Random Thoughts on how movies like Wall-E and Kung Fu Panda relate to our current society

Warning: plot spoilers!

• Wall-E heightens our current problems with obesity and big-box-store consumerism


• Two of the last three Pixar movies, Wall-E and Cars, really question our relentless desire to be more efficient and travel faster without regard to environmental effects


• Kung Fu Panda introduces us to a protagonist who is obese and a collector of action figures. I wonder if, given this stereotypical starting point, we will inevitably end up like the humans depicted in Wall-E.


• in Wall-E, people are so caught up in internet-like functions like video chat that they are completely unaware of their surroundings. One woman was unaware that a pool was on the ship even though she' d been there for years. This reminds me of when I'm a passenger in a car (I usually drive) and see sights that I've missed when driving. I wonder how much we all miss ... and of those things we miss, what would be beneficial to us as individuals and a society.


• When intelligent robots and computers develop personalities, they will probably act like the machines shown in Wall-E -- very concerned with their tasks and unable to think past the commands they've been given (Garbage in, garbage out).


• The turtle in Kung Fu Panda is the coolest movie sage/master since Yoda in Empire Strikes Back. Movies like this have the power to nudge society towards the noble eight-fold path.