Anthropomorphized Robots

WALL-E is the only robot in the movie that is completely anthropomorphized upon introduction in the film, although it is unclear if the humanized facets of his “personality” are a part of his programming or developed over time. He spent over 700 years isolated on earth collecting trinkets that humans left behind and watching old films that displayed human emotion. He records, learns, and performs the dances he sees in old human musicals.  He also befriends a cockroach and shows genuine concern for its safety whenever it gets crushed, zapped, or threatened in any way.  The trailer below highlights many of these humanized attributes.

WALL-E also displays many of the qualities that signify human comprehension and interaction as defined by several field studies by Turkle.  Like Cog, WALL-E is capable of physical recognition and constantly makes eye contact.  In several scenes, WALL-E even distinctly follows EVE with his eyes out of infatuation.  Like Kismet, WALL-E uses inflection.  Although he doesn’t speak very many real words in over the course of the film, he does express fear, excitement, love, and frustration with the inflection of his voice. WALL-E’s physical recognition, strong eye contact, and emotion-conveying inflection combined with the many physical acts (such as hand holding) that he tries to perform, it is very apparent that he is capable of feeling. At roughly the 15 seconds mark in the clip below, WALL-E lovingly gazes at EVE showing genuine emotion through eye contact.

WALL-E's capability to show geniune emotion is juxtaposed against the incapability for humans of his generation to do the same.  The never may eye contact even if sitting right next to another human.  If sitting directly next to a human, it is rare that they will even recognize that the person is there.  Each human relentlessly stares into his or her holographic screen. This illustration isn't far off from how Turkle sees my generation. We interact from behind the comfort of a computer or cell phone screen. Even a phone call seems invasive. Today I heard my roommate say, "This is sad.  We're all at the dinner table together and on our cell phones instead of talking to one another."  The depiction of machines having more human-like features than humans themselves in WALL-E has social implications about our current generation. The holographic screen is merely a more portable computer screen.  As we begin to hide behind the screen of any technology for social interaction, we are giving up the many facets of face-to-face interaction that we define as inherently human.

The remaining machines are newer models and perhaps their programming is less human-like or they’ve had less interaction with humans outside of the untraditional passengers of the Axiom.  The one that develops clear anthropomorphized qualities over time is EVE.  At first EVE appears to be purely an emotionless robot that only follows the “directives” of her programming.  She incessantly scans for living things, shoots when provoked, and immediately follows her programming orders.  This side of EVE can be seen in the clip below.

From the clip above, it is obvious that WALL-E teaches EVE to let her robot guard down to let her humanized emotions show.  Even after their first reaction EVE laughs a little. After spending more time on earth, EVE learns about human emotions from the same musicals that WALL-E idolizes. As the movie progresses and her relationship with WALL-E becomes more complex, EVE becomes more anthropomorphized, even to the point that she disregards her strict directives. This progression also has social implications about our current generations. If a machine can become more humanized after consistent exposure to humanized face-to-face interaction, it is not too late for us.  We must find some sort of balance in the way that we use technology, because just as EVE became humanized after face-to-face interaction, we can also lose our humanity if we rely on machines for social stimulation.

The relationship that WALL-E forms with EVE is more complex and anthropomorphized than any other relationship featured in the movie.  You can learn more about it in the Robot-Robot Relationships section.