{"id":37332,"date":"2008-07-05T21:41:43","date_gmt":"2008-07-06T04:41:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lookingcloser.wordpress.com\/?p=3652"},"modified":"2013-03-24T16:11:47","modified_gmt":"2013-03-24T22:11:47","slug":"rod-dreher-gets-wall%e2%80%a2e-and-composes-a-celebratory-rave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/07\/rod-dreher-gets-wall%e2%80%a2e-and-composes-a-celebratory-rave\/","title":{"rendered":"Rod Dreher Gets WALL-E"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Woo hoo!<\/p>\n

Rod Dreher\u2019s review of WALL-E<\/strong><\/em><\/a> has me ready to run out and see it a third time. Or write a book about it. Or something.<\/p>\n

The following contains SPOILERS,\u00a0so don\u2019t say I didn\u2019t warn you\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What I found especially interesting about this epilogue is how it showed the robots from the Axiom helping humans rebuild civilization. See, \u201cWall-E\u201d is not a Luddite film. It doesn\u2019t demonize technology. It only argues that technology is properly used to help humans cultivate their true nature \u2014 that it must be subordinate to human flourishing, and help move that along. Where humanity got into trouble was allowing technology to exacerbate its own internal disorder \u2014 to alienate people from their labor, from each other, and ultimately from themselves. The film is wise enough to know that we can\u2019t go back to a pre-technology state, so it says the best thing to do is to put technology in its proper place \u2014 which we can only do when our own souls and communities are rightly ordered.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWall-E\u201d says that humans have within themselves the freedom to rebel, to overthrow that which dominates and alienates us from our true selves, and our own nature. But you have to question the prime directive; that is, you have to become conscious of how they way you\u2019re living is destroying your body and killing your soul, and choose to resist. \u201cWall-E\u201d contends that real life is hard, real life is struggle, and that we live most meaningfully not<\/em> by avoiding pain and struggle, but by engaging it creatively, and sharing that struggle in community. It argues that rampant consumerism, technopoly <\/span><\/a>and the exaltation of comfort is causing us to weaken our souls and bodies, and sell out our birthright of political freedom. Nobody is doing this to us; we\u2019re doing it to ourselves. It is the endgame of modernity, which began in part with the idea that Nature is the enemy to be subdued \u2014 that man stands outside of Nature, and has nothing to learn about himself from Nature\u2019s deep logic.<\/span><\/p>\n

If Wendell Berry made a sci-fi movie for kids, it would be \u201cWall-E.\u201d I\u2019m very eager to hear what the rest of you have to say about it. I notice Julie and I are already starting to critique our own daily behavior and choices by saying, \u201cThat\u2019s like on the Axiom.\u201d Saying, \u201cWe\u2019re on the Axiom!\u201d is our way of taking note of our own mindless consumerism.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Woo hoo! Rod Dreher\u2019s review of WALL-E has me ready to run out and see it a third time. Or write a book about it. Or something. The following contains SPOILERS,\u00a0so don\u2019t say I didn\u2019t warn you\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1051,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,12],"tags":[510,956],"class_list":["post-37332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-journal","tag-rod-dreher","tag-wall-e"],"yoast_head":"\nRod Dreher Gets WALL-E<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Woo hoo! Rod Dreher's review of WALL-E has me ready to run out and see it a third time. Or write a book about it. Or something. The following contains\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/07\/rod-dreher-gets-wall\u2022e-and-composes-a-celebratory-rave\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rod Dreher Gets WALL-E\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Woo hoo! Rod Dreher's review of WALL-E has me ready to run out and see it a third time. Or write a book about it. Or something. The following contains\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/07\/rod-dreher-gets-wall\u2022e-and-composes-a-celebratory-rave\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Looking Closer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-07-06T04:41:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-03-24T22:11:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey Overstreet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeffrey Overstreet\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/07\/rod-dreher-gets-wall%e2%80%a2e-and-composes-a-celebratory-rave\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/07\/rod-dreher-gets-wall%e2%80%a2e-and-composes-a-celebratory-rave\/\",\"name\":\"Rod Dreher Gets WALL-E\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-07-06T04:41:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-03-24T22:11:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e\"},\"description\":\"Woo hoo! Rod Dreher's review of WALL-E has me ready to run out and see it a third time. Or write a book about it. Or something. The following contains\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/07\/rod-dreher-gets-wall%e2%80%a2e-and-composes-a-celebratory-rave\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/07\/rod-dreher-gets-wall%e2%80%a2e-and-composes-a-celebratory-rave\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/07\/rod-dreher-gets-wall%e2%80%a2e-and-composes-a-celebratory-rave\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rod Dreher Gets WALL-E\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/\",\"name\":\"Looking Closer\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e\",\"name\":\"Jeffrey Overstreet\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Jeffrey Overstreet\"},\"description\":\"Visit Looking Closer for Jeffrey Overstreet's latest writing on art, faith, and film. Jeffrey teaches writing and film at Seattle Pacific University. He left the Patheos network in 2015.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/author\/jeffreyoverstreet\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rod Dreher Gets WALL-E","description":"Woo hoo! Rod Dreher's review of WALL-E has me ready to run out and see it a third time. Or write a book about it. Or something. The following contains","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/07\/rod-dreher-gets-wall\u2022e-and-composes-a-celebratory-rave\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rod Dreher Gets WALL-E","og_description":"Woo hoo! Rod Dreher's review of WALL-E has me ready to run out and see it a third time. Or write a book about it. Or something. The following contains","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/07\/rod-dreher-gets-wall\u2022e-and-composes-a-celebratory-rave\/","og_site_name":"Looking Closer","article_published_time":"2008-07-06T04:41:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-03-24T22:11:47+00:00","author":"Jeffrey Overstreet","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeffrey Overstreet","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/07\/rod-dreher-gets-wall%e2%80%a2e-and-composes-a-celebratory-rave\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/07\/rod-dreher-gets-wall%e2%80%a2e-and-composes-a-celebratory-rave\/","name":"Rod Dreher Gets WALL-E","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-07-06T04:41:43+00:00","dateModified":"2013-03-24T22:11:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e"},"description":"Woo hoo! Rod Dreher's review of WALL-E has me ready to run out and see it a third time. Or write a book about it. Or something. The following contains","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/07\/rod-dreher-gets-wall%e2%80%a2e-and-composes-a-celebratory-rave\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/07\/rod-dreher-gets-wall%e2%80%a2e-and-composes-a-celebratory-rave\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/07\/rod-dreher-gets-wall%e2%80%a2e-and-composes-a-celebratory-rave\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rod Dreher Gets WALL-E"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/","name":"Looking Closer","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e","name":"Jeffrey Overstreet","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"Jeffrey Overstreet"},"description":"Visit Looking Closer for Jeffrey Overstreet's latest writing on art, faith, and film. Jeffrey teaches writing and film at Seattle Pacific University. He left the Patheos network in 2015.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/author\/jeffreyoverstreet\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1051"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37332\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}