In The Clearing Stands A Boxer

I went to see Pixar's Wall-E at the midnight show last Thursday night. I viewed it, along with a few hundred rabid fanboys, on what is claimed to be the largest movie screen in Texas. It will come as no shock to you that I enjoyed every freaking second of it (The short film that precedes the main feature is a scream,too!) but I was completely awestruck by the level of detail the digital environment exhibited. Pixar has a saying that they "paint the inside of the drawers". In this case, they evidently set up housekeeping and raised a family in these drawers.

The most amazing thing about the movie is that it's gone and upset the conservative right, causing them to toss around descriptions like "fascistic", "fear mongering" and "malthusian" (look it up). According to them the movie wrongly portrays humans as indiscriminate wastrels whose compulsive shopping habits eventually destroy the Earth. Can't expose the little kiddies see to THAT sort of nonsense, now can we?

As an example, here's what that antediluvian lunkhead Greg Pollowitz, he of the National Review Online, had to say: "It was like a 90-minute lecture on the dangers of over consumption, big corporations, and the destruction of the environment. … Much to Disney’s chagrin, I will do my part to avoid future environmental armageddon by boycotting any and all WALL-E merchandise and I hope others join my crusade."

Good luck with that, Greggie-poo, ya freaking moron.

This world gives us all great cause for worry at times but it's comforting to know that companies like Pixar and, by extension, Apple exist to raise the bar for everyone.

=mike=