WALL-E and Me
Have you seen WALL-E? I have, and this simple “kids” movie rocked me. For this post, I will show you an image from the movie with my reflections following right after…
Everyone but one (WALL-E) is blindly following the lines, nodding to the images on their screen, and mindlessly going on with their existence. The religious cultural and capitalistic marketing connections are all too obvious…at least to me.
Then one of them gets knocked off the “line” by WALL-E, the structural robots come to re-establish order, but once off the “line” you can never go back. Shortly after finding freedom from the lines, everyone else’s suit turns blue but this man’s suit remains red. This clearly distinguishes him as a man who is free from the lines and system that are keeping everyone else captive; from those who mindlessly feed the very system that is holding them captive. (blue suits representing blissful ignorance — red suits representing embracing the truth? Those colors and their meaning sound awfully reminiscent of two certain pills…).
But the line-breaking robots are labeled dangerous and renegades. The mind-controlling messages display their images for all to see and their message is clear: steer away from those who are trying to steer you away from the system; avoid them, they are not to be trusted and you should exercise extreme caution!
The imagery of having a swimming pool in which no one swims but simply gathers around to admire, is priceless. Here in this one shot you see the people engaging the system going around and avoiding the pool, while the two people who have found freedom are actually experiencing the pool as it was meant to be experienced.
Their burden is very light and they simply are enjoying their new found freedom. The great line is when they first stepped into the pool, the guy said, “Huh, I never saw this before.” Funny, because earlier (when he was still a “line” person) he was shown right at its shores blindly watching the messages on his screen.
How much more freedom do we have in Christ then we even know? What “lines” are we mindlessly following that are keeping us from truth and freedom and life? How many more pools are out there that, though we have been around the edges, are calling us to dive head-long into them to experience the joy and relationship we were meant for?
WALL-E, for me, is a movie that spoke to me on many levels. The “line” saga and freedom was simply one of them…
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