An Animated Movie About the Nuts and Bolts of an Unjust Society: 20th Century Fox's "Robots"

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Call me weird, or whatever other adjective you like, but I really love it when movies or TV shows make a broader social/cultural/political point. Yeah, I want to be entertained, but most of the time I also want to feel like I've walked away from a piece of media with a little more perspective on life. That's why I love that Doctor Who practically screams about the value of the everyday person and that Marvel's Agents of Shield uses Daisy/Skye's powers to symbolically discuss how people relate to their own emotions. I was thrilled, then, to re-watch Robots (I was a young teenage last time) and discover that, despite being an animated movie with the requisite eight-year-old humor, it is solidly about socio-economic issues (such as corporate responsibility, the flaws in the medical industry, etc.). I'm recommending it this week because its totally entertaining, but still uses an imaginary setting to help its viewers better understand the world they live in. In this post, I'll begin with a synopsis of the movie and then dive into a couple of the topics I found most interesting.

Synopsis 

This 2005, 20th Century Fox movie (Rotten Tomatoes) follows Rodney Copperbottom (voiced by Ewan McGregor ), a poor robot with a huge dreams – to sell his latest invention to Bigweld Industries, a corporation owned by Bigweld (voiced by Mel Brooks), who is dedicated, above all, to making every robot's life better. However, when Rodney gets to the city, he finds that Bigweld has retired and a young executive named Mr. Gasket (voiced by Lowell Ganz) has taken the company's reigns. Mr. Gasket's aim is not to help disadvantaged robots, but rather turn them into scrap for profit. Rodney and his friends, including Fender (voiced by Robin Williams), Piper (voiced by Amanda Byne), and Lug (voiced by Harland Williams) must stop Mr. Gasket's nefarious plot before they all go to the chop shop.

It calls for corporations to support communities:

We see two attitudes toward corporate responsibility in this movie. The first is exemplified by Bigweld, the owner of Bigweld industries, who, while in control of his company, employs, empowers, and supports the poor of Robot City. He reflects the real-world point-of-view that companies are responsible for protecting and serving the people and societies that they come in contact with. The other attitude is exemplified by Mr. Gasket , the young and money-hungry executive who controls the business when Bigweld retires. By halting production of replacement parts and forcing robots to either buy expensive and flashy upgrades or go to the “chop shop,” Mr. Gasket seeks to destroy the poor population and increase his profits both. Mr. Gasket reflects the idea that the job of a corporation is to make money for its shareholders at any cost. In the real world, we see this in the form of owners who sacrifice both their employees and their communities in the interest of profit (I think of Wal-Mart.). This movie falls squarely on the side of corporate responsibility to its communities, following a main character that spends the majority of the film trying to restore Bigweld Industries to its moral high ground. It's also interesting, though, that the movies doesn't even mention government regulations. Apparently, companies should choose for themselves to support their communities, rather than being forced to by national, state, or local leaders.

It Condemns the Medical and Beauty Industries:

Bigweld Industries is effectively a medical and beauty company in one. It is responsible for producing the replacement parts that keep robots operating (think of this as medical care), as well as producing upgrades that make robots more modern and attractive (think of this as the beauty part of their business). By halting the production of spare parts, Mr. Gasket, the movie's villain, denies robots already-difficult-to-afford medical care, and forces them to be turned into scrap if they can't afford expensive and unnecessary upgrades. The message here, in term of health care, is that companies are sacrificing people's health in the interest of profits; their services are so expensive that people cannot get them and so cannot continue to work.Similarly, by marketing upgrades, with his “ingenious” slogan “Why be you when you can be new?” he markets the idea that to be useful or worthwhile, you must be “improved.” This is, in effect, what the beauty industry does. It markets makeup, skincare, plastic surgery, weight loss supplies etc. telling us that without it we can't be attractive enough. Without unnaturally full eyelashes or arms that look like a mountain range, we aren't full human beings. And to be fair, being attractive enough is a fair concern. Our physical appearance greatly influences our ability to find and retain work. Just like the robots in Robot City, we're a little over a barrel. If we can't spend the money to look nice enough, we may end up at the chop shop, too.

Don't be fooled by all of this talk of medical care and corporate America into thinking that this is a serious movie, though; its actually really fun. Rodney's friend, Fender, voiced by Robin Williams, is perpetual cut-up, constantly losing arms, legs, even his head throughout the movie. Aunt Fanny, the woman with whom Robot, Fender, and all of their friends board with, is snail-shaped and so is constantly knocking things down with her large posterior. And Fender's younger sister, Piper has an adorable, adolescent crush on Rodney. Robots is the full package precisely because it has something to say about tense social issues, while still being enjoyable to watch. I highly suggest watching it for a good laugh and a good chance to think about the world around you.


So, what are your favorite movies or shows that make a larger point? Please tell me in the comments.

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