I'll be honest, when" The Lego Movie" first came out, I thought it was absolutely absurd and I refused to watch it. However, when it come out on Pay-per-view, I got bamboozled by one of my bebes into watching it. I expected that it would blend into the background of the countless other animated kids movies that are all easily forgettable. What I did not expect however was a stealthily touching movie that crawled its way into my heart and my everyday repertoire of movie quotes. The entire movie was wonderful, but here are some moments that were surprisingly deep and painfully relatable to me as a college student.
1. That post-"workout" buzz
As someone who could easily stay on the internet 12 hours straight, exercise is not my natural state. To gladly veer out of my free time norms by working out can often feel like a real triumph, so when Emmet exclaims in excitement after completing two jumping jacks as a morning workout, I can relate. Even if it's a short video of light yoga, any workout successfully completed in my busy schedule and waves of laziness/tiredness can seem like something to get pumped up about.
2. Winging presentations
As far as speeches and presentations go, I have tried it both ways- planned and unplanned- and it always goes better for me when it is unplanned. However, winging an important class presentation comes with a degree of riskiness so I (and others, I'm sure) can relate to UniKitty's stellar presentation tactics as she stalls during the Octan infiltration: confidence and over-explanation.
3. Being socially dead
College is a great time to have fun with your friends and do things you love. However, it is also a time for being exhausted and done. I know my fellow introverts and shy people will relate to Good Cop/Bad Cop in this way. Especially on busy days, you can start feeling like two different people- the Good Cop you are when hanging with friends, and the Bad Cop you are when you just want to be grumpy and alone. Some days, all you want to be is the salty Bad Cop, but you gotta put on a Good Cop face to be kind in your friend encounters.
4. Making new friends
You meet some of the coolest and weirdest people in college, and while not everyone will probably have an obsessive love of spaceships like Benny, it's easy to relate to his enthusiasm and excitement for what he loves, as it is not that dissimilar to that elation we feel as we make a random new friend that is just as enamored with that one thing we are obsessed with, whether it be spaceships Hamilton or Harry Potter.
5. Bad classes
There's always at least one (sometimes more) class that is the bane of your existence every semester. Maybe it's because it's for morning people, which you are not. Maybe because there is that over-eager classmate that asks way too many questions and makes the whole class stay late. Maybe the subject material is just a drag. Whatever the reason is, every college student can relate to the class they despise about as much as Batman in Cloud Cuckoo Land.
6. Being lost in class
Emmet's feelings about being The Special speak deeply to the confusion many students feel (most commonly found in math classes). There's nothing quite like spending hours struggling to understand just 3 math problems or cram your brain with endless scientific names for a test, only to realize halfway through the class that you are hopelessly lost in information and you need to sort things our fast if you want to get the grade. At least Emmet had someone explain his situation to him clearly, he just wasn't listening. Some students don't even have the luxury of a clear explanation of their work.
7. Food. Just food.
Emmet gets it- food is life. No fad diets or anything like that. While Emmet probably eats whatever in an attempt to fit in, many hungry college students can relate to the ability to lose particularity. while some are better off financially than others and can afford plenty of food, there is not a college student alive that will refuse free food when offered. It is just the way of things.
8. Canceled Class/Projects
Though it may not be a common occurrence for some students, I personally think it can be really disheartening when a class you were counting on gets cancelled so your test is rescheduled, or a project gets moved. Similar to how Benny's disappointment shows after he has already started to work on his super cool spaceship, it can be equally disappointing to study hard for a test only to have it be postponed a week, or to have a project you had already started on cancelled.
9. Zoning out in lecture
One of the most terrifying moments in class is when you zone out. Maybe you were looking something up, or maybe you were just tired from cramming the night before but either way, you're in lecture and you just completely missed everything the lecturer has said for the past 5 minutes and haven't written a word of it down. It can leave any student begging to stand up in class and say like Emmet, "Tell me the whole thing again, I wasn't listening."
10. Surviving finals
While some people are so positive that nothing can dampen their day, the majority of college students identify with the stress of finals. It is a fight to uphold an optimistic attitude as the pressures of the semester's course load attempt to swarm students. Much like the normally-positive UniKitty is on the verge of a breakdown as she watches her world (literally) crash around her, even the most upbeat college student can identify with the drive to maintain a positive attitude in the last few weeks of school, even when it feels like tests, papers, projects, and presentations are crashing around them.
11. Teachers
Just as a general rule, many teachers are frustrating. Some are frustrating because they are bad, some are frustrating because they are cool people but run a demanding classroom and sometimes you just do not want to give the effort. Either way, they hold your grade in the balance, so as much as you might occasionally want to tell them exactly what you think (even if it's not mean) you have to learn to grin and bear it when teacher's plans do not go your way. Just like Lord Business (albeit fakely) masks his frustration at Emmet's escape and the kink thrown in his own plans, we must learn to suck it up and roll with it, being adaptable to different classroom and teacher environments.
