Some reviewers of Wall-E have suggested that the film is an
attack on our consumer culture. Our consumer culture is based on the buying and spending of consumers... the focus though, is not just money and the power of it, but that happiness can be attained through buying and owning personal property (sports car, house, iPad, and so forth).
1) Do you think the film is an attack on our consumer culture?
- If so, explain where the film is an attack on our culture. Give specific examples.
- If not, explain why you don't think that Wall-E is attacking our culture. Give specific reasons why you think the way you do.
2) Is our consumer culture an idol? Define idolatry. Does scripture say anything about money? Do you think Wall-E is a warning for us to change? Why, Why not?
3) Where do we see materialism (consumer culture) at WCA? Do you think it is a problem, or is it just a minor issue that we don't really need to think about?
I see materialism at WCA a lot and I'm a victim of it also. Students along with myself start to put materialistic things before anything else. For example, I find myself putting the latest basketball shoe before anything else and I start to think about more than anything else which isn't good. So I think right now materialism is a issue that we need to think more about because as you can see in the movie Wall-e it can become a major problem.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brandon. I see it at WCA also. And i am also a victim of it. What I stuggle with from materialism is that I put sports and my iPad before anything else. Well, I know it's not good and I am trying to break that habit.
ReplyDeleteMaterialism is in almost all of us, even sometimes just a little bit of it in me. People are always asking each other,"Did you get the new blah blah blah", and so on. To tell you the truth, it really annoys me after a while. Even though we have uniforms at WCA, I still see a lot of materialism going on, like everyone is competing to have the best shoes,hair, and makeup. I think that materialism at WCA is a big problem because now a lot of kids judge who you are just with the shoes that you are wearing on your feet, or how you look that day. We need to look inside of each other's hearts instead of materialism that is taking us away from our true leader, God.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you. It is kind of ironic that we attend a Christian school yet we still have the same amouunt if not more materialism than the public schools(not a hit on them though). We need to put the blinders on and focus on Christ.
DeleteI agree with Samantha that it seems like people are always competing on who has the coolest shoes, or the newest phone and things like that. Materialism is a problem at WCA, and I struggle with it too.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Samantha. We shouldn't be competing. As long as we are going to school to glorify the Lord that is all that matters because some people in 8th grade I think are competing to wear tthe best designer shoes or makeup, which i think isn't appopriatee in WCA.
ReplyDeleteKelsey is so right. We should be glorifying God instead of us and the others around us. I now just realized that we go to school to glorify God, not to judge each other on how we look. I agree with Kelsey, competing to have the best shoes and makeup at WCA is not appropriate.
ReplyDeleteBut the questions still remains: Is the film Wall-E an attack on our culture? Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI think it is an attack on our culture because we are getting to the point where our number one priority is to have material things. The world makes it look if you don't have these things then you're a loser. So no one wants to look like that person who doesn't have anything therefore we make it our mission to be what the world says is good.
DeleteI think it is an attack on our culture. The whole part about people living in space on a space shuttle and sitting in floating chairs is making fun of our culture. Our culture says that if it is easier, it is better. Sometimes that is not always true. Life was not really better for the people in the movie. Sure, life was easier. They didn't have to do anything, but their life would be a lot better if they weren't so lazy. If they actually got out of those chairs and made a difference in the world they would be making an impact on society. At the beginning of the movie, they showed an advertisement for the BnL and made it sound really good and said it would make life a lot easier. They said you can just spend 5 years in space while the robots clean up the earth. I think this is kind of making fun of our culture too, that we sometimes believe everything we see on tv.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think the pollution issue is attacking our culture. We throw away so much stuff, and we can't stop. Wasting stuff is kind of a way of life for us, and that is really bad.
That is so true Rachel. I didn't even realize it was an attack on our culture. Now that you said that I totally agree.
DeleteI'm not sure that it is an attack on our culture. I think it is more of a wake-up call to us about our habits of waste. We need to be aware of it to actually change anything.
Deletejosh that is also true. It more warned us of what we could turn out to be if we keep living our lives like this.
DeleteLove the thought Rachel. Waste is a problem and it does seem like we can't stop.
ReplyDeleteA question for everybody:
Where do we see waste at WCA and in Saint Louis? How do we fix this problem?
We see waste in WCA and in Saint Louis is that we litter a lot. So it is hard for us to clean up our mess, so we get other people to do it for us.
DeleteWe see waste a lot at lunch. When a lot of guys get finished with their lunch they just up and leave like they didn't cause the mess, sometimes Mr.Muehliesen has to tell them to go back and clean up, they go call themselve cleaning and leave it for the janitors to clean.
DeleteIn St. Louis we waste water (leaving showers or sinks running much longer than we need) - it all adds up. At WCA I see a lot of food bought and then thrown away.
DeleteI see waste at wca when people buy a bunch of food at lunch then throw it away instead of eating it later. Also alol of people will mess up on a sheet of paper ans just throw it away instead of erasing it or using white out.
DeleteI see waste a lot at WCA. Once afterschool with a couple of my friends, they just left all their trash on the tables. When i said we should pick our trash up, they said that the janitors should do it, that's what they're paid for. I just felt bad and after that i realized how much more it happened at school.
DeleteI also see how we portray wall-e in a way and Moe portrays the janitors. Moe likes his job but he doesnt like the way wall-e just leaves trails everywhere but he ends up saving wall-e from beng trapped in space. Like the janitors clean up after us when we leave stuff everywhere, and they end up saving us from being such a messy school.
DeleteI agree with Kelsey that one way people waste is by littering. Also, it is wasteful when we throw a way things that are recyclable, like paper or cans.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with kelsey& rachel. we all are so focused on ourselves that we dont care about what consequences may come of our actions. like we might think that we are to busey to recicle whatever we are throghig away, which is called being lazy.
ReplyDeleteAdding on yo lily, we are so focused in on ourselves, we don't really care about thee world around us. So while the poor animals are just sufficating we are just sitting around doing nothing.
Deletei think that that this movie is saying or implying that our word will end up being all trash and garbage and we will have to rewsort to other answers. (maybe not space though) but if we do not make a stand and do things like recycle, clean up the earth, and reduce pollution then the earth will end up being very bad. so maybe not an attack on our culture but stating a fact or spreading SOME awareness.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sydney that this movie is a wake up call. This could really happen to us if we don't stop littering, and wasting things.
DeleteI don't think that this movie is necessarily an attack on our culture but a warning to what we could become. Not that we will all be giant/ "nobones" who live in space but that we could become completely oblivious to the amazing wonders of the world that God has created for us. In the scene where Wall-E and Eve are outside the ship twirling around in space the two people that were out of the trance noticed the beauty of what was happening. They were the only ones who seemed genuinely happy besides Wall-e and Eve throughout the movie. I also totally agree with Samantha in that if we stay on the same track that we are on then we will have to resort to other options.
ReplyDelete*Sydney
DeleteI agree woth Moira, this movie is not really an attack on our culture. It is a warning. If we sit around all day we will become fat. Instead of sittin around all day we need to use our abilities that God gave us. At the same time it is an attack. It is almost mocking us for the way we are.
DeleteI don't know if it's mocking us for the way we are, because we aren't really to the extreme the movie shows yet. I definitely think this movie is a warning that if we keep going down this path we have chosen then there will be consequences, but I don't think most people will really view the movie like that. I personally think most people will just say 'oh, that was a cute kids' movie' but I think Wall-E is much more than a kids' movie. I think it has a lot of morals and lessons even adults can learn from.
DeleteMaterialism was a pretty big problem in wall-E. When a person came out with product, everyone had to have it. An example of this was when someone came out with the new blue colored clothes, everyone else had to have the same thing. It was because they were materialists. It was the outward appearance they cared about more than heart attitudes. This happens in real life all the time, where if one person gets a certain new iphone or pair of tennis shoes, then everyone else wants to go out and get it to. The movie wall-E shows us how stupid materialism looks.
ReplyDeletei do agree with you cooper but also the example above is not neccisarrily materialisim...i mean this is the sense that it appeared to the people as cool so they simply pushed a button and their clothes changed colors. i think in the movie they were trying to make it funny but it is the reality of todays culture. people do see stuff and want it. This, most people do not realize, is very "stupid." as you stated
DeleteI agree with sydney. In today's society, if people see something on television that they think is cool but which actually is stupid, then they will go get it. But here's the thing though, as sydney was saying, pewple just don't realize how stupid stuff is when they first see it, they just see it and automatically think it's cool. I totally thiink it is ridiculous.
DeleteI also agree with the three of you, everyone wanted to follow everyone else when we all are own person and shouldn't be lead by others. The judgement of others is very important to them when really we should worry about the judgement of God.
DeleteI agree with Cooper on how in Wall-e we saw a lot of materialism. I would also like to add that the chairs were originally for old people and that shows how the chair evolved to being used by everyone.
DeleteDoes the Bible say anything about materialism, money/wealth, consumerism? We have had a lot of very thoughtful answers, but I have not really seen much engagement with God's word. I do think it will help the discussion.
ReplyDeleteYes in the bible it says something about materialism. In Ecclesiastes 5:10 it says “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity” I think this is a good passage to go look to when you are in need of money.
DeleteI agree with Kelsey. That is a great Bible verse to describe our culture. We are never satisfied with what we have, and always want more.
DeleteThe Bible has a lot of verses about materialistic things. For example in Colossians chapter 3 verse 2 it says, "Set your minds on things above, and not on earthly things." Another verse i found was Matthew 6:19-21,"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal. But store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." This passage is telling us to not count on worldly possessions because they get destroyed easily and don't last long, but instead put our trust in heaven because heaven is eternal and never ends.
DeleteThe bible says that we should not put things before God in the ten commandments, and that is what materialism is. We should instead put our focus on God and worship the Creator rather than the creation.
DeleteI found a verse about money. 1 Timothy 6:10 says, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
ReplyDeleteMoney is not a bad thing, but it is bad when you idolize it. If you think that your life would be better if you had more money, or that money will make you happy, that is wrong.
I agree with Rachel. I don't think money in itself is a bad thing, but I think what it can do to you can be very bad. What you do with your money can also be bad. Money can bring about jealousy, and we can idolize it. When we become obsessed with how much money we have, and are more focused on it than God, that's when it becomes sinful.
ReplyDeletethe defintion of idolatry is putting something above everything else, including God. I think that our consumer culture is not an idol until we make it one by putting it above everything else. Always needing the newest phone or shoes or whatever is a form of idolatry. The Bible says in Colossians 3:5, to put to death all earthly desires. We are always buying and idolizing earthly things and God wants us to rid ourselves of them and focus on everlasting things.
ReplyDeleteI think this happens all the time with us we obsess over things that seem amazing but really aren't after we look at the big picture with Jesus. We get obsessed with these things and all we think of is it all we want is it and we don't care about anything else.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Moira. This movie is a warning. Look at the North Pacific Gyre. This movie warns us if we don't starting making a change then in the future we might make the world to toxic to live in.
ReplyDeleteI also agree, I think the producer is trying to warn us that we need to stop being lazy. The producer might have been showing us the results of our laziness and sin.
DeleteI agree with Nick on how if we don't start taking a stand and picking up our trash we'll up like the people in wall-e, ending up with trash everywhere and having to leave earth.
DeleteThat's a good post Zion, but I think it's not just about not litering, but there's a bigger purpose, Gen. 6:12 says, "And God looked upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." I think the verse means the world is corrupt and we can't escape it or fix it, we can just seek God to save us from it.
DeleteMr. Scott's Bible Class is finished with the project.
ReplyDeleteAs Nick was saying, this movie is a big warning! Our world may end up turning out like it is in the movie. This means that we need to take action.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nick that if we stay on this path we could end up with serioud consequences. The North Pacific Gyre is just a picture of what could happen to the rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Moira agreeing with Nick on how if we don't start taking a stand now it might be too late for us to take one later. And the world may end up like the North Pacific Gyre Messy and full of trash.
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