72 Degrees and Sunny – Purpose, Perspective, and -ism/-ists

Nothing is ever simple with me.

A tranquil melody, such as “72 Degrees and Sunny” from the 2008 Disney movie WALL-E got firmly lodged in my mind as yet another example of my uncanny ability to read way too much into things.

There are three sections to this piece which became a series of statements:

“It’s 72 degrees… and sunny!” [Relief and acceptance]

“It’s 72 degrees… and sunny.” [Wariness and boredom]

“It’s 72 degrees… and sunny?” [Questioning and uncertainty at the absolute]

The final repetition strikes me as off – while it is the same as the previous iterations, there is a melody which caught my attention as not being quite right. Oddly (and inevitably), this brought me back to the various themes of the movie and my previous commentary on “Intellectual Kudzu.”

WALL-E, as described by my son, is an atypical Disney iceberg of layered warnings, observations, and motivations. The gist of it is that, in the distant future, the humans have long left the Earth due to runaway garbage problems – leaving robots to clean things up for their eventual return, once things have been sorted out.

Oh, so many layers to this one… but I shall briefly summarize it by saying the main message I derived from it is the quest for regaining purpose.

…But a movie review isn’t what compels me to write about the film….

The ship where the… Rubenesque… humans can be found could be considered a galactic scow of comfort and apathy. Served and tended to by various purpose-built robots, there is no want… there is no need… there is just convenience, distraction, and artificial provision for all that the machines have been programmed to deliver. There is no ambition… because that would imply that the status quo is something from which to change or leave behind.

Appropriately, the name of the ship is the Axiom, which also suggests a devious and intentional messaging…

Axiom:

• a self-evident truth that requires no proof.
• a universally accepted principle or rule.
• Logic, Mathematics. a proposition that is assumed without proof for the sake of studying the consequences that follow from it.

The “truth” of life of this ship fits all definitions of the word – it is an idyllic and accepted rule which requires “no proof for the sake of studying the consequences that follow from it.” It’s 72 degrees and sunny – what else would you want? What else would you need? What else should be provided?

The Axiom provides this all with this odd mishmash of the neon brightness and commercialism often associated with Tokyo or Hong Kong, with the corporate discount consumerism of Costco or Sam’s Club… and, while watching it the other day, I dryly observed that this would be the future version of communism which would be accepted with docile acquiescence.

The third iteration of the melody beginning at 2:27 is what triggered these thoughts of the “myth of the communist utopia/reality of the capitalist utopia.” At this point in the piece, there is a suggestion that something isn’t quite right. My wife would say that it would be an example of “dissonance” – when there is “a conflict in the harmonics between the two (or more) notes being played.” Perhaps she would be right – after all, she is the subject matter expert in all things musical.

However, “dissonance” is what prevents me from sticking to a critique of absolutes of either economic theory. There might be good things to say about either, just as there are serious flaws inherent in these systems. While the advocates of either system thinks that there could be social perfection in either, what they would overlook is one simple truth: that we, as a species and society, need dissonance to thrive.

Earlier, I mentioned that the basic premise I adopted from the movie is that it was about purpose. Humans lost their purpose when catered to, WALL-E had a single purpose in continuing his programming (while becoming a hoarder of trinkets and a fan of musicals), EVE’s purpose was her directive – until it was replaced by the different purpose, and the journey each of these had in discovering their purpose was the choices made because of dissonance.

Perhaps we have forgotten how to navigate dissonance – that odd realm between agreement, harmony, and consistency. Whether it is in the free-flowing MSFatZ* that has is the comment section or Twitter when an alternative perspective is offered, or in our daily lives when we have to wait for something or look up information in the ancient form of print medium, or when fundamental and personal utopias of “truth” are challenged… we need to be forced to find some sort of equilibrium between what we think is right, what others think is right, what is legally/morally/ethically right, and what we do, how we react, and where we go from that point.

72 degrees and sunny… This could be relief, it could be viewed with suspicion, or it could be an absolute which cannot, should not… but must be questioned – especially when the presentation is just a bit too perfect and repeated.

As I said, nothing is ever simple with me. If you find yourself challenged in reading this, just consider the mental chaos I had to sift through to make some sense out of it all. However, thanks for sticking around this far… and you are welcome for that damn song being stuck in your head for the rest of the week… 😊

*MSFatZ – Monkey Shit Fight at the Zoo… come on – pay attention.