to give up even modest comforts (plus it's hard to keep track of things like where your food came from if you're struggling to even get food on the table), which is why these things must be scaled by politics so these industries can be regulated. For example, if people in the US operated more like Europeans (would be nice to have reliable public transport 🙁), we'd cut emissions by a lot. We all do carry a burden of responsibility but I think this needs to be addressed on a larger scale so that people have the opportunity to make better choices. (And agreed, the fear-mongering surrounding GMOs & nuclear isn't helping)
@@QualityCulture That's very true, I get where you are coming from. And it's 100% easier to have my lifestyle over here in the EU with densly knit infrastructure. The US has so many socioeconomic problems, nurished by a messy, dark history... and you are right to say that these people can't really change things. Having read about the issues with food deserts (I think that was the term?) where fresh produce literally can't be bought for miles ... I get that for many people their daily struggle is a fight for survival. The really shouldn't be stressed further with such demands, life can be hard enough without the burden of a global crisis added to it.
People who manage to retain some optimism under these circumstances are incredible. But you Americans are brilliant at not giving up. I admire that a lot!
I guess I just fear the possibility that people will take this message and use it as an excuse to do nothing at all. On the other hand I guess people who don't want to deal with our situation will always find excuses. Additionally too much pressure makes people go defensive and that's when you lost them for good.
Thank you for taking the time to reply! I get now where you were coming from and mostly agree. I guess my own perception is partially influenced by the cultural differences.
Keep up your brilliant work, I really enjoy your writing style and presentation. Thank you for sharing it with us!
Buy secondhand. Go solar/wind. Cycle or walk. Vote Green. Catch rainwater. Grow food. And Breathe.
i agree to almost everything you say, but nuclear power?? "nuclear fear mongering"?? i fail to see how a technology that is not only dangerous to operate, but also creating waste that cannot be stored nor processed safely is the solution to increasing pollution issues. sure, for now it can cut back on carbon emissions by replacing fossil fuel plants, but at the cost of effectively permanently dangerous waste piling on and on, surely contributing to its own form of environmental pollution?
@@ssword123 you dont need to worry about nucler waste. most reactors are using very old technology but modern reactor tech has already fixed the waste problem by converting it into harmless materials during power production
I think the biggest contribution to why the movie aged well isnt just because it fits current global issues, but the fact we as a generation who grew up with this movie became more aware. I dont necessarily believe movies "age' well because it fits current circumstances. I think it its more of the movie critiquing fundemental human hubris that sometimes will always come back regardless of where we are in history.
This is a well done video, but I end up feeling somewhat unconvinced. The points are valid and logically solid, but they all rest on an assumption about democracy that I believe is demonstrably untrue. The crux of this problem is well illustrated in a line near the end: "Public support and technology are already there, it's just a matter of convincing those in power of the urgency, or voting in people who already get it". I believe this is a fundamentally incorrect statement. Capitalism will not end because you voted the right guy into office, it's a wider systemic issue that, I would argue, cannot be solved. It's pretending that politics can be formed to a fundamentally altruistic mold, and "with the right people in power", that things will just fix themselves. I would say that no matter how many "good" people you elect to offices, the fundamental structure of... power, really will thwart them at every turn. Even you pointed this out in your video, with Seuss's slide into a capitalist position as a result of the world around him.
How would you intend anyone, including yourself, and more importantly these politicians you want to elect to ever escape this trap of endemic capitalism? Politicians make decisions based on money, content creators make decisions based on money, even I'm making decisions like that right now. How does one "good apple" in some office, somewhere change any of this? Even if you plucked a perfectly angelic character from the lands beyond AND managed to elect them to the most powerful position on the planet, they wouldn't be able to do much of anything without first engaging in the capitalist system around them to gather allies and consolidate power. Even the best human is just a human, and without the ability to collect and exercise power in a liquid format (see: Capitalism), they would only possess the power of their own voice, and nothing more.
TLDR: You are suggesting that somehow electing politicians is above the grasp of capitalism. I don't believe that, and I would argue that seeing politics in this way leads to exactly the situation we find ourselves in now: Leaders who appear tepidly progressive in public and ruthlessly conniving literally anywhere else. They're just playing the game, like everyone else.
I would be curious to your view on this, however. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you?
I understand where you're coming from and I don't even necessarily disagree with what you're saying. I think through this video I'm searching for answers just as much as anyone, and rather than throwing up my hands and saying "I guess we'll just die then" I wanted to end with a more hopeful/practical mindset, especially because when we're made to feel powerless that's what we become.
Though I wasn't suggesting that electing good people will end capitalism or that the problems will fix themselves somehow. On the contrary, these problems will be difficult to address even with outstanding leaders. On a practical level, I just meant politicians' choices need to be more in line with increasing clean energy + decreasing the use of fossil fuels, which I think is possible. It's true politicians aren't above the grasp of capitalism, I wasn't trying to suggest that either haha (I implied the opposite via Klein's excerpt), but social progress has occurred in the last 100 years regardless of that. I can imagine people in the past lamenting that things would never change for the better (and many accepting it as "just the way it is"), but changes did happen through political activism.
I don't want to get stuck in the notion that this is the reality that will always exist; this is just one speck in time, so I still want to try to improve things even if it seems impossible in the here and now. And it appears activism is the most relevant way to do that right now. Maybe I'm naive but I guess I'd rather live with defiant hope than give in to paralyzed despair. I hope I've answered your question. And thank you for disagreeing respectfully, I appreciate that!
Thank you ,Wall-e is my favourite pixar film ever. I study animations now in my masters and still write an essay about walle if i have the chance. Thank you for this
I cannot believe the director “was only trying to make a love story”. The writing inthis movie is waaaay too pointed to’ve unintentional
An excellent video! WALL-E remains my favorite Pixar film, and we are still speeding headlong into the sort of future it depicts. I do have hope in the (very) long term, but I expect that a better future is centuries away. It seems likely that the many stresses of climate change will ultimately wipe away the civilization that created it. Humanity as a species will survive, but many millions will not make it, and those who make it through will not look fondly on their 21st century ancestors.
IDK elections around the world from 2019 to 2022 have shown that activism and voting don't seem to get the job done, we might need to go for something more direct. Whether that is revolution, or building our own communal structures outside the current power dynamic.
This is such a distraction. Stopping capitalism has been a problem for about 150 years, while stopping climate change has only been a problem for about 40 years, and despite that we have made quite a lot of progress on the latter and essentially none on the former. Trying to rebuild society from the ground up as a way of stopping climate change is basically saying "Oh this problem is too hard to solve, so I'm going to put all my efforts in solving this even harder, maybe impossible, problem instead."
@@alexpotts6520 But the current society encourages some behaviours which are extremely damaging to the cause of stopping climate change. The progress we have made is FAR too slow because every step of the way Megacorporations are fighting us..
@@000Dragon50000 Okay, let's say you get your way and every single one of those megacorporations gets taken over by the state, which goes on producing the same stuff but without making any profit. Does that, by itself, do *anything* to reduce carbon emissions?
If anything, it would enable us to consume a little more, since now we're not paying an effective "tax" to the shareholders of the companies we buy stuff from... the enivornment quite frankly doesn't give a shit about the economic structure under which fossil fuels are burnt, those emissions count exactly the same regardless.
as a Cars 2/3/ Planes enthusiast who never had one toy related..... touche ...but you made points
Really good video. And if the creators of Wall-E didn't intend to put out the message of environmentalism. They still did a really good job of it
we don't live in a complete and all-encompassing monopoly *yet*
"how did these babies get here..." Ther just took WALL-E to a dark new level.
And most of it was completely unintentional 😂( WALL-E showing us how destructive we are)
The fun thing about the continued decline of the environment is how cartoons like the original Lorax and Wall-E, which received criticism when they came out for being preachy and too on the nose about environmentalism, only become more justified over time as our planet continues to deteriorate and get hotter.
Isn't that fun?
Disney said We've investigated ourselves and found that we've done nothing wrong
I still cry when I see this video "Eva". Too cute
this needs more views to get more or these ideas out there. in such a fact that only someone in power can do something then getting as many people to see as many side of the climate crisis it could take just one person to be touched and do what's right.
amazing video essay, wall-e deadass might be my favorite movie
This movie was so so good!
I don't think this video was supposed to make me cry... but... well it did
When I saw this video I clicked immediately! I love Wall-e and am also an environmental studies major so this was an incredibly educational and fun video to watch. Thank you for all the time and research you put into your videos! :)
Thank you I'm glad it was helpful :) good luck with your studies!
Profit isn’t the only motivating factor though, sustainability and reliability are equally important in a “capitalist” system. I love the movie but honestly it’s one of the most far fetched movies in the Disney canon. Also “free market capitalism” has raised more people out of poverty then any other economic system ever tried. It’s improved the lifespan and standard of living of humans on this planet better then any other system ever implemented.
I mean ultimately sustainability is part of the profit motive I guess. Destroying the planet isn't very profitable.
"Reusable food, whatever that means." Recycled, cleaned poo.
You're right, but I just imagined people chewing up food then spitting it out for someone else to do the same
Thoughtful video that is a reflection of your hard work. Thank you for making this.
Disney and Amazon are the real life BnL and they know it, but their just as likely to go to war as to merge 😅😮💨
this video really said everything I wanted someone to say bout that topic
When will Wall-E 2 be released?
At the beginning of the film, we were told that more ships were sent into space. But we are only told what happened to one of the ships.
Awesome video essay!! Loved the Dr. Seuss section
Wow that lady made really great content.
Great recommendations by TH-cam. You about to get lot of subs.
16:00 what a shame he tried so hard and now one of his books cost like 75 dollars lmao
Relaxing commentary voice
Thank you for this post 💚💚💚
Something that's worrying with Net Zero goals is that it only focuses on lowering carbon emissions, but has nothing on oil or coal consumption. In the event of an apocalypse that leads to civilization reverting to pre-industrial levels, a supply of coal and oil will be needed to jumpstart it. That's why even if climate change wasn't an issue we'd still have to transition so that we have an emergency save. We burning the backup power without making the main stuff.
I mean, oil and coal consumption are the things creating the carbon emissions, so I think this is a distinction without a difference.
Thanks for the video, makes me wonder how we will make change happen as a people. Back to the stone age we go perhaps 😅
my only critique of this movie is the fact that all the people got fatter the more dystopian things got, and then got thinner when things got better in the credits. i wish people could stop acting like fat people are symbols of overconsuption, laziness, and capitalism, it's such a bad and harmful take, it wouldnt hurt to take that out
I loved everything about this, incredible work
It’s easy to feel powerless, but never forget you vote with your money! If you don’t like the way a company operates, don’t buy their stuff.
We need to be educated consumers!
Government Bailouts
Title translation: We haven't made any significant change, so we're still on track for bad times.
6:58 it was 2008! It was different
I really liked the construction and plot story of WALL-E, this movie is very much a piece of artwork that no one understood; the few people who did understand began looking for better greener solutions (without going eco-crazy or greenwashing).
I have been once or twice to Disney, the second time me and my cousins and my brother - we were kicked out because our annual pass was not available (not paid for). Very long story cut short - anyways after arguing with the security and the managers, we waited inside "Disney cells" and before we left we took the wrong turn down there and ended up looking at five large dumpsters, most of them we could see had edible foods, toys still in their original packages, plastic umbrellas, among other gross things. Then the security guards stood in front of my brother and told us to leave (obviously they did not want to call in the police) because Disney doesn't want to taint "The Most Magical Place on Earth" with lawsuits, from previous years from deaths, employee accidents, underpaid labour among other things.
Apart from Disney's history of washing their faces with sainthood and still managing to allow this movie to be created and marketed it only shows how ironic their actions have been for many decades. *I love the fact that Pixar execs and animators created WALL-E* Disney, Amazon, Costco, among other capitalists, will never change their ways, it is up to us the consumers how we change our behaviour and vote for the right politicians to create clean-energy bills. I have to agree that with the right leaders at the helm, they can guide or at least try to enforce better ecological and renewable solutions. We have many smart men and women in universities. The colleges can create think-tanks and clubs "how to reimagine this..." and scientists who can create or think outside the box. Thank you!
Idk, capitalists will sell anything to make money, up to and including selling anti-capitalist messages. (Compare the prices of a plain t-shirt, and that t-shirt with Che Guevara's face on it.)
another excellent video, thank you for your time and effort
I finally saw WALLE. It was good. How to Train Your Dragon was the best of the western animations. UP is Pixar's best movie. Nonetheless, I am amazed that WALLE aged so well. I like that artistic idea of putting a few real people in an animation (Typically it is the the way around)
Watched it a couple weeks ago. Still wonderful.
Well researched and well written video essay, great work!
Thank you kindly!
I for one will embrace our trash compacting overlords.
I think the humans reproduce kinda like the rich people in A Boy And His Dog