I once used to love playing with Legos. Ok, I’ll admit it, I still do when I get around them, as it always seems to bring the kid out in me. And that’s a good thing! But the thought of anyone going to the movies, especially me, and paying to see a full length version of them in action made me chuckle when I first saw the trailer for The Lego Movie. But when I saw that the film made $69 million in its opening weekend and how favorable of reviews it was getting, I caved in and decided to go see a 3D version of it. What I never imagined would have happened because of that decision was me having a good spiritual cry by the end of it.
Shedding tears at a romantic comedy or a sad drama is something I always expect to happen when I go to see one of them in the theater. But the idea that Legos could do the same thing to me seems unfathomable, but it did. The Lego Movie was truly unique and had all the right elements of humor, action, and drama. There was even a big twist at the end of it that I didn’t see coming. On some level the movie reminded me of a kids version of The Matrix and maybe that’s why I liked it so much. In both, the main character strives to find out who they are with the hopes of becoming something greater. And in the end, both discover that answer was always within themselves.
The Lego Movie’s main character is Emmet Brickowski, who plays an average Lego builder that aspires to be more than he is. He wants to have friends and be known for something more, but day to day, it’s always the same routine. But when one of his sets of directions, which he follows so diligently each and every day at work, flies out of his grasp, he quickly chases after it like it’s his best friend. Upon finding it, he notices a stranger in a black cloak wandering around a part of the construction site nearby. After informing them they’re not supposed to be there, the stranger drops their hood to reveal a woman who Emmet becomes completely tongue-tied over. When she suddenly disappears, he pursues her, only to fall down a very long pit. What he finds at the bottom of it, is what begins his journey of spiritual transformation to discover how important he is and always has been.
There are great parallels in the Lego Movie that I saw to my own life. Over the past few years, I’ve been on my own path of self-discovery, and it’s one that hasn’t been all that easy. There are many times I doubt myself and just want to give up, but there always seems to be something that comes along to keep me going. I often wonder if each of those things are somehow signs coming from God. Whether it was God urging me in my own soul to go see this movie or not, I can’t say. But what I can say is this.
The Lego Movie is a gem of a film that showed me just how important my own spiritual journey in life is. While I might have been questioning that journey a little on the day I saw it, I know I wasn’t when I left the theater. And if I could summarize one positive message for all of you that I took from it, it’s really that we all are unique and special in our own way.
So don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise, you are important in so many ways. Whether you realize it yet or not, don’t fret. Just be open to your own spiritual journey and please never give up pursuing it. Emmet Brickowski didn’t and you don’t have to either.
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
