Love like a robot

A few days ago I got the chance to watch Wall•E, the most recent movie from Pixar. It’s all about a little robot named Wall•E, whose job it is to clean up all the garbage on an abandoned planet earth. His life is rolling along in some degree of loneliness, but finding satisfaction in his work and hobbies, when something unexpected occurs: he meets an advanced robotic probe, EVE, and falls in love with her.

Though the robots never really speak, Pixar excels at making them alive. Wall•E is made into a fantastic caricature of humans; he is alive and emotional. He gets nervous, excited, afraid and happy. Most strange for a robot, though, is that he is affectionate.

The movie has many great scenes, but one of the most emotional is the montage when EVE has succeeded in her mission and goes into a standby mode, and doesn’t respond to Wall•E at all. Wall•E refuses to stop loving her. He takes her on walks, tries to entertain and protect her and love her in whatever way he knows how. He does all this while there is no response whatsoever from EVE.

The scene got me thinking about whether or not I would be able to love like that—so self sacrificially and with no love in return. I think I would find it very difficult. It’s a defining moment for Wall•E in the movie, and the apostle Paul suggests that similar sufferings can be defining moments for us:

“… We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:3–6

We can have the perseverance and strength of character that Wall•E shows, because we have been loved like that by God.

I just need a welding laser between my eyes and I’ll be set. (Go see the movie )