Mission to Planet Earth

Okay, this one's fairly nonpolitical: Go see WALL-E. it's not just a funny movie about a cute little robot who gets to go into space--it's also a devastating satire about the effects of unchecked consumerism, especially on the global environment. (You'd never realize this from looking at the official movie website, but the film itself is very unsubtle.) WALL-E essentially lives on Earth-that-Was, the planet we used up and abandoned, and spends his days building skyscrapers out of all the junk that has piled up everywhere, turning the world into a toxic wasteland nearly devoid of life. His best friend is a cockroach, a member of the multicellular species rated "most likely to survive the Apocalypse without batting an eye." (Verbiage shamelessly copied from a comment by firelizard5.)

After several misadventures involving another robot and a large rocket, WALL-E finally meets some humans, living permanently aboard a gigantic interstellar city-ship--which is pretty cool, but they don't really appreciate it because they spend most of their time staring at screens (yeah, just like me). They're also all morbidly obese because they never use their legs; instead, they're carried around in mobile lounge chairs. The company responsible for the evacuation, Buy n Large (which has its own fake website), appears to have been a de facto world government; their CEO, played by Fred Willard in a couple of short live-action segments, addresses us from a parody of the White House press room, complete with a "World CEO" presidential seal.

The film's outlook is far from bleak, however. Although unevenly written, the love story between the two robots is passably amusing and heartwarming, and I'll admit that the dramatic happy ending (which continues into the credits) brought tears to my eyes. As always, Pixar provided brilliant visuals, including innovative atmospheric effects for desolate Earth, which is swept by dust storms much like those we've seen on Mars. Oh yeah, and the malfunctioning robots that accidentally get freed and go on a deranged rampage through the bowels of the starship? They're good guys.


Speaking of consumerism, if you're looking for ways to raise awareness about the climate crisis, maybe don't buy a plush polar bear as a mascot just yet. According to the New York Times environment blog, the species has weathered one or two very warm periods in the past, eras when there was little Arctic sea ice, and the current threats to polar bears' survival are mostly due to direct human impacts on the oceans where they hunt.