Laura brought up the Lego Movie earlier and this is another post/comment to hers. I just saw the film and I agree that it is Awesome (see the movie), and it is a text that seems to have been made for this class. As Laura said, this film both works with and subverts the mono-myth. We’ve got the (bearded) mentor, herald, trickster, shape shifter, and shadow almost as caricatures of those roles, all done in a spirit of parody. Yet, there are a couple of serious moments (see the movie) that work to directly evoke and counteract the role of the hero.
http://williamsonsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/The-Lego-Movie.jpg
What is really weird is that one of the conflicts of the movie is almost copy-pasted from the John Fiske article we read. I think I can safely say without spoiling anything that there is a conflict over the use of the “instructions” that come with Lego sets. There are some characters who want to follow them to the letter without deviation and those who want to ignore them completely. So there is the product as the manufactures have created them to be used and the way the people use them in subversion to the manufactures. But, now the manufactures have made a text permitting such use of their product, which Fiske would say was their effort to contain the subversion, something like the example he provided, the shopping mall promoting “mall walkers” (40-41).
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/2013/10/lego_a.jpg
And there is more. Many of the Lego characters are
a walking cross-textual spaghetti bowl. As
he is in the previews and posters I can mention that Lego Batman features prominently
in the movie. There are all kind of jokes and references about him and every
other superhero/character Lego person. And so all of these characters bring
behind them their associated fandoms and tangled inter-connected fandoms. The
film makes use of it all.
In
summary, everyone in class should see the Lego Movie. It is worth it on its own
and may be useful in class. Laura is right about the song. Be ready for that.
Note: should anyone from Warner Bros. or Lego read
this I would not mind being paid :)
Academics need to see this movie, because the children who watched it when it released are going to be tomorrow's writers and film makers. It does literally everything right. I went and saw it in the theaters TWICE because I couldn't let my family not see this movie. It's definitely textbook Monomyth and I don't even care. It's worth it. Go see it.
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