A few years ago, when "The Lego Movie" came out, I was fairly intrigued but had no real interest in seeing it. After all, it was a movie made of Lego characters. No matter how good the animation was, it was still a cheap cash-in, right? Well, fast forward to me sitting down and watching it and discovering it was actually one of the smartest and funniest movies I had seen in years. In fact, it might even be on my list of favorite movies of all time!
So, when "Lego Batman" was announced, I was a little more excited for it than I was when the first movie was revealed. I have to confess that I am on the Marvel side of the Marvel vs DC war, and as such have not seen a DC movie in theaters. However, I loved Batman in "The Lego Movie" and knew that any movie with him in it would be loads of fun, and not totally dark and off-putting like the other DC movies tend to be. (Though, don't get me wrong, I totally plan to throw all my money at the "Wonder Woman" movie this summer.) Despite how much I was looking forward to it, I still was not expecting much from it. Of course, I knew there would be substance to it—"The Lego Movie" taught me how much care really is put into these movies behind their cute plastic exteriors—but I did not expect it to have much of an effect on me. "It's just going to be a fun, feel-good romp," I said to myself as I bought my ticket and sat in the theater.
Boy, was I wrong.
Last week, someone very important in our family passed away. It was not totally unexpected, but it was still a heavy blow and for me, the first major death I have fully experienced. And I had not been handling it very well. Part of the reason why I went to "Lego Batman" in the first place was because I needed something lighthearted after days of feeling too sad to do much of anything. And while "Lego Batman" did have lots of laughs, its main theme was also something I needed. Without going too much into spoilers, the movie focuses a lot on the importance of family. Specifically, how much it can hurt to lose family, but that hurt should not stop you from loving the family you still have or family you yet to have. And as somebody who had spent almost a week isolating myself as much as possible, that was a good wake up call. The death still hurts—and it probably will for a while—but that does not mean I should push other people away.
Even though I have lost someone, that means I need to be more grateful for the people I still have. Funny how I got that epiphany from a Lego movie. Really goes to show that you should not underestimate things, even movies based off of plastic building toys.
