Let me begin this rant by explaining what a microcosm is. It is a miniature world. It is our society represented in a smaller example or scenario. We all create microcosms in our daily conversations when we use illustrations or talk about hypothetical situations. There are many movies or books that are microcosms. Animal Farm by George Orwell would neatly fall into this category, as it is a microcosm of the then Communist USSR. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller portrays a microcosm of the American society pointlessly pursuing the American dream. 'Lord of the Flies' is a novel by William Golding where he builds a microcosm of his idea of a world without an older or superior authority. 'The Breakfast Club' is a movie that is a microcosm of the entire society and the different types of people in it. A lot of sci-fi and fantasy stories have the same theme as well. For example, in 'The Hunger Games,' Suzanne Collins builds a microcosm of her idea of the future, if things progress as they are doing so now.
Upon watching 'The Lego Movie,' microcosm is the first word that came to my mind. But, what really struck me was that it was quite different from the typical movies or stories that are microcosms. What these stories usually do is that they just build the microcosm without claiming to do so. However, that is not what 'The Lego Movie' does. It claims to be a microcosm. It even shows the bigger world that the Lego world aims to portray. Towards the end of the movie, the characters of the father and son are shown. The characters of President Business in the Lego world is representative of the character of the father in the real world. The 'master builders' of the Lego world somehow represent the creativity of the son in the real world. And through this microcosm, the film sends out its message. Business and work kills creativity, whereas they ought to work together. Every viewer can easily make this connection. But interestingly, by making this idea of the microcosm blatant and explicit, the focus is removed from another microcosm.
The real world in the movie is a microcosm in itself of the society at large. The relationship between the two is representative of a delicate balance in our society between the market and art. And with the market and business, there is shown to come a lot of unpleasant elements, such as lack of individuality, existence of 'popular' culture, an excessive reliance on 'instructions,' and a lack of creativity. These elements are shown in the character of Emmet when he first meets Wyldstyle. The present is shown to be the result of such an industry driven world. The past, on the other hand, is portrayed by Wyldstyle as something that is far more freer. Instead of drubbing the entire system of industry, the movie ends with an idea of the two working together. The order and consistency of the business industry or the market is something that is needed along with the wild, free, unrestrained, creativity of the artist. The characters in the Lego world are shown working together at the end, along with the father and son working together in the real world.
Whether in the larger society, this model can be implemented is another question altogether. The movie would suggest it highly within the realms of possibility, if only one would 'believe.' That is the message the movie aims to send out. But before asking that question, one more question to ask upon encountering such microcosms would be whether they are truly representative of our world. How accurate are these depictions? I am not making any statements about whether they are accurate or not. I am merely saying that they may or may not be. It is just the author or the filmmaker's view of the world. Some might say they are accurate, and some may say they are not. Though the microcosm by itself cannot say anything about its own accuracy, it can say a lot about the creator of these microcosm, and about how he/she views the world. And that is what I'm thinking of writing about in my next post. (Don't know when that'll come out though, even if it will.)
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