Deconstructing Lego is a blog that analyzes Lego sets under a variety of lenses, sometimes comparing similar sets from different years or creating a story based around a set or analyzing the implicit message that a set creates.
Although most LEGO sets show little if any mythological influence a few from recent years clearly have. The most obvious recent example is the 2010-2011 Atlantis theme, especially sets like 7985: City of Atlantis, which features the mythical city.
The Atlantis theme has some loose connections to mythology, unlike the 2005-2006 Vikings theme which uses a lot of specific references to Viking lore. Each set includes one Norse mythological creature, including
Fenrir
Wyvern
Nidhogg
Midgard
Fafnir
So why did LEGO use Norse mythology in their Vikings sets? It represents a drastic change as the vast majority of sets lack any historical context. My guess would be that it may have been a geographical decision. Denmark was a huge bastion of Viking activity centuries ago, and this still influences their culture today. If anything it is surprising that LEGO did not create Viking sets earlier.
LEGO has decided to venture into the realm of comic book licenses once again (despite the failure of Spiderman and Batman sets from several years ago) by tying the sets more directly to movies. A pretty smart move.
One thing that excited me about this is that, in the past, LEGO has caught some flack because the majority (excluding Mace Windu and Lando) of PoC in the licensed sets have been villains. And this is not necessarily the fault of LEGO, but rather the licenses that they have produced sets for. Regardless, the Avengers poster made it obvious that this would be a great opportunity for LEGO to create not only a strong Black figure, but also a strong female figure.
I'm talking about Nick Fury and Maria Hill, of course. LEGO even made their own version of this now iconic poster, seen below:
How awesome! Except that EVERY SET HAS JUST WHITE DUDES. There are currently five Avengers sets that feature Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Hulk (yes, he is green, but Dr. Banner is a White dude), Hawkeye, Loki, Loki Henchmen (IDK what they are...robots?), Deadpool, Wolverine (who is an Avenger...not sure why he wasn't in the movie), and Magneto.
So, the issue I have is that LEGO had this great opportunity to incorporate a positive Black character and a strong female character into their sets, two major characters, but decided not to for whatever reason. I am guessing that they will in future sets, assuming that The Avengers gets another wave of sets. I am disappointed, but we will just have to wait and see.
In this post I will focus primarily on the 2011 set 4642: Fishing Boat, touching on the gender roles exhibited by this set (and other LEGO sets and advertisements), along with how this set compares to previous offerings.
This was a set that I instantly wanted to own as soon as I saw it. I love sets with boats that actually float, like this one. That may be due to the fact that two of the first sets that I ever owned are floating boats that were very similar to this model. The first is the 1989 DUPLO set 2643: Fishing Boat.
A simple but adorable set. Similar to the 2011 set in that there are two people fishing (note the fish in the dinghy). But 4642: Fishing Boatis incredibly similar to a set released two decades earlier, 4011: Cabin Cruiser in 1991.
Still one of my favorite sets. Note the fishing pole, shark, and design of the boat in each set. There are only minor differences. Upon closer examination, both contain a small cabin (note the windshield on the deck of each.
As we have seen with many LEGO sets there are sometimes only a few small differences between sets released decades apart. What I really want to focus on, however, is the father-son relationship we see in all three sets.
With the 1991 set it could be suggested that these are simply two men. However, due to the common trope of a father and son fishing together, I argue that there is definitely a father and son. Just look at the attire of the two.
One is dressed like a captain, with the appropriate shirt and hat, while the other is wearing a cap and a striped shirt, much like any young person. In the 2011 set it is even more obvious due to the inclusion of the 'short legs' that were originally released with Harry Potter sets for the Gringotts goblins.
Note the short blue legs and cap. Both sets include imagery of the two fishing together, father and son.
What is really interesting is that this father-son bonding ties directly into recent LEGO marketing. Take a look at this ad from late 2010.
LEGO is very clearly marketing towards fathers that want a toy that they can build with their son, or at least, a toy that establishes a father-son relationship. They may not be able to take their son fishing, but they can give their son a LEGO set that emulates that experience somewhat explicitly. Which I guess brings up the issue of why LEGO never produces sets that includes only females, or a mother-daughter duo.
But the overall lack of women in LEGO sets is another topic for another day. For now, it's interesting to note how LEGO is directly going after this father-son demographic.
A new year! Time to take a look at some more contemporary sets. Now that 2011 is over I'm going to take a look at a few of the sets from last year for the next few posts (or maybe not via I am not very consistent).
A relic of a somewhat bygone era, the Telephone Booth used to be seen on every street corner. Today they're found mostly in airports and bars, the rest being replaced by cell phones. This 1986 set features a somewhat fancy setup, with a roof and seating.
I really like the design of the bench, very unique to use the inverted slopes as a base for the chair pieces. Something I want to use in my own creations.
Maybe the dude is a bike messenger, getting a new assignment. Probably a hipster on a fucking fixie.
The phone booth is yellow which is kinda weird, but I was thinking that maybe phone booths in Denmark are yellow. I did a bit of research (via Google image search) and it would appear that Danish phone booths are Green.
Ted: Frank! Frank, what the hell are you doing!
Frank: Recovering motorcycles. There was a huge flood so I figured I'd grab a motorcycle. The kid has been nagging that he wants one for his birthday.
Ted: Frank we are supposed to be saving people, not recovering motorcycles so that you can get back at your ex.
Frank: I just feel like this is the only way he'll ever respect me, if I show up one evening on a black three-wheeled motorcycle, and we ride off into the sunset. I don't care if his mother has him every weekend, I'm going to take my son on a motorcycle ride!
Ted: Frank, you need to let go. He'll come around. A few more years and you'll be able to go to the bar with him, talk about girls and watch some goddam baseball.
Frank: I guess you're right. I'll bring the chopper down so we can grab that scuba diver. Fucking tourists.
Ted: Fuckin' tourists.
Seriously can anyone explain why they are trying to save a motorcycle instead of flood victims???
The 1987 set 4030: Cargo Carrier is easily one of the most meta Lego sets that exists. Here we have a cargo ship with the primary cargo being Lego. A Lego set that is full of more Lego! So meta.
I really enjoy Lego sets that contain references to the product. This is probably one of my favorite ones though since a lot of Lego has to be shipped overseas. The scale of the set isn't too bad, obviously the boat would have to be a lot larger to actually be at a minifigure scale, but it works pretty well regardless.
One has to wonder what the cargo is. Perhaps boxed Lego sets, or maybe just parts that still need to be sorted and boxed up before sold. Or perhaps the men onboard are the actual cargo, and they've escaped! Either way, it's a very nice looking set and one that I would love to own.
Thoreau ventured into the woods near Concord Massachusetts and built a small log cabin, desiring to live under the guide of transcendentalist philosophy and to objectively view society from afar. In his own words, he
"went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion."
The Lego Creator set 5766: Log Cabin can be interpreted as a set based on Thoreau's unique experiment. There is a small patch of water in the set, perhaps meant to represent Walden Pond. Thoreau's cabin was 15'x10', which does not quite fit the dimensions of the set shown here but it is certainly close.
Thoreau spent much of his time at Walden Pond living simply, writing about life and government, and relaxing in the woods of New England. While this set can easily be seen as any ordinary woodland cabin, I like to think of the possibility that on some level Thoreau was thought of when this set was designed.
The above photo is a replica of Thoreau's cabin, and looks quite similar to the Lego set. The door it located on a different side, the but roof and placement of the chimney are remarkably the same.
I hope this post helps you to take time to think about the cultural influences that may or may not go into the design of each Lego set.
