Original illustration by Andrew Craig
Ever since I can remember, animated shows and movies have captured my heart. As someone who loves to illustrate, I’m in awe of the artwork from studios like Disney, Studio Ghibli and Cartoon Saloon (to name a few) as I watch them bring characters and worlds to life. Even as a kid I felt there was so much I could learn from the stories being told in these shows and films — lessons, truths and even spiritualities, or ways to direct one’s spirit. These lessons are for everyone at every age. As St. Ignatius said, God is in all things. And so, I believe God’s goodness can show itself through these stories we share.
One story stands out: the 2008 Pixar movie, “WALL-E.” In this film following two robots, we learn about agapic love. What is agapic love? There are four ancient Greek words for love: Philia is love between friends; Eros is the more romantic kind of love; Storge is a familial love; and Agape (the star of this story) is a selfless love that seeks nothing in return.
If you have never seen “WALL-E,” there’s no need to fear — let me briefly recap it for you. The film opens on a future Earth, uninhabitable and covered in trash. Generations ago, humans boarded ships called the Axiom to live off-world, hoping to return once Earth fixes itself. That’s where our lovable protagonist comes in: Rolling along through the trash, we meet WALL-E. Programmed to compact trash into cubes, he starts building towers of trash like a kid with LEGOs. One day, a ship lands (and nearly on top of WALL-E!) with a robot named EVE. Her “directive” is to find a sign of life, which would mean that humans can finally return home.
For WALL-E, it’s love at first sight. For EVE … it’s mere annoyance. All she wants is to accomplish her directive. However, over the course of the movie WALL-E and EVE’s “directives” become one another’s. And for me, this is what it means to engage in agapic love.
WALL-E’s primary programming is to put away trash while keeping himself running. To accomplish this, he has a stockpile of extra parts to fix himself over the course of many years. EVE’s directive is to find life on Earth. She does so in the form of a small plant. Having found life, she now needs to deliver this plant to the Axiom to prove humans can return. But she can’t do it alone. That’s WALL-E endures lightning strikes, snowstorms and nearly being crushed in order to help EVE accomplish her mission — despite the fact that his primary directive specifies he focus only on trash collection.
Though annoyed at first, EVE slowly realizes how much WALL-E is trying to help take on her directive as his own. Cue our friend agapic love. Seeing his selflessness, EVE begins to care for WALL-E. She protects him from danger whenever she can. In the film’s climax, WALL-E is the one to deliver the plant to the ship’s central system. With the system’s hatch closing on him, he is almost crushed. He takes on EVE’s objective to the point of losing his own: self-preservation. Meanwhile, EVE pulls WALL-E out from the hatch. When the Axiom finally reaches Earth, she rushes him to his stockpile of extra parts and puts him back together.
In both instances, neither WALL-E nor EVE are thinking about what they may receive in return if they help the other. WALL-E wants to make EVE happy by helping her deliver the plant. EVE wants to protect WALL-E and save his life after he is nearly destroyed. In forgetting their personal desires, they find their fulfillment — together. Side by side their burdens are made light. This is the wonder of agapic love: forgetting one’s own desires to fulfill another’s — and in that fulfillment finding one’s own.
This message of selfless self-gift is delivered by the love between two robots that meet by chance and seem to operate on different plains. These two robots see the other and embrace their dreams, goals and well-being as their own. It is this love that not only saves WALL-E and EVE but also brings humans back down to Earth, closer to one another and more in tune with the needs of their planet, their forgotten home.
I’m constantly inspired by the lessons, deeper truths and spiritualities sewn into the fabric of well-made shows and films. The next time you watch an animated show or movie, I invite you to ask yourself: Where might this film be directing my spirit? What messages of goodness, hope and faith are being shared? Where is the Spirit working in this story and how might I be open to it? God’s whisper of love can touch our hearts wherever we open ourselves to it.