Wall-E, Jesus, and Sunshine in Vermont

I’m officially in the fourth state of my trip, Vermont, where I’m headed toward a Buddhist retreat in the hills. It’s been sunny and nice, after last night’s deluge.

I passed the Greyhound station in Rutland, and I had to go to the bathroom extremely badly. But the station was closed due to torrential storms. So I walket through this dark alley and edned up, luckily enough, in this adorable coffee shop, The Back Home Again Cafe. It has local food, naturally hewn tables, and mate. It’s almost the stereotype of eco-centered Vermont living.

Which brings me to the movie I saw yesterday, WALL-E. There’s been quite a bit of talk about the Christian themes of the movie, and some of them, such as the name EVE, were on purpose. But it’s amazing how many others there are:

1) Everyone is on a huge boat, like Noah’s Ark

2) It was a an olive branch that signaled safety to Noah and his crew, just like a plant told those on the spaceship it was safe to return.

3) WALL-E befriends the misfits, who then rail against the establishment which wanted to program them to conform, just like Jesus confronted the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

4) WALL-E died to save the humans, just as Jesus did.

5) WALL-E was resurrected, just as Jesus was.

6) You assume that since WALL-E has lived on his own for 700 years, that he can live forever. Same for Jesus.

I think if I kept trying, I could find a lot more.

I loved the movie, but what I love more is the controversy outside of it. Some conservatives are saying it’s liberal propaganda, showing the evil in human beings, putting environment over humanity, and attacking big business as the source of society’s woes. Other conservatives are saying it’s not true, that big government is the source of the problem, that the movie shows small-town values that were forgotten, and that returning to old ways is the only way to save humanity. There’s a good summary on io9.com.

It’s all a lot of hullaballoo over nothing. The movie shuns excess that takes away from the love that arises from human contact. In a way it’s both liberal and conservative, because big business and big government gone awry both kill our plant.

But the message is beautiful when all else is stripped away: don’t let distractions, missions, or distance deter you from the most important things – love, compassion, and companionship.