WALL-E: The Next Generation E.T.

With triple digits temperatures here in the San Fernando Valley, the best thing to do [besides staying indoors and eating ice cream] is to go to the movies.

Temperatures in movie theatres are always similar to doctor's offices. (It's always chillier than you expect--which in the heat of summer is a good thing.) Given the two options, I'd always pick the movie theatre though...unless maybe I was dying. Although... if I was dying, I might as well die watching a good movie so perhaps I'd choose a movie theatre even then.

In the chilly theatre, I recently saw both WALL-E and Hancock. Hancock has all that a summer blockbuster needs. It's entertaining, comedic, lots of stuff blows up-- and the main attraction is a swashbuckling-boozing anti-hero in the form of Will Smith. I witnessed some Hancock filming in downtown L.A. In person, the effects were powerful and nearly unimaginable. Granted, it was a good film, but I'm not really here to talk about Hancock.

Instead, I'm here to talk about Wall-E. If you haven't seen it--GO! If it wasn't on your "must-see" list, write it down--in pen. I'm an intelligent adult and I don't have kids. Yet, I chose to see Wall-E. I was prompted by the critics who continued to rave about the film. Plus, Pixar has never released a letdown. Think about it.

Wall-E is funny, sophisticated, and frightening. There were times when I nearly cried. There were times when Wall-E rolled across the screen and I saw E.T. But Wall-E is a terrestrial and it's the humans in space. Instead of a geranium, it's a green plant in need of care.

Wall-E is lucky. Unlike many humans, he has been programmed to know his "directive"--his purpose in life. Many humans are still looking (myself included.) Unluckily, Wall-E is alone and, as a robot, seemingly incapable of emotion. That isn't true though. Wall-E in his way has the ability to feel--especially in his connection with a newly-upgraded robot named Eve. The first 30 minutes of the film contain little, if any, dialogue. Wall-E is alone in an appalling, nearly apocalyptic Earth without a speck of green. We are watching what Earth could become after humans are gone.

Wall-E treads a fine line. On one hand, it's entertainment and on the other, it's a powerful statement on where we are headed, both as a species and as a planet. The beach-ball humans that exist in Wall-E seemed to be governed by advertising and big business. They ooh and ah over the newest, shiniest products before them. They are all together, but are startled by even the slightest human contact. They aren't all that smart. With their roly-poly physiques and empty brains, they are also absolutely defenseless. And, no coincidence here, they are mostly Americans-- or at least it certainly looks that way.

The messages in Wall-E aren't that difficult to grasp: Dirt [ i.e. Nature] isn't dirty. Virtual anything will never replace the power of human touch, sight, taste, and feelings. We need to take care of the planet. We need to take care of each other. We need to wake up and not let the powers that be tell us what to do. We're in charge of determining our own directives.

Wall-E could easily offend the wrong person, but if it does offend them, it is probably offending the right people--because those are the ones that most need to listen. We all need to listen. That's why Wall-E is an infinitely important film to see--no matter what planet you're on.

Copyright © 2008 KLiedle

Green Filmmaking And Studio Worm Farms

Visiting a country like New Zealand both reconnected me with nature and reminded me of all the beauty there is in the world. I’m a nature girl and not afraid to admit that I’m a passionate tree-hugger. In fact, I joked to the Kiwis that I would need a separate photo album for all the TREES of New Zealand I’d photographed. It seems I took more photos of trees than anything else.

For me, there’s no greater pleasure than traipsing through nature’s playground. When I was about twelve, I read and re-read a book called “50 Simple Things Kids Can Do To Save The World.”

I followed every tip and every guideline. I planted lettuce in my backyard, I recycled everything, and to my parent’s chagrin, I even made my own recycled paper (utilizing the family blender.) From then on, smoothies made in that blender always had an extra boost of “pulp”—and we’re not talking pulp of the fruit variety. Unfortunately, I didn’t save the world, but I didn’t fail either. I did my part, and I continue to investigate ways that I can increase my participation in saving the world.

Of course, An Inconvenient Truth showed all the naysayers that environmentalism isn’t dead and tree huggers can, in fact, be cool. One beautiful thing about travel is learning and experiencing the other ways that people approach the world we all share. When I visited South Pacific Pictures, a film production company based in Auckland, New Zealand, I was amazed to hear the Studio Manager, Karen Shaw, mention that they had a “worm farm” right there on the studio lot.

“A worm farm?”, I thought in amazement.

Imagine pitching that idea to Paramount or Universal or any of the major studio lots here in Los Angeles. They’d be more likely to greenlight Waterworld 2: Investigating Mars or something like that. Not only did South Pacific Pictures boast a worm farm, but they were ecologically-conscious every step of the way in their approach toward filmmaking, and they are looking toward becoming a “zero carbon emissions” studio.

I get annoyed on American film sets when I see the amount of waste: aluminum cans thrown in with the craft service garbage, half-full bottles of water left abandoned by crew, protein bar wrappers gone with the wind… Sometimes I collect the recyclable bottles and cans myself, but I can’t save them all and I can’t save the world all by myself.

The point is that if all of us did something, perhaps all of us together could save the world. That means corporations… that means filmmakers…and that means individuals like you and me and the rest of the world.

Like the media, the entertainment industry and filmmaking professionals have the power and the influence to help create change and, in essence, help save the world. Organizations like the Environmental Media Association (EMA),
http://www.ema-online.org, seeks “to educate people about environmental issues and inspire them into action.” Since 1989, EMA has even pitched environmental storylines to producers and writers of television and film programs to encourage them to touch on environmentalism within entertainment.

New Mexico was recently profiled in The Los Angeles Times as a state on the brink of a filmmaking boom-- boasting various financial incentives and resources for filmmakers in addition to their offers of "homespun New Mexican film friendliness." Apart from all of this, New Mexico has come to my attention for another reason, their Green Filmmaking Initiative – a voluntary program to encourage film and television productions to “Go Green.” http://www.nmfilm.com/filming/green-filming/

New Mexico will help productions with things such as establishing recycling programs, utilizing organic products and environmentally-friendly building materials, and donating unwanted items to local schools and other charity organizations. Currently, there’s no mention of worms crawling around in compost at the New Mexico Film Office, BUT through education and encouragement, and with the offer of even more incentives for green productions, New Mexico is leading the way toward more eco-friendly filmmaking. That’s something I’d like to see from more film commissions, production companies, studios, and filmmakers!

*The content of this post was recently published on the Los Angeles Edition of BrooWaha at:
http://losangeles.broowaha.com/article.php?id=1757
*ABOVE PHOTO taken by Kendra Liedle -- "Trees of Pauanui" ( New Zealand )