Dr. Emmett Brown: Great Scott! If my calculations are correct we've arrived in the prehistoric ice age!
Marty McFly: Whoa. This is heavy.
The Lego Movie Could Help You Become a Better Parent (Non-Spoiler Film Review)
I didn't want to see The Lego Movie. It looked like it was purely made to push Lego products and promote Warner Brothers properties. But I was intrigued by the film’s 95% Rotten Tomatoes rating. What finally convinced me to see it was hearing from my child and teenage patients last week – many had plans to see it opening weekend and I knew if I didn't see it soon someone would give away the ending at our next appointment (spoilers are an occupational hazard for clinical psychologists).
I’m so glad I saw the film because it was a ton of fun! Stop-motion inspired CGI brings the iconic Lego toy universe to life in a beautiful way. The acting is spot on, especially Will Arnett's hilarious take on Batman. There's also an amazing cameo by one of the most famous spaceships in the galaxy but I won't ruin the surprise here.
Things move at a frenetic pace and there isn't much room for conversations between the movie’s different franchises. I wanted to see Gandalf, Dumbledore, the Justice League, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hangout more, but it was fun just to see them together on the big screen. My bigger concern is the limited role of females in the story. There is a female lead, but like Louis Lane in Man of Steel she’s mostly there to advance the story of the male characters. This is sort of a big deal since Lego toys have a big gender gap (be sure to read this 7-year-old girl’s take on the issue).
I wish The Lego Movie gave us more interactions across franchises and stronger female characters.
Even with these limitations, The Lego Movie is still more than just another children’s film. What makes it awesome is the story's theme of imagination. The main character is caught in a struggle between following the rules of Lego manuals or embracing his creative instinct. At first this seems like the film's way of honoring the inventiveness of Lego fans. But things become much more personal as the film turns into a story about connecting with children.
This is where The Lego Movie really resonated with me. I work with a lot of parents who come into my office concerned about their child's behavior. Maybe their kid is throwing a lot of tantrums, pushing peers at school, or just can't calm down. Labels like "aggressive", "oppositional", and "disruptive" get tossed around, kids feel pretty crummy about themselves, and parents don’t know what to do. I always start treatment where The Lego Movie ends by teaching parents how to improve their relationship with their children.
One of the most effective treatments for young children with these types of behavior problems is called Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). Parents place a small microphone and speaker in their ear and are coached in real time by therapists behind one-way mirrors. PCIT puts kids in the lead of play and teaches parents how to encourage their child's imagination (kind of like The Lego Movie does). PCIT skills like “labeled praise” encourage positive behavior, “reflections” increase language development, and “descriptions” show that you’re interested in what your child is doing. Yes, we talk about discipline in PCIT too, but study after study has shown that discipline alone doesn't lead to long-term change. The relationship between a parent and child has to be improved first and the best way to do that is by connecting with your child using imaginative play.
Parent Child Interaction Therapy in action. Photo by Robert Barclay via Central Michigan University.
Will the film sell a ton of Lego kits? Absolutely! Does it increase our anticipation for 2016’s Superman VS. Batman film? You betcha! But The Lego Movie achieves more than its commercial self-interests. Writer-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have created a story that is entertaining and has the possibility of helping parents become better parents. There's much more I could say about the psychology of The Lego Movie and its commentary on conformity, totalitarian states, government surveillance, and commercialism. But this is the message I want to leave you with – everything is awesome when you encourage kids to use their imagination.
Rating: 8.5/10
For more perspectives on The Lego Movie, check out The New York Times' positive review and The New York Post's negative (and spoilery) review.
The Super Fantastic Nerd Hour Podcast!
Today my friend H.A. Conrad and I are launching our new podcast – The Super Fantastic Nerd Hour!
The show is dedicated to all the awesome things nerds love. We explore science fiction, fantasy, comic books, TV shows, movies, video games, and sometimes action figures. During the INFINITE CROSSOVER CHAMBER we mashup our favorite characters against each other to see who would win (because that’s what nerds do when they get together). Each episode also includes cool recommendations for stuff you might like.
Subscribe on iTunes and let us know what you think!
The Best Science Fiction Music From 2013
Before moving forward with 2014, I want to look back one last time at 2013.
I'm not going to list 2013's scifi winners and losers (Blastr already did that), rank its coolest fandom moments (I agree with Tony "Crazy 4 Comic Con" Kim's list), or the describe the best psychological studies from the past year.
Since I've already started counting down the best science fiction film and TV scores of all time, I thought it would be fun to recap 2013's coolest scifi music.
Here we go!
#7: Doctor Who - Series 7, Murray Gold
2013 was the year I made first contact with Doctor Who. While Doctor Who's 7th season received mixed reviews, Murray Gold's score remained solid and continued to be some of the best music composed for TV. The music blends in some older themes Gold developed for previous seasons and introduces new darker themes which setup the events of the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary and the departure of Math Smith's 11th Doctor. My favorite tracks include "Clara?", "Infinite Potential", "A Secret He Will Take to His Grave", and "Remember Me". I know "Clara?" technically came out during the 2012 Christmas Special, but hey time is all wibbly wobbly, right? If you're a Whovian, check out the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Collection Soundtrack.
I'm a big fan of Bear McCreary! His score for Battlestar Galactica topped my list of the best scifi music from the 2000s and I love what he's done with The Walking Dead. Europa Report's score combines some of the somber tones McCreary developed for Battlestar with the dread of Walking Dead. The film isn't long, so there isn't much variety to its score, but I enjoyed hearing the different ways McCreary played with a singular theme in "Lift Off", "Landing on Europa", "Mausoleum", "Europa Report (For Solo Piano)", and "A World Other Than Our Own".
I had a lot of fun watching Pacific Rim and a big part of that was Ramin Djawadi's awesome score. I've really enjoyed what Djawadi's did with the Game of Thrones score and was surprised by the variety of music he created for Pacific Rim. From the rock and roll theme (featuring Tom Morello's killer riffs), to the optimistic "Gipsy Danger", the spacey "Shatterdome", the tragic "Mako" theme, the competitive "Physical Compatibility", and the pure popcorn fun of "Kaiju Groupie", the music of Pacific Rim has something for everyone.
A big part of why Gravity was such an awe-inspiring experience was Steven Prince's score. Since director Alfonso Cuarón remained true to the fact that sound cannot travel in the vacuum of space, the only sounds we heard in Gravity (beyond the actor's voices) were Prince's music. There's a lot of similarity between Gravity and Europa Report's scores, particularly in how synthesized sounds are used to intensify suspense. What's interesting about Gravity is how quickly the music transitions between horror and tranquillity, and then back again. Sometimes the score is a little distressing to hear, but there's something about it that keeps me coming back. Check out "Debris", "Don't Let Go", "I.S.S.", "Parachute", and "Gravity".
Oblivion's score is somewhat of a decedent of Tron: Legacy. Both films were directed by Joseph Kosinski, who tapped electronic bands to write each score (M83 with Joseph Trapanese for Oblivion and Daft Punk for Tron: Legacy). I love the integration of electric and traditional instruments, the variety of music on the score, and just how clean everything sounds. My favorite tracks include "Jack's Dream", "Waking Up", "StarWaves", "Earth 2077", and "I'm Sending You Away". I probably won't watch the film again, but I listen to the score all the time.
#2: Man of Steel, Hans Zimmer
The most controversial film score of 2013 was Hans Zimmer's music for Man of Steel. It was criticized as being too moody, too light on themes, and too heavy on percussion. A lot of the controversy was the result of Zimmer following John William's original Superman score, which is one of the greatest themes of all time. /Film's David Chen perfectly captured the differences in the scores in his comparison of the original and new Superman themes:
"If Superman: The Movie is about arriving, about this guy coming to Earth, sharing his amazing powers with us, and saving us…[then] Man of Steel is about yearning, longing, the desire to fit in, an unrequited love of a people."
Zimmer's Man of Steel score fits this version of Superman and sets a bold standard for the DC cinematic universe to come (something we've all been yearning for). Listen to samples including "Elegy from Man of Steel trailer" by L'Orchestra Cinematique's and Zimmer's "Look to the stars", "This is Clark Kent", and "What Are You Going to Do When You Are Not Saving the World?". I can't wait to hear how (presumably) Zimmer integrates this score with Batman's for the upcoming movie.
#1: Her, Arcade Fire, William Butler, Owen Pallett
Her was my favorite scifi film of 2013. The score, a collaboration between Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett (featuring a song by Karen O) is beautifully simple. It features instrumental variations on many of Arcade Fire's recent songs including "Porno" and “Supersymmetry”.
The problem is Her's score isn't' available for purchase ANYWHERE! I kept postponing this article until I had the chance to listen to the score again, but for some dumb reason Warner Brothers hasn't released it. Until they do, you'll have to do with the video below which was posted by Arcade Fire this week.
Even though I've only heard it once, the music of Her left a big impression on me, enough for me to rank it the best of 2013.
Honorable Mentions
James Newton Howard's score for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire almost made my list, but many of the themes were extensions of what he did for the first film. I liked Ryan Amon's Elysium score, but it lacked a a cohesive theme. I've been very critical of Marvel for neglecting to connect themes across their Avengers films, but Brian Tyler created some fun music for both Thor 2 and Iron Man 3.
Notable Exceptions
Along with Bear McCreary, Michael Giacchino is one of my favorite modern composers. His score for 2009's Star Trek set the right tone for the relaunch of the franchise. But there's something missing from his Star Trek Into Darkness score. It does extend Kirk's theme from the first J. J. Abrams film and I really dig the "London Calling" theme for the villain (along with a fantastic nod to The Original Series in "The San Fran Hustle"), but the heart of 2009's score is gone. Maybe the problem is the frenetic pace of the movie. Like the film, I have a lot of fun with the score but it's doesn't live on in my mind like its predecessor.
What were some of your favorite scores from 2013? Let me know in the comments below.
The Most Honest Year of My Life
Photo by Bill Wadman.
The story of Brain Knows Better begins on October 12, 2012. My friend from UCLA , Andrea Letamendi, just spoke at New York Comic Con about the psychology of cosplay and a few hours later we were discussing it over lunch.
“It was really cool to see you in action. Being such a hardcore geek on stage and backing up what you were saying with science,” I said. “But aren’t you afraid of what people in the field are going to think?”
Back in our college days, Andrea and I spent a lot of time reminiscing about Street Fighter 2 and Batman: The Animated Series. When we got to grad school, we both hid our geeky interests the way you might hide a tattoo on the first day of a new job. Seeing Andrea now, integrating all of the things she loved, was inspiring. And intimidating.
“You know, if I were still in school and constantly under scrutiny, I wouldn’t be so public about this other side of my life. But honestly, nothing bad has happened. It’s actually at comic cons where I feel like my life makes the most sense. It’s where I get to be a geek and a psychologist.”
I told Andrea that if I had her confidence, I would talk about how Star Trek influenced my life and how it led me to become a psychologist.
“You need to share your story. It’s about what can happen if you follow your passions. It would resonate with a lot of people.”
Andrea was the first person to encourage me to share my story.
I took Andrea’s advice, wrote Growing Up Trekkie, and emailed it to my friend Lowen Baumgarten (you know, the guy who later wrote the most controversial article on this site). He liked it and thought it would be cool to base a blog on the story. We spent some time mining my favorite music to get inspiration for a title and that’s how Brain Knows Better was born.
I shared my story on Facebook. My friends were really encouraging. Even people who hated science fiction liked Growing Up Trekkie. That felt awesome and made me want to write more.
My second article got fewer likes. I tried again. Even fewer people read my third article. The trend continued. Even though I spent hours developing each article, it didn’t seem like anyone wanted to read my work. I didn’t write anything in December. It just didn’t feel worth the time that went in to develop each post.
Lowen had some extra frequent flier miles he needed to use up and made a last minute trip to New York to hang out. I took the opportunity to vent.
“I’m thinking of pulling the plug on Brain Knows Better. The blog hasn’t gone anywhere and I have no clue why.”
“Yeah, let’s talk about that…”
I could tell Lowen also had something he needed to get off his chest.
“Your first story was great but everything after has been soooooo academic. Look at this.” He grabbed my laptop and pulled up my most recent article. “’Ridley’s Scott’s Prometheus and the Fallacy of Origins’ – I have no idea what that means and I don’t want to find out. What happened to your story? I don’t hear your voice anymore.”
Lowen has always been my Number 1.
Lowen was right. Brain Knows Better was boring. I thought back to Andrea’s panel and how honest she was about her own cosplay. That’s what made the talk awesome – her story combined with real research.
I rebooted everything in 2013 and launched with a story about how Firefly helped me understand the culture clash of my childhood. Overnight it became my most popular article and led to some cool conversations about multiculturalism (and Captain Tight Pants). The more I opened up, the more my work resonated with others.
My audience started to grow, as did my confidence as a writer. I wanted to do more, so I messaged Andrea with an idea I had for a comic con panel we could do together about the psychology of Star Trek versus Star Wars. She loved it, and it was picked up for both WonderCon and San Diego Comic Con. Comic Con fast tracked everything. It helped me make new geek friends, like Star Trek experts Larry Nemecek and John Champion. Somewhere along the way I was nicknamed “the science fiction psychologist”.
I met a lot of cool people at San Diego Comic Con.
But something didn’t feel right. The more I talked about my passions, the more I kept remembering my brother, Salman. He was a big part of my geek origin story. When he committed suicide in 2008, I buried my memories of him – it was the only way I was able to move on. Now that I was talking about being a geek publically, I was also beginning to feel like I was losing control of my emotions. This happened a lot at cons, especially when people asked me about my family. All that raw pain, guilt, and shame started resurfacing against my will.
Being honest as a writer had helped me up to now so it made sense to write about my current struggle dealing with my brother’s death. So that’s what I did. The first time I sat down to write a few paragraphs I cried. A lot. It ended up taking a month to get out, but the more I wrote the less raw it felt.
The response to this story was overwhelming. I’ve heard from over 3,000 people (I save every response) who also struggled with mental health, some who were mourning loved ones and others who also felt the stigma of suicide.
Everything changed after that. It felt like someone flipped a switch and I was able to talk about Salman like I used to when he was alive. I started a new job in the fall and everyone already knows about my brother and the impact he had on my life.
Salman has been with me ever since that story went live. He was with me while I read Ready Player One, explaining all the references to 80s culture that I missed. I imagined that we debated which next-generation system to get, the Xbox One or the PS4 – there would've been endless feuds about which one is better. And in that parallel universe, we had a massive discussion about Spike Jonze's Her. As a computer scientist working in speech recognition, he would have loved seeing the promise of his work realized in the film.
My brother lives on, in memories old and new.
I used to worry a lot about what people thought of me. I avoided any public displays of geekiness because I didn’t want people to think I was weird. That’s also why I shut down every thought I had about my brother – no one could see me lose control of my emotions. This kept me safe. But as I started opening up about whom I really was, I met a great group of people who shared my passions and struggles. Playing it safe just isn’t worth the cost of feeling alone anymore.
This past year was the most honest of my life. Everything that was good came from writing truthfully and connecting with people like you. Thank you for making 2013 so awesome.