Robots: Humanities Masters or Saviors?

            In the film WALL-E two main robots are always remembered as the most important characters, WALL-E and EVE. WALL-E is a robot whose purpose is to help Earth recover from how the humans destroyed the environment with their wasteful lifestyles. EVE’s purpose is similar, she searches Earth for signs of plant life to determine if it is possible for humanity to return from the spaceship they all left on. However, there is another important robot character in the movies who has a very different character. AUTO is the robot in control of the spaceship, and he tries to prevent WALL-E and EVE from using the plant to send the spaceship home. He wants to keep the humans on the spaceship, where the humans are completely dependent on them.

            A large portion of the message of the film is focused on the current issue of the ecological state of the Earth, and the possibility of expending all our natural resources because of excessive wasteful use. However another issue is about the types of interactions the robots and the humans experience. In the film, it almost appears that the humans are more robotic than the robots. They simply move about performing simple tasks, not really interacting with or thinking about the world, and receiving minor attention from the robots to keep them functioning. The robots on the other hand show a lot more signs of humanity and life, as we see WALL-E risk his life to save the plant, fall in love with EVE, stand up and fight for what he knows is right. AUTO displays humanity as well, although he portrays the more sinister sides. He uses deception and betrayal to keep the humans on the ship where he will always be needed. AUTO tries to destroy the plant, and attacks and tries to kill WALL-E, making a fight in order to keep the power he has attained. The line between robot and humanity is very blurred, and even as the robots grow more intelligent and self-conscious, they do not all begin to turn on humans. Just as any group of humans in real life will be a mix of good and bad, some of the robots turn evil and some of them become good. The film definitely challenges what it means to be human, as we see the robots are the first characters to fall in love, and they experience more emotion than the humans throughout the movie. They are independently motivated, emotional creations, and often seem to be much more human than the humans do until humanity is rescued from its robotic state and returned to Earth.