The staff at Young People For have been generous enough to give the staff at Living Liberally a temporary home in their New York office. As well as a 2008 Fellow, I am a summer intern with Living Liberally (the group that hosted the comedy show at the Summit). As I am working in YP4 space right now I thought I would share this blog with my fellow fellows. This blog was originally posted to Living Liberally. 

Walking into the theater to see the newest Pixar/Disney transplant, WALL-E, I expected to see a friendly tale of a quirky robot. I was pleasantly surprised and delighted when before my very eyes unfolded a social commentary as relevant to today as the campaign is long. For those of you who think that WALL-E is a kid's film you may find yourself eating your words. It is great to see Disney using it's power for good rather than evil. Some of you may remember some of the social faux pas in the Disney closet: the racist movie we don't talk about, Song of the South, the subtle anti-Arab lyrics in the song "Arabian Nights" of Aladdin, and of course the good old belief that a woman should lie down and wait for her prince to come and rescue her from her dragon guarded castle in order to achieve happiness. The jury is still out on whether Disney has gotten the PC bug or the Disney-Pixar marriage has given the Disney folk a younger more open outlook on the world. One thing is for sure, if their movies keep moving in a WALL-E direction then I will have no qualms with raising kids in the arms of the mouse. The rumors you have heard about a lack of dialogue in WALL-E are true, the first forty five minutes are a sobering dialogue-less view into Earth 700 years after humans have left. The genius behind the WALL-E sound is the legendary Ben Burtt, the man responsible for the trademark sound effects of Star Wars.The sound effects in the film greatly make up for the lack of dialogue. More important than sound or even lovable robots is the state of Earth and its former inhabitants, us. The Earth it seems has become our worst nightmare come to life, mountains of waste which tower over today's skyscrapers, holographic images of superfluous products of consumerism gone extreme, and a single international mega-corporation dominating the market on Earth and beyond. As the movie continued it became apparent that Pixar writer and director Andrew Stanton could very well have been listening to conversations between progressives across the country. In the world of WALL-E humans have become dependent on liquid meals and their hover chairs, so much that they have all become obese. They also seem to have a problem disconnecting themselves from their holographic entertainment and servant bots, resulting in the loss of the ability to walk. I fully recommend WALL-E for all who are young at heart and concerned about the future of humanity and our precious planet. Plus if you're trying to sell a "progressive" idea to the masses it doesn't hurt to have a unique robot on your side who is obsessed with Hello, Dolly!