Human-Human Interaction

As previously mentioned, humans on board have no concept of today’s “humanity.”  They are all obese, lay on hovercrafts, are catered to by robots, and incessantly stare at holographic screens. These humans are so heavily reliant on technology that even common tasks such as brushing one’s teeth are performed for them by robots. There is no person-to-person interaction beyond chatting through the screens. The concept of the personal holographic screen illustrates Turkle’s theory that humans are never truly alone because passengers rely on this technology for constant communication during all waking hours of the day and these screens can also pop up at night.  As you can see in the clip below, even when directly next to each other, this generation of humans still only converses via the screen.

Turkle argues that today’s generations are not far off from behind-the-screen interaction as seen in that clip.  We hide behind specially tailored facebook profiles and carefully crafted responses via email or text message.  We are slowly losing our ability to interact with one another in a face-to-face format.  This lack of face-to-face interaction is permeating into our relationships as well.  The internet has become a new opportunity for dating.  In WALL-E, the humans take it one step further and “holo-date” via their holographic screens.  One passenger describes her “holo-date” as “superficial.”  Start the clip below at 3:20 for elaboration.

Many passengers are unaware of their surroundings on the ship because their faces are constantly buried in a holographic screen. The woman in these clips admits that she was unaware of the ship’s pool. However, the passengers are even more unaware of the people surrounding them.  As seen previously, passengers will commonly be video chatting the person sitting beside them. They never take notice of people unless out of interruption. The same woman complaining about “holo-dates” sparks chemistry with a passenger from accidental face-to-face interaction and accidental physical contact – something that is completely forgotten by all humans on the Axiom. The clip below beginning at 1:00 illustrates the immediate tangible power of face-to-face human interaction.

The captain is equally unaware of the ship’s surroundings and its purpose (he didn't even know what the earth was) because of the lack of interaction with his predecessors and his reliance on technology. Like the rest of the passengers, the captain had no concept of the ship's mission, plant matter, or even the earth until informed by the computer.  He is also illiterate because the computer screens write words out phonetically if he must read.  When trying to read one of the ship’s manuals, the captain isn’t only unable to read it, but also doesn’t know what a book or paper is.  This illustrates just how important human interaction is in the maintenance of human characteristics.  Because the captain and all of the humans on the ship are completely dependent on technology, they stopped interacting with one another out of sheer laziness. In halting all face-to-face interaction, they also ended many distinctly human attributes that were transmitted in face-to-face interaction, including literacy.