I've not seen the movie Wall-E yet, but I've heard that it is an enjoyable science-fiction comedy. Wall-E takes place in a future where humans have robots and technology do everything for them. This results in a future world where everyone is obese to the point where they don't even know how to walk due to their dependence on such technology. Apparently, this movie has offended many people, obese or not, with its portrayal of the future world. The movie also creates a setting of an inhabitable Earth. Earth had become a wasteland due to over-pollution from the technological advances of humans. Many people had interpreted this idea as a liberal-fascist extreme view of technology. Wall-E is a G-rated film for all audiences, and is intended to be a fun movie using the themes of selflessness and determination. People all too often take fictional stories in a radical way, assuming underlying messages that may or may not be really there.
Another example of this is the great controversy of the mystery suspense novel, The Da Vinci Code. For those who have not read the book nor watched the movie, I will not spoil any of the storyline for you. The novel makes extraordinary religious claims based on its own fictional proof. Because such claims are made, many religious factions label the mystery novel as a dangerous or even sinful book. However, it is still a work of fiction, and a brilliantly written piece at that.
Perhaps these works of fiction do have hidden agendas, or are meant to hold political and religious statements. Also, those who state their opposition to those works are merely expressing their thoughts through freedom of speech. However, the act of banning works such as The Da Vinci Code or even the children's novel Harry Potter, or the act of trying to prevent people from reading such works is going a bit too far. I would like to believe that people are independent enough to develop their own opinions and interpretations of fictional stories. To deny these people from such opinions is wrong. After all, these are merely works of fiction, what's the worst that can happen if people get too into them?
Finals week...
14 years ago
1 comment:
When you write "inhabitable" I think you mean UNinhabitable, right? What is the worst that can happen when people get "too into" works of fiction? Well, they become 'truths', right? I mean look at our country: it was absolutely a work of fiction at one point early in its conception; now look how seriously people take it. Or think of religions: aren't these stories that people willingly get "too into"? A more careful question might be this: How do we determine when we are 'too into' a fiction? What are the criteria for this threshold? Finally, when you say: "I would like to believe that people are independent enough to develop their own opinions and interpretations of fictional stories." Isn't this very 'belief' in people's independence something that you have been taught? I mean, can we really ever "develop our own opinions and interpretations"? How do we negotiate our embeddedness in a world of entangled fictions and truths? I hope that you see Wall-E so that we can discuss it in class. Good post, Truman!
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