SPOILERS AHEAD!

Like many people this weekend, I saw Wall*E, and like many people, I loved it. In terms of Pixar movies, I’d rank it with faves like Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Toy Story 2. (Wow… they’ve made nine movies, and I’m calling four of them my favorites. But they rule, you know?)

One of the things I always enjoy about Pixar movies is that they make me feel and think at the same time. I get all weepy over Jessie the Cowgirl–I’m sorry you got left under the bed, girl!–but I also get philosophical about our cultural tendency to dimiss things after they get old. I laugh when Nemo “touches the butt,” but I also ponder what it means for a parent to let a child break free.

Wall*E hits me on both levels, and it’s a particular favorite because it has such fierce hope for humanity. Some critics have claimed the movie has a “programmed,” predictable ending, but I disagree. I’d say the ending, and in fact the whole plot, is less cliché than archetypal. It re-tells one of the most powerful and most repeated stories in our culture, then adds some unexpected details to catch us off guard.

In other words, Wall*E is the latest movie to make a Christ allegory, but this time it’s a robot, not a person, who gets to be Jesus.

SPOILER WARNING! THEY’RE COMING UP NEXT!

Before I get to the Christ-focused part of my argument, let me back up a little: At its core, Wall*E is a story of death and resurrection, which is an organizing principle for everything from ancient myths (Osiris gets torn apart and put back together) to I Am Legend (Humanity gets destroyed; hero sacrifices himself; humanity gets reborn.)

Wall*E gives us that story on three levels:

• The Earth itself dies after human beings trash it, but then, after 700 years, it starts growing plants again
• Human beings essentially “die” while they’re on the spaceship Axiom, since they stop moving and thinking for themselves. Then the Captain, like an infant, learns about simple concepts like dancing and farming, and he literally takes his first steps. His “rebirth” as a functioning human inspires the rest of the people on the Axiom to stop over-relying on technology.

• Wall*E himself gets crushed, only to come back to life after EVE fixes his circuitry.

It’s that last resurrection that’s especially interesting. Sure, WALL*E is a little like Osiris, since EVE puts his pieces together, just like Isis. But here’s the thing: WALL*E “dies” while hurling the all-important plant into the belly of the Axiom–the plant that tells the ship it’s safe to go back to Earth. He dies so that humans can go home. His sacrifices cleanse the human “sin” of screwing up the planet.

And then, after EVE helps him, he is resurrected. And since he’s a robot, the implication is that he’ll live forever.

See what I mean about the Jesus connection?

Yet the character of WALL*E was created by human beings. That means that in this movie, humans have the power to redeem themselves. Just as they built the tools of their destruction, they built the thing that saved them.

That’s also the implication of the Hello Dolly references that teach WALL*E how to love. One of the reasons this movie moves me so much is that WALL*E’s love is so pure: He wants to hold EVE’s hand. He wants to protect her and be protected by her. Though real-life love gets more complicated, it’s usually built on that kind of simplicity. And WALL*E learns these truths from a musical.

Meaning: Humans have grasped the essence of kindness and affection. We’ve even put it into stories. Just like we have the ability to save our bodies, we have the capacity to nurture our souls. A robot may embody the Christ-like qualities of love and devotion, but we’re the ones who taught him what they mean.

To me, there’s nothing syrupy about that. To me, the filmmakers are saying, “Wake up! We’re ruining ourselves, but we have the power to do something about it! Love and respect yourself enough to take action!”

If Pixar can see humanity’s redemptive qualities, can’t we?

And I’m not saying that you have to believe in Jesus or that anyone involved with the movie is a Christian or is trying to send out a Christian message. I’m saying the film adapts the familiar, Christian narrative of birth and rebirth, but instead of finding the key to salvation in an outside source, it finds it within people.

True, there’s melancholy in the fact that people destroy the planet (and that it takes 700 years for one lousy plant to grow again,) but I’m inspired that the filmmakers find hope anyway. They insist that all of us can do what WALL*E does. We don’t need a robot hero. We just need ourselves. And it’s time to get started.

There’s plenty more to say about my argument. Whatever you think, whether you agree or disagree,  chime on in!!