ant305 final paper.docx

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Ariel Chen (ac47386)ANT 305Final paper

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Material Culture and Gender in Pixars WALL-E

In 2008, Pixar Animation Studios released the animated film WALL-Eto wide critical

acclaim. Directed by Andrew Stanton, the film tells the story of a robot named WALL-E who is

left on a uninhabitable Earth to clean up waste. He falls in love with a robot named EVE, who

was sent to Earth with a very specifically programmed task, and eventually follows her into outer

space. Because the film is seen through the prism of an individual with scant knowledge about

human culture, objects and material are the main way in which WALL-E learns about human

society and social relationships. The film also capitalizes upon normalized gender roles in order

to establish the gender of sexless, anthropomorphized robots although it at the same time

subverts very certain gender expectations.

Scenes from the movie set aboard the Axiom may be rather heavy-handed in its

cautionary messages regarding dependence on modern technology, but they can also be viewed

through different theories about material culture. Daniel Miller discussed how humans

externalize themselves into objects, then subsume the objects and are subsequently changed by it

(Miller). This can very much be observed from the humans on the luxury spaceship Axiom,

where the technology developed by people are then consumed (on a massive scale) by the same

group of people. These people and their lifestyles are fundamentally changed by their

consumption of the technology. The technology on the Axiom can also be seen through the

theory developed by Bernard Stiegler, in which he proposes that humans are prosthetic beings

and everything that makes people human are things added to their flesh bodies (Stiegler). The

people on the ship are human in that they communicate through language, wear clothing,

converse with other people, etc., all of which are possible through technology. Language itself is

a technology, in that it is something humans created to meet a need. Andy Clarks theory about


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objects being extensions of the mind is particularly defined in this movie (Clark). Humans are

reliant on the objects and tools around them; they are very much a part of the human mind,

facilitating all of the individuals actions, physical or otherwise, making a strong case for the

human population on the ship as cyborgs.

Bruno Latours Actor-Network theory can also be used to dissect technologies presented

in the world ofWALL-E. The Actor-Network theory suggests that the idea of a social is merely

a metaphorical tool to talk about happenings and the world around people (Latour). There is no

social network, but instead there is a singular giant network that connects all things. A great

multitude of objects and technologies are show in the film, ranging from the sophisticated robots

with specific functions to the sustaining ship the Axiom to objects left behind and treated as

waste (a boot, a paddle ball). All these objects as well as the human characters in the film, are

actors within the network, and certain lines are even blurred because certain objects are

anthropomorphized to have consciousness and will.

The anthropomorphosis of the robot characters also results in interesting gender

implications and roles coming into play, because the filmmakers very clearly treated WALL-E as

male and EVE as female, focusing much of the story on a romance between the two. The director,

Andrew Stanton, clearly states that WALL-E is a boy and EVE a girl in interviews, and uses the

corresponding pronouns in reference to the two, even drawing connections to the Biblical Adam

and Eve with deliberation (Toy). In order to establish the genders of two robots who are absent

of sex, the filmmakers use normalized gender roles that are part of cultural imaginaries. Of

course, initially there is just the use of the robots acronyms being typically masculine or

feminine names as well as WALL-Es voice being lower pitched and EVEs being higher

pitched. Throughout the film, Pixar continues to construct masculinity and femininity. The


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physical appearance also contributes: WALL-E is box-like and disproportionate, and his features

not nearly as pleasing as EVEs sleek and aesthetically pleasing shape. Their physical

appearances contribute to the audiences perception of their respective masculinity and

femininity because of the normalized ideology that men are far less concerned with their

appearance than women are, and because of the ways women are often objectified and

diminished to their physical appearances. EVE is white and gleaming and well-maintained

compared to WALL-Es rusty, dirty body, again playing into the ideology that women are more

concerned with and have more expected of their appearance. In regard to their behavior, WALL-

E is constantly presented as child-like, even somewhat deviant sometimes, and EVE as nurturing

(once she grows to care for WALL-E). WALL-Es function (his job, in essence) is shown to be

very physically demanding while EVEs reconnaissance function involves very little physical

labor, and our culture has normalized ideas of the kinds of tasks men and women differently

must perform in society.

Despite, or perhaps due to, the genders of the two robot characters being established so

plainly and blatantly, the filmmakers attempt in several ways to challenge gender roles and

cultural ideology in several ways. The temperaments of WALL-E and EVE are the reversal of

what is typically expected: WALL-E is gentle and never violent, and EVE is easily upset and

becomes violent with no hesitation at all. WALL-E is also portrayed as sensitive and caring

while EVE, at least initially, is cold, calculating, and logical. The film very quickly demonstrates

the desperation for love and companionship WALL-E has, while in popular culture, females are

more commonly shown as searching for love. In many ways, EVE is shown to be dominant over

WALL-Eshe is physically more capable and determines the agenda most of the time while

WALL-E follows. However, the fact that strength and authority are given to EVE in order to


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challenge male dominance shows the hegemonic nature of masculinity due to EVE being given

traits stereotypically associated with masculinity. Towards the end of the movie, a lot of the

strong gender role reversals begin to shift back somewhat to the normalized roles from cultural

ideology: WALL-E becomes heroic, saving the human population and EVE becomes far more

emotionally receptive.

The trajectory of WALL-E and EVEs romantic storyline has the two characters falling

into the archetypal Dogged Nice Guy and Defrosting Ice Queen, respectively. Defrosting

the cold girl is a common goal for many romance heroes such as WALL-E. This narrative is

common because it is often a form of wish fulfillment for men, with the idea that the woman

doesnt truly hate them and is merely waiting for them to prove their love.

WALL-E is a film with strong examples of the ways material culture work and influence

humans on multiple levels, and a film which very successfully uses predetermined and

normalized gender roles to construct the genders of two inanimate and sexless robots in a way

that anthropomorphizes them. It makes strong efforts to reverse specific gender roles with mixed

results, as well.


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Citations

Clark, Andy. "The Extended Mind." Analysis. 58.1 (1998): 7-19.

Latour, Bruno. Reassembling the Social - An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory. Oxford

University Press, 2005. 316.

Miller, Daniel. "Consumption and Commodities." Annual Review of Anthropology. 24. (1995):

141-161.

Stiegler, Bernard. Technics and Time 1. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1998.

Toy, Andrew. "Wall-E Much Deeper Than it Seems." adopting james. N.p., 23 May 20112.

Web. 10 May. 2013. .

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