I find it really interesting that the message of Monsters University is basically āyou donāt have to go to collegeā also and ādreams arenāt the only thing that can make you happyā, because Mike never becomes a scarer, not the kind he dreamed about in school. Heās Sulleyās manager/assistant/corner man, heās not the guy jumping out of closets and flashing his teeth.
Mike risks his life, risks being trapped in the human world to prove his scarinessāand he still never gets there. And heās happy anyway.
How many stories give you a character who failed at their dream and are happy?
The kids who grew up watching Monsters Inc and all those other Disney/Pixar movies, all theyāve been hearing throughout their childhood is that what they really need is a Dream, a Passion, and then theyāll have it made, the outline of their life that they need to follow, all thatās left is effort. Exceptāit doesnāt really work like that, because there are 50-year-old waitresses and janitors and I can guarantee you this isnāt what they dreamed of when they were young, but they can still be happy. Because you are not your job, you are not a goal, you are not a failure if you donāt satisfy a childhood dream.
But everyone likes to pretend otherwise for some reason, and youāre left with a young adult whose image of college is that of a test which will define the rest of their life. Unlearning that image isnāt easy, because so many things reinforce it.
Except this movie.
Itās so interesting to me how much of itās directed at the generation thatās grown up already. Hopefully its messages will linger with the new kids, too.
I need to see Monsters U now
