Meet Dave (2008)
Directed by Brian Robbins
No — Meet Dave is not woke, scoring 13 out of 100 on our wokeness meter.
Meet Dave arrives in 2008 as a vehicle for Eddie Murphy in two registers: the silent, oddly blank human shell and the peevish miniature captain barking orders from inside its skull.
Consciousness Markers
Eddie Murphy headlines with a notably multiracial supporting cast including Gabrielle Union, Kevin Hart, and Yvette Nicole Brown, though the film makes no explicit point of its diversity.
There are no LGBTQ+ characters, themes, or subtext in the film.
Elizabeth Banks and Gabrielle Union have significant roles, but they are defined largely through romantic attachment and jealousy; no feminist thesis is advanced.
The film features a diverse cast but never engages with race, racism, or racial identity as a theme.
The plot involves aliens choosing not to drain Earth's oceans, but this is a generic save-the-planet beat rather than a climate-crisis allegory.
There is no critique of capitalism, wealth inequality, or corporate power in the film.
The film does not address body image, size diversity, or body-positivity themes.
No neurodivergent characters or themes are present or explored.
The film is a contemporary science-fiction comedy with no historical revisionism.
The film gestures at human kindness and love, but it does so through gentle comedy rather than preachy sermonizing.
Why it received this score
Meet Dave arrives in 2008 as a vehicle for Eddie Murphy in two registers: the silent, oddly blank human shell and the peevish miniature captain barking orders from inside its skull. The premise, a crew of tiny aliens piloting a life-size replica of their leader through New York in search of a stolen orb, is the sort of high concept that studio marketing feared would alienate audiences, which is why the title was sanded down to something agreeable and vague. The result earned a Razzie nomination for its star and a public disavowal from him, which is its own kind of classification.
The supporting cast is quietly broad. Gabrielle Union, Kevin Hart, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Miguel A. Núñez Jr. populate the ship and the city, and the film never pauses to announce the fact. That is worth a small note in the ledger and no more. There is no racial argument here, no gender thesis, no scene in which a character explains what the movie is about. Union's Number 3 is defined by jealousy over the captain's interest in Elizabeth Banks, which is a romantic triangle and not a manifesto.
The film's moral engine is gentler than its reputation suggests. The aliens watch a homeless man share a blanket, study Gina's painting, and abandon a plan to drain Earth's oceans. This is humanist sentiment delivered through pratfalls and a body-function gag or two. No sermon follows. The movie asks us to be kind and then lets Eddie Murphy fall down some stairs, which is a bargain many lesser films would refuse.
Analysis generated by our Consciousness Algorithm
Synopsis
A crew of miniature aliens operate a spaceship that has a human form. While trying to save their planet, the aliens encounter a new problem, as their ship becomes smitten with an Earth woman.
Questions about Meet Dave
Is Meet Dave woke?
No — Meet Dave is not woke, scoring 13 out of 100 on our wokeness meter. That earns it a verdict of Ultra Based.
Does Meet Dave have any woke elements?
1 of the 10 markers register at 30 or above, led by Representation Casting (30). On Representation Casting: Eddie Murphy headlines with a notably multiracial supporting cast including Gabrielle Union, Kevin Hart, and Yvette Nicole Brown, though the film makes no explicit point of its diversity.
How does Meet Dave compare to other 2008 movies?
It ranks #73 of the 212 films from 2008 we've scored; their average is 12. The wokest is Milk (68).
How is the Woke Score calculated?
An AI-assisted process researches the film and its reception, scores it 0–100 on ten markers, then combines those into one 0–100 Woke Score. It measures a specific set of 2020s cultural themes, not film quality.