How The Lego Movie may have predicted the future

President Business and Donald Trump

One of the main characters in The Lego Movie (2014) is President Business, also known as Lord Business, whose fascist leadership tactics essentially brainwash the Lego citizens into believing happiness can be found in “following the instructions.” President Business’s goal is to eliminate ingenuity and create sameness — the movie’s plot is structured around his plan to unleash the “Kragle” (Krazy Glue) to freeze the Lego people so they can’t build anything from their imagination, anything not included in the instructions. At the end of the movie, President Business reveals that he was acting like a dictator only because he wanted to be liked and had such strict regulations of crime and punishment because of his fear of disorder.

I recently watched The Lego Movie again and was stunned by the similarities between Donald Trump and President Business. As the picture reflects, they even look alike! Until the end of the movie, President Business sees freedom as a threat and seeks to create a kind of homogeny as a means to order and “peace.” His disdain for creativity, diversity, and independence directly correlates to Trump’s views on the arts, immigration, and freedom of speech, and that’s only scratching the surface. In addition, President Business’s narcissism and cruelty leave him standing alone, accompanied only by his robot minions, not unlike Trump’s surrounding himself with WASP yes-men.

A photoshopped image of Trump and his supporters, courtesy of Amanda Holland, to show how we barely notice the terrifying homogeny of the Trump regime.

Did The Lego Movie predict the future? Sure looks like it. As the end of the movie reveals, we can all be “the chosen one,” the regular person — no super powers included — who can overthrow tyranny, bigotry, and dishonesty, armed only with a solid sense of integrity and a love for all humanity. Let’s do this.