The REEL Addict 

Not long after WALL-E was released in theatres no end of critics and political commentators were quick to point out, praise or complain about WALL-E’s supposed heavy-handed liberal, environmentalist message about the damages of mass consumerism run amuck. Writer-director Andrew Stanton noted that though that may have been part of the fabric of the film, it was never his central intent. The main goal – to him – of WALL-E was to be a love story.

When watching WALL-E for the second time at home on Blu-Ray, I realized that even though the story and gentle finger-waging future of the film are added dimensions to the movie’s richness, Stanton is right. Anyone who gets too caught up in anything else (whether positively or negatively) may be missing the point. The joy of the film is the sweetness of WALL-E, and his romantic, adorable courtship of EVE, and their subsequent “relationship”. Anything else is ancillary.

The movie is a love letter to well … love. Most of all to the kind of love you so rarely find on movie screens (or perhaps in life) anymore: gentle, affectionate, pure, and uncomplicated. After all, aside from two sultry “kisses” (both instigated by EVE, however), like the Beatles, all WALL-E ever wants to do is hold EVE’s hand. He’s a stand up, decent guy who reminds us that being devoted, attentive, chivalrous, considerate and supportive are perhaps sometimes the easily forgotten foundations of a healthy love affair. Most importantly, he helps us recall that sometimes being thankful for love is as sweet as giving it.

Through his romantic journey it’s also easy to tap into memories of our own experiences with the early stages of love when – like WALL-E – we were intoxicated by crushes and the promise of someone else’s love. Who doesn’t remember pining away, smitten into a state of loving stupor, doing everything in our power to get the attention of whom we love and – most importantly – make them happy? Worrying endlessly about holding hands for the first time? That first kiss, so desperately wanted and yet so unexpected when it does finally happen? What WALL-E feels is in many ways what we’ve all felt at some point, or wanted to anyway. It’s a big reason I think why so many people became so hopelessly and (yes) lovingly attached to the little guy. That especially becomes apparent to me during the brief minutes (SPOILER ALERT) after WALL-E gets repaired and turns into a “normal” garbage compactor – no soul, no love. EVE’s anguish is palpable, because it is our own. Not just because we’ve come to adore the little guy, but all of us can perhaps recall the despair of losing a loved one, or when someone we once loved (or hoped to) turned out to be a different person.

Sure, you could argue in real life love isn’t the way WALL-E shows us. You could tell me it’s an innocent, romanticized, idealized form of love, and I’d most likely even agree with you. I’d do so with much sadness though, because the movie and its star – more so than any romantic comedy – makes we want to ask: shouldn’t it be?

The genuine, deeply personal emotion audible in anyone who loved the film and starts raving about it makes me suspect that to some degree or another – despite the cynicism of dating and romance these days – many of us are asking the same question.