Frank Rich calls on WALL-E to lead us
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Having seen the movie with my family this weekend, Rich’s op-ed does not fall on deaf ears in my household. Rich argues in his column (requires login) that the Pixar animators are, perhaps, more in-tune and serious about today’s political landscape than the two presidential campaigns.
While the real-life grown-ups on TV were again rebooting Vietnam, the kids at “Wall-E” were in deep contemplation of a world in peril — and of the future that is theirs to make what they will of it. Compare any 10 minutes of the movie with 10 minutes of any cable-news channel, and you’ll soon be asking: Exactly who are the adults in our country and who are the cartoon characters?
Despite Rich’s characteristic tirade against McCain towards the end of the piece, which, yes, I will nitpick becuase he was completely more unfavorable to McCain than Obama (although I was mildly annoyed, but not surprised, to learn McCain does not know how to use a computer), his column strikes a chord — have we lost touch in the political world with actually working on the problems that matter?
Frank Rich, the famous former theater critic who gave “Phantom of the Opera” a bad review.
Yeah, I look to him for insight!
Frank Rich of… The New York Times. ’nuff said.
As a side, I took my son to see Wall-E and really enjoyed it!
Ignoring truth because of where it comes from does not make it any less real.
Rag, I’ve thought about saying that to you about half the times you comment.
I have a suggestion for Frank Rich.
In honor of July 4th and my 7-year-old daughter, my family watched “Felicity: an American girl adventure” this weekend. This movie has as much or more to teach us the Wall-E, but I think maybe Rich does not want to acknowledge those lessons.
As I watched the movie, I could almost hear today’s “Loyalists” saying we are not taxed enough. Unfortunately, today’s “Patriots” are no where near as active as the Patriots back then. Maybe soon.
Our country is going bankrupt - Bush has already borrowed $700,000,000,000 - $900,000,000,000 from the PRC to pay for the war in Iraq alone - and all you can do is claim to be a patriot who doesn’t want to be taxed - and make veiled threats about being taxed????
A REAL patriot is willing to give to support his nation - give military service, give your life, and yes, give financially for those things your nation has decided are worth funding. No real patriot watches his national infrastructure crumble and does nothing but grumble about how much he has to pay - or claims to support the troops, but doesn’t want to pay for body armor to save American lives - and would rather borrow from the Chinese than be fiscally responsible today.
True, we need the patriots from back then - we NEED an Alexander Hamilton who will return our nation to fiscal sanity. But, what we don’t need is someone with the false patriotism of placing a wallet above our nation.
Ragnar,
No one is suggesting putting the needs of our wallets above our nation, but having money to spend is one measure of freedom.
Freedom cuts both way. We should be free to make our own decisions. More and more our gov’t. is taking away our freedoms, saying we are not smart enough to make our own decisions.
Sometimes we make decisions that cause us pain. In the past we learned from that pain, and we made better decisions in the future. Today the gov’t. comes in bails us out, and we dig our hole deeper. Gov’t. then pours money and resources into these holes, encouraging self-destructive behaviors. Believe me as a social services worker I know this firsthand.
I have no problem with repairing roads and supporting the military. But that’s not where our problem is fiscally in this nation. We need to take a long hard look at our social welfare programs.
It should not be the job of gov’t. to raise and care for families. Gov’t’s job is to keep the streets safe so we can raise our own families. That is the debate we should be having in this country.
Instead, we want to pay everyone’s doctor’s bill. And Loyalists like you believe that is the function of gov’t. Some of us disagree.
Though I am absolutely a loyalist to this nation - You missed my point.
Unlike in 1775 we have elected officials who do what we desire (except for the 650,000 un-represented Americans in DC). I actually agree with you in many respects, I get very frustrated when I see the government bail out those who were irresponsible and didn’t purchase flood insurance, etc. (though, I am of the opinion that a national healthcare system is worth having - but, my argument is based as much on the future health of our economy as it is on taking care of the needy). But, regardless, it is our elected officials who are making these decisions. We vote for them and they spend the money rightly or wrongly, it is up to us to keep an eye on them. That is how a republic works.
If we have a problem with what they are doing we have a patriotic solution - complain to them and vote for someone else. To hear someone elevate his wallet over love for country is disturbing, unpatriotic, and unAmerican. Moreover, any one who makes a veiled call for revolution should spend a little time in Africa and see what endless violence and revolution will do to a national economy…
Ragnar,
Actually, you missed my point. No where did I say anything about an armed revolution. A bloodless revolution would be great. But even a bloody revolution is better than a death by a 1,000 cuts.
Our bloated gov’t. that seeks to correct every perceived ill needs to go. We need to get back to a basic gov’t. that leaves us free enough to come up with our own solutions.
I’m tired of a nanny state that wants to tend to every scratch we have. I prefer a gov’t. that tells me to forget about my skinned knee and get back on the bike (helmet optional) cos I–all of us actually–can do most things ourselves.
That is CHANGE I CAN BELIEVE IN!!!
Wall-E totally looks like the robot from “Short Circuit”… minus the cheesy 80’s style of course