Wall-E

with Sigourney Weaver

Viewed January 24, 2009

This delightful, award-winning animated film triggered lots of discussion that revolved around falling in love. It started with Question 9, and then expanded to Question 1 (yes, sometimes falling in love triggers strong feelings of powerlessness) and Question 2 (when we pursue affection, we may be scared of having the other person reject us, or we may be afraid of letting the other person down by not caring for them well enough).

Falling in love sometimes makes us unable and/or unwilling to follow the rules that other people (or we ourselves) set for ourselves (Question 3). And falling in love gives us the opportunity to be enlightened (Question 5); it often triggers us to wake up (Question 6); and if it doesn't work out it can make us deal with adversity (Question 7) and cause us to want to know who we are (Question 8). We heard stories about how one couple fell in love (he pursued her assiduously), and how some folks fell in love and then lost the love through neglect and fear. We decided that falling in love required the willingness to risk, and that caution, wisdom and discernment were important tools to take along on the ride.
(This video was reviewed by Bob McGarey)

Feel free to come and share your own personal insights sometime; the Saturday Night Video and Discussions here in Austin, Texas are a lot of fun and fascinating. (They're free, too.) Here are the questions the group came up with, based on the personal growth themes in the movie:

WALL-E

  1. How do I deal with feeling powerless?
  2. How do I feel about pursuing affection?
  3. How do I feel about following someone else's rules?
  4. How has change been good for me?
  5. How do I present myself with the opportunities to be enlightened?
  6. What has triggered me to "wake up"?
  7. How do I deal with adversity?
  8. What causes me to want to know who I am?
  9. How do I feel about falling in love?