WALL•E redux (Mudede philosophizes)

Just a note related to my recent post considering the accusations of fatism in Pixar’s WALL•E. Over at Slog, Charles Mudede offers a philosophical analysis of the film:

Point One:
In WALL•E, human evolution from normal weight to overweight is concomitant with their evolution from animal …

… to animation.

The transformation, which is pictured on the commander’s wall, has this as its meaning: the infantilization of humanity is the final result of the capitalist mode of economic production and parliamentary politics. It is not without meaning that the last organic things are infantile humans (Neitzche’s last man, the absolute couch potato) and cockroaches. The superman—that rare and wonderful thing—has been reduced to a weed in a boot.

And so on, and so forth ….

In defense of WALL•E

Okay, this is a bit much. Let us start with a simple proposition:

Is there only one way to view art?

If we want to complicate that question, we might ask whether that one perspective properly considers all potential factors, and whether it should.

Pixar's WALL•E has received criticism for its treatment of obesity.

The current controversy surrounds Pixar’s latest release, Wall•E, a dazzling and charming shoe-in for the Academy’s “Best Animated Feature” award. Apparently, the film has caused something of a stir among the sensitively obese. However, as quickly becomes apparent, that complaint depends on the proposition that there is only one way to view Wall•E.