*** Warning - Spoilers ahead! ***
Pixar’s Wall-E is cautionary tale; not just of the environment and planetary stewardship, but personal stewardship as well. Although a work of fiction, the film is scattered with reminders of how lack of movement and poor diet (and lack of self-responsibility) can lead to obesity and early death in real life.
Some takeaway lessons from the film:
1) Use it or lose it:
Over the course of 700 years (and many generations) of overfeeding and sloth, the nomadic human race has not only grown fat, but has lost most of its bone and skeletal structure. In fact, the average person has lost the ability to stand (which makes for a funny scene when Wall-E accidentally knocks “John” over).
All’s not lost, however; humans regain their ability to stand and walk (somewhat unbelievably, but hey, it is an animated film) and farm and fish - more on this later.
2) Drinking your calories is a bad strategy:
A perennial in top ten fat loss tip lists is not to drink your calories; i.e., don’t drink caloric beverages as it’s all too easy to consume hundreds of calories (and sugar) without realizing it. The future humans in Wall-E take this to the extreme with drinkable meals (pizza?) served up in 7-11 Big Gulp-sized cups.
3) The less you move, the less you’ll move:
The human body, made up predominantly of third-class levers, is designed for movement. Often, pain (and immobility) occur from disuse. The classic example?
Your job becomes all-encompassing and you forego exercise, thinking, “I don’t have the time or energy.” Over time, the muscles in your back begin to atrophy and you start to experience back pain. This new development makes you less inclined to move around at all (much less exercise) since even bending over causes discomfort, so subtly, you begin to curtail your general activity. All the while, of course, your lower back muscles continue to deteriorate (the pain increasing accordingly). Before long, it hurts to walk. You begin to walk differently, placing more stress on your knees. Then, one day, you start to notice a painful ache in the lateral side of your right knee…
Physical therapists call this “The vicious cycle of pain.” Pain from disuse atrophy makes you less inclined to move, which further exacerbates the atrophy, which further exacerbates the pain. The solution? Use your body. Better yet, lift heavy things.
4) There is a silver lining:
The humans eventually return to Earth, harkening a return to subsistence farming and the consumption of real food - and progressively get skinnier and skinnier (according to the credits). It’s notable that the skinniest incarnation of human is the one depicted as fishing for subsistence. Is it possible Andrew Stanton recognizes the impact of food selection on obesity?
Mr. Stanton’s motives aside, the point still rings true: If you go back to eating real food and moving around once in awhile, there’s still hope, no matter how far overfat you are. Hey, if Manuel Uribe can lose 55% of his body mass (about 670 lbs) through diet and exercise alone, I’d say there’s hope for everybody.
P.S. - While I hate to admit it, I liked Wall-E a great deal, and not for the reasons listed above (my wife always says I’m a sucker for great design).
