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So a full year ago, I got really hyperfixated on the Lego Movies, and I was writing a full-ass video essay/ramble that I was gonna post where I talked about this, along with just posting this here on its own. But I have ADHD so that wasn't happening lol. (I made it pretty far! It was 300 pages and 100k words! Actually how the fuck did I do that what the hell)

I'm definitely never making that video, though I did kinda cook with my script that I will never show the public, but I still wanna tell the world about my analysis of "what if Emmet's trans." What can I say, I like trans readings.

So I'm posting this now. Basically the same as I wrote the post a year ago, unless I have addendums from future me (which I do). Enjoy!

Emmet Brickowski As A Trans Woman: A Headcanon/Analysis

Spoilers for The Lego Movie 1 and 2. This post can be read and understood if you haven't seen the movies, and this is because I want people to watch the Lego Movies. They're so fucking good. Please. Please.

So for the past two months, I've been working on the script to a big fucking video on The Lego Movies, analyzing multiple different aspects. The script is finally done, I'll be filming it soon and I'll link it when it's posted.

[Addendum from future me: this is not happening lol]

The protagonist of The Lego Movies, Emmet Brickowski, is canonically a man. But in the video, I refer to Emmet as a trans woman, and I use she/her pronouns for her the whole time. And there's an entire chapter of the video explaining WHY I hold this headcanon.

Now, I've been posting a lot about my transfem Emmet headcanon. I've drawn her, I've talked about her, I refer to her with she/her in posts unrelated to the hc, if I have any sort of reputation in the Lego Movie fandom it's probably as "that one guy who posts about transfem Emmet". So I thought, hey, why not take that chapter of my script, and post it here with changes to fit the medium, both as a preview to the video AND as a thing I can quickly send to people instead of linking them to a probably 3 hour video?

So that's what I'm doing now! Using the script to my video (with adjustments for this medium), I'll be explaining the context of the movies for those who need a refresher, and then going into why this context and why the way our lovely protagonist is written makes me hold the strong belief that Emmet Brickowski is in fact, one of The Transes.

If you want another (shorter) post on transfem Emmet, I'll point you to this excellent one by @omnipotina. I'll quote the post a few times here, but I recommend reading it yourself! It makes the same argument I'm making here, though I'm going more in depth. And when that damn video I'm making is complete, I'll link it so you can watch the transfem Emmet analysis instead of just reading it (for my girlies who have difficulty with long posts but enjoy videos).

[Future Me Addendum: Again, this is not happening. I'm so fucking sorry girlies who have difficulty with long posts but enjoy videos, I have failed you. Also in the next paragraph, I refer to myself as an enby transmasc. I'm not transmasc, I was going through some gender questioning at the time. I can firmly say I'm nonbinary, I just use he/him.]

Full disclosure: I'm not transfem. I'm an enby transmasc, so I know what it's like being trans in the general sense, but I know that being transfem is a different experience. So I might get some stuff wrong. If I do, transfems in the notes please correct me, and I'll edit the post with corrections. I will do my best to be accurate, I'm basing a lot of this off of how I've heard transfems describe their experiences. But I'm not a primary source, and should not be treated as such.

Also a disclaimer: This was absolutely not intentional on the writers' part. There is no way in hell they set out to write Emmet as a trans woman- no, Emmet is definitely canonically a guy. But the purpose of interpretation, headcanon, and analysis is to add to the text. And when I say that transfem Emmet adds to the text, makes everything about her more interesting, I mean it.

With that being said, on with the analysis!

Part One: Bricksburg (This City Is A Fucking Nightmare)

[Future Me Addendum: Originally this chapter was just called "Bricksburg." I added the "This City Is A Fucking Nightmare" part to the chapter title now. I thought it'd be funny. This is because I am funny.]

In order to analyze why Emmet is transgender as all hell, we must analyze the context in which she exists, because it contributes to Emmet's accidental queercoding. So, welcome to Bricksburg! A capitalist surveillance state with overpriced goods, mindless entertainment, cops serving the interest of the shitty dude in power rather than the interest of the people, and a supposed democracy that's actually a dictatorship! This movie came out in 2014.

I jest. Bricksburg is definitely meant to be satirizing our world, but it's not one to one. Their dictator, Lord Business, is less evil than ours. And the city seems to experience no crushing existential dread about the future. And even if you do, you're not supposed to, because clearly no one else does, since no one's talking about it. So you don't talk about it either. That's a bit of a digression, but also serves as a neat segue into the point.

Bricksburg operates on one very simple ethos: follow the instructions. Every citizen in Bricksburg is a cog in the machine. Your instructions tell you to fit in, conform, don't break the mold, obey the rules. Creativity is strictly regulated- you're only allowed to build if you're following a specific set of instructions (which is hammered home in the excellent game adaptation). There are billboards around reading "Conform: It's the norm!" and telling you to just smile if you're feeling bad. And all of this is seen as a good thing, generally accepted by the population, because they don't know anything else. This is life for them. You're a citizen of Bricksburg, and you're a good citizen, so you follow the instructions and you do not deviate from your role.

Now, of course, there are people who don't like this. People who are rebelling against Lord Business's dictatorship. And there is a whole group of people- Master Builders- who build freely, refuse to color inside the lines, try to fulfill the prophecy that'll let them stop Lord Business and take down the system.

But there are consequences. The instructions tell you to report anything weird immediately. The cops hunt down any Master Builders who try to change the system, putting them in a horrifying torture prison called the Think Tank. Anyone who dares to deviate from the system in any way is a threat to it, a threat that must be imprisoned and controlled.

It's unknown what happens to those who disobey in mild ways, but I personally believe it's likely that they're ostracized. I don't have particular evidence for this, it's more of a headcanon than anything, but based on how Bricksburg satirizes our world, and based on how our world ostracizes anyone who deviates from the norm? I find it likely, and I find it to be a headcanon that enriches the text.

[Future Me Addendum: I proceed to explain why these themes are queer as hell, and I'm really not sure why I did that for this site. Like, we know. We're all gay here. Most of my followers are queer, they know. I do not know why I explained it. I love explaining things.]

Now, let me state the obvious: these themes are queer as all hell. You have a specific role, and you are told to fit into that role. Don't deviate from the norm (of your gender), don't go outside the lines (of your gender). Thanks to the lack of positive representation, many queer people haven't known for YEARS it's possible for them to be anything but cisgender, heterosexual, and alloromantic. So you just try to make it work. You're a man, and you're good at being a man, so you do what men are meant to do and you do not deviate from your role.

And if you DO deviate, you're punished. You're shamed, you're ostracized, you're told to stop being who you are, stop being a freak, stop exposing others to your freakishness, just be normal. And if you don't, you face violent consequences. Not just violent consequences from randos, either- many visibly queer people, many queer people who fight for justice, have been attacked by the police. Because you're breaking the rules. You're an anomaly to the allocishet norm, someone who must be beat back into your box.

This reading really frames Master Builders as, well, The Gays. Queer people who fight for liberation, fight for our rights. The Master Builders reject Lord Business's framework that order and perfection is the way to go, instead adopting a framework of creativity, messiness, chaotic beauty. They build freely because building freely is human, and because creativity is human. Fuck being forced to follow instructions. If we follow instructions, it will be instructions we make for ourselves, and it will be by our choice, not because you want us to.

That's what we do, what queer frameworks I personally follow think. We reject the idea that the only real kind of love is between a man and a woman. We reject the idea that you must be in a relationship at all. We reject the idea that men and women are strict, unchanging, completely separate categories.

Instead, we adopt the framework that love, sex, gender, it's all fluid. Because humanity does not fit into strict categories. We create our own labels to describe ourselves and unite under. Some don't use labels because they find them constraining (and it's not your business if someone does or does not).

We work in a way that is antithetical to the allocishet norm- we threaten the status quo simply by being. So they try to force us into closets, force us to follow their instructions of what a Good Cishet Life looks like. Even if we're tolerated, which we're often not, many allocishet people have thought (esp in 2014-2016) that we should just assimilate. That we should just be Normal. Be a Normal Gay, be a Normal Trans, be palatable to the norms of society.

And we say fuck that. We won't hide who we are because you find it hard to stomach us existing in the way that makes us happiest. We'll work together, work to be proud of ourselves. If our existence peels up the pieces and tears apart the walls of the status quo, then we will take those pieces and rebuild them into something new. Queerness is human, and queerness is freedom. You won't shove us in a closet, and you won't shove us in your boxes. Fuck forcing people in a box. If we sit in a box, it will be boxes we made for ourselves, and it will be by our choice, not because you want us to be there.

Are all queer people operating under this mindset? Absolutely the FUCK not. (Trust me, I'm aroace, I know this well!) But that is the framework of queerness I find most helpful and most beautiful. Queerness as freedom. And well, that's a framework that I feel maps well onto the Master Builders.

So The Lego Movie's already got queer themes. That subconsciously primed me personally to read our lovely protagonist as queer. Does the rest of the movie support this, though? You better believe it does!

Part Two: Following Instructions

The first piece of evidence I'm pulling from that post I mentioned earlier from omnipotina, who writes:

In the first movie, Emmet's whole life is decided for him. There's no introspection, no imagination, nothing allowed that goes against the rules. And Emmet's arc over the course of the movie is discovering that breaking free of the societal constraints and going against the status quo is the only way to truly live. This is ALREADY a very common theme among queer stories, but the evidence doesnt stop here.

Very true omnipotina. The evidence sure doesn't stop there.

One of Emmet's defining character traits is her tendency to just do what everybody else wants her to do. And in the first movie, this manifests through her want to fit in and follow instructions. She doesn’t break the mold, she doesn’t step out of line, she doesn't express any of the Weirdness in her brain. And what this results in is her being an average, forgettable, lonely, deeply insecure dude.

From what I've seen and heard, many trans women before they come out are completely average quote un-quote “men” who follow the instructions and try not to break the rules of masculinity. They keep their heads down and draw within the lines. And this results in a lot of misery, dysphoria, isolation, loneliness, and insecurity.

Emmet's situation isn't a 1-to-1 of that- of course it's not, she wasn't written as a trans woman, we're just retroactively viewing her through that lens. Because viewing her through that lens makes things a lot more interesting.

All Emmet knows is “follow the instructions.” If she follows the instructions, then she'll fit in, she'll be liked, she'll be happy. And that could be applicable to her gender as well. She thinks “Well, I’m a guy, right?” and because of her need to follow the instructions, she doesn’t consider that there could be an alternative path. Because an alternative path would make her stop fitting in.

But her need to follow instructions so closely makes her very forgettable to those around her. About ten minutes into the movie, there's a scene where Emmet finds out that no one actually knows her. She thought she was friends with her coworkers, that they'd even remember her, but they don't. Because she's forgettable. All she does is say yes to everything everybody else is doing. No one really knows anything about her. She's a blank slate. She's a nothing person. She's not "normal like us."

I can't quite explain it, but there's this... intangible quality to this whole scene that, to me, really makes Emmet feel more trans. Maybe it's confirmation bias. But I'll try to explain why my trans radar is going off here.

It's worth noting that the scene codes Emmet as more autistic than trans- it's literally her finding out she's been misreading social cues for years. But hey, Emmet can be both! And more than one read can be applied to a scene. I've got two trans reads on this scene that do contradict each other a bit, but are both fascinating in their own rights.

Angle one hones in on that goddamn “Emmet’s not normal like us” line that I’m obsessed with. Grain of salt here, but I have heard that a lot of transfems are othered even before they know they’re trans. And that’s what this feels like.

Others can sense that there's something... deviant about Emmet. Something intangibly different. They unconsciously avoid her because of this, never trying to get to know her, because there’s just something off about her, yknow? And in this trans reading, it's that they can feel that she's trans. They can feel she's not just a cishet guy. That she's not “normal like us.”

Though I'll admit, I'm very much pulling off of secondhand information here, and this reading really tunnel visions in on the “not normal like us” line, because that line is queer as all hell and I swear when I heard it for the first time I lost my goddamn mind. But it's just one line among many in this scene. Thankfully for me, there's another trans read on this scene that's more accurate!

Angle two focuses on the actual meat of the scene: nobody actually knows her.

Emmet tries her damnedest to fit in. She follows her instructions. She draws within the lines. She sticks to the rules of her society and the rules of her gender. And because she does not TRY to bend those rules, she is easy to ignore. Emmet is trying to fit in, not doing ANYTHING that could place her outside the norm, and therefore isn't really seen as fun. As having a personality.

And that just isn't true- Emmet's sweet, adorable, and delightfully fucking weird! She has weird ideas and fun thoughts! She most definitely has a personality! But she's seen as bland, as having nothing to her, as a blank slate, because she's trying extremely hard to be an average guy and not break the rules.

Because, well, if she broke the rules, if she stopped following instructions, if she stopped being a good citizen, (if she stopped being a man,) that would be bad! Why would it be bad? Because it'd be breaking the rules, and the rules are there for a reason! This is just how things are meant to be! Of course it's good to follow the instructions, of course it's good to listen to President Business, of course the societal norms are correct, of course conforming is good, of course she's a guy because she was born a guy, of course!

This is what Emmet's been taught her whole life. You are a cog in the machine. You do not break the rules. Things are the way they are because that's just how they are. And she doesn't question it, because she doesn't know she even should. She doesn't know there's an alternate path here, because no one has ever shown her that.

At least, not for a while.

Part Three: Lucy and Queer Love

Lucy, AKA Wyldstyle, is Emmet's love interest, and she is a huge part of the inciting incident. The reason Emmet finds the Macguffin and joins the anti-Octan resistance in the first place is because she sees Lucy fucking around, and in a relatable experience to many lesbians, she sees that Lucy is the most gorgeous woman she's even seen in her life and her brain fucking fries (which causes her to fall in a hole, experience cosmic horror visions, and pass out). And after Emmet gets nabbed by the cops, Lucy's the one to save her and get her outta there. Without Lucy, the movie would not have happened at all.

And Lucy- I mean, look at her. Look at her. She's the most obviously trans character I've ever seen. She has dyed hair. She wears a cool hoodie. She's cycled through a fuckton of names. The second movie reveals she literally has blue hair and pronouns. The most prominent colors in her design are the colors of the trans flag. She's cool enough to date Batman. Lucy is trans, I don't need to argue this, just look at her.

And because she's such an anomaly in the system, because she's someone who sticks out, because she's someone who's, well, more obviously trans- that's why her deal is so important. Because y'know, sometimes you're an egg completely unaware of who you are, completely unaware there's really another path you could take, and then you see someone who's very clearly, unashamedly queer, and your fucking mind is blown. And baby, that's what happened to our girl Emmet.

omnipotina made this point better than I can, quoting her post again:

[Lucy] clearly fills the role of more experienced queer friend who helps you figure out who you are. [...] Her role in the movie is to help Emmet learn and understand who they truly are, and the ending of the movie is a testament to how queer people are stronger when they inspire each other and work together.

Lucy being so obviously queer, and being the one to get Emmet into this world really works with the theme of queer community. Because, like... Us gays, we have a way of finding each other, don't we? They try to suppress our love, try to suppress who we are. They shove us into closets where we can't be seen. But still we find each other. I see someone who's like me, and the two of us lock eyes. Something resonates in the air between us. And we're a little less alone.

Lucy and Emmet's relationship is very beloved to me in general- Emmet absolutely adores Lucy, and wants so badly to be someone she can be proud of. Meanwhile, Lucy is someone who's not that good at emotional honesty, but Emmet's inability to NOT be emotionally honest helps her grow. Emmet is scared Lucy can't love her as she is because she's not strong enough, Lucy is scared Emmet wouldn't love her if she knew she's a little bit soft. Both of them think the other's love is conditional- Emmet thinks she has to earn Lucy's love, and Lucy thinks she has to hide parts of herself to maintain Emmet's love. And by the end of the second movie both realize "oh, you love me for me." That's already so much and it's so good and if I say anything else about these two I'll be here forever and ever, so all you need to know is I have permanent Lucemmett brainrot.

This dynamic has so much more to it if both are trans women and only one knows it. Emmet's already positively influenced Lucy by softly encouraging her to be emotionally vulnerable, helping her realize that being soft is not being weak. And Lucy positively influenced Emmet by helping her learn to rebel, to not obey the system, to not just do what everyone else wants her to do.

But Lucy's positive influence on Emmet can go deeper if you interpret Emmet as a closeted trans woman. Lucy is the one who made Emmet realize their world is broken, Lucy is someone Emmet is head over heels in love with, and Lucy is very obviously trans. Sometimes it takes someone close to you explaining "oh yeah, I used to be a guy but I didn't like it" to make you realize that's an option for you.

Queer love is something we have to fight for, and Lucy and Emmet fight for each other- especially in the second movie, where Emmet spends half the runtime fighting to get to Lucy. And Lucy's love for Emmet helps her fight, not give up, take down Octan. They refuse to give up, because they love each other.

And I dunno. I like interpreting Lucemmet as a T4T sapphic couple where one helps the other realize she's a woman. Queer love makes me happy :]

(as a tangent. I'm so fucking mad that the ship is tagged Emmetstyle. It makes me SO ANGRY. Emmet DOESN'T EVEN USE THE NAME WYLDSTYLE after Lucy reveals the name Lucy!! Not only that, but that name is one that only Emmet uses for her!! I can think of one, maybe two instances of someone who ISN'T Emmet using the name Lucy for her! It's THEIR name! It's the name ONLY EMMET gets to call her!! WHY AREN'T YOU PEOPLE USING IT IN THE SHIP NAME???? I am the only correct person in this goddamn fandom. Tag the ship as Lucemmet, it will set you free.)

Part Four: Insecurity

Emmet is incredibly insecure- it's one of her most consistent traits. It fuels her fear of not being good enough to be The Special in the first movie, and it is the driving force of everything she does in the second.

Through the first movie, Emmet's insecurity is shown quite well. The scene where she realizes no one knows her, first of all. But also smaller, casual moments. She says she never has any ideas (provably false). She says she can't do what the Prophecy says she's meant to do. She says Lucy calling her the Special was the first time anyone really told her she was important. In the darkest hour, she pretty much says "Wow, I was a fucking idiot for ever thinking I could be the Special." There's a lotta moments where it's casually shown, yeah, Emmet doesn't think of herself too highly.

But the scene where it's most blatantly shown comes about halfway in the movie. Emmet's trying to rally the Master Builders, who have learned she isn't a Master Builder. And she gives a speech where, to put it very blunt, she just puts herself down.

EMMET: Yes, it's true. I may not be a Master Builder. I may not have a lot of experience fighting, or leading, or coming up with plans. Or having ideas in general! In fact, I'm not all that smart. And I'm not what you'd call a creative type. Plus, generally unskilled. Also, scared and cowardly. I know what you're thinking. "He is the least qualified person in the world to lead us." And you are right!

I love this speech a lot. First of all, it's funny as fuck. With the weight of the world glued to her back and a tracker stuck to her ankle, she goes in front of a crowd of warriors, ninjas, ghosts, pirates, superheroes, and a 1980s spaceman, and proclaims "I may be stupid." Incredible.

But second, it's VERY interesting character-wise. Because Emmet's wrong! She IS good at having ideas, she IS smart, she IS creative, she IS skilled, and she IS brave! She just believes she's not, because self-perception often differs from reality. And like, you don't just suddenly become so willing to self deprecate. These thoughts don't just appear in your head one day. Meaning she's been insecure for a while.

And I wanna note how the words she uses here... feel kinda emasculating??? Lemme explain this, this will make sense, just bear with me.

Full disclosure: I am not the person you should go to for this shit! I am not that knowledgeable on this and I’m certainly not that good at talking about it! I’ve never been a man, I'm (probably) not a man, I (currently) have no intention of being a man, and I’ve never been subject to the expectations manhood places upon you. But an attempt will be made here!

[Future Me Addendum: I am not a man. I was just gender questioning at the time. Do not refer to me as a man. I am not.]

Men are generally expected to be smart, experienced, skilled, brave, as well as a whole lot of other things. (for example, tough.) If you're a man who's none of these, you're probably gonna be considered as having failed at being a man. Men who aren’t these things- especially men who aren’t brave or, yknow, fucking tough- tend to get made fun of for not being enough of a man.

And when you think about that, and you look at Emmet's speech, and you look at Emmet saying she fails at all of those traits associated with masculinity- I'm definitely confirmation biasing here. But Emmet is basically saying she sucks at being a man.

And again, you don't just start thinking these things out of nowhere! Like, it was definitely made worse by becoming The Special and getting that responsibility heaped on her shoulders, but you don't just become completely willing to say it out of nowhere either! I restate: Emmet's insecurity is one of her most consistent traits. It's safe to say she's been thinking about herself like this for a while. Meaning she's likely been thinking of herself as a failure at masculinity for a WHILE.

I'm definitely tinged by confirmation bias. However, I'm also right. Yknow how I know I'm right?

Because this is what the second movie's about.

Part Five: Leaning Into Masculinity (is bad for emmet)

The second movie is more disliked than the first one by people who are not me. The first movie is, in an objective sense, better put together, I admit that freely. I myself have many critiques of the second movie! But I like the second movie more because it's funnier and its characters are great and also because I watched it in the year of our lord 2025 and by GOD this movie understands the hopeless despair of living in Today's Day And Age.

(i mean, this movie came out 2019, three years into trump's first term, so yeah, they had more reference for The Despair Of Living In A Dystopia and by god could they tap into it. Holy fuck, please watch this movie if The Despair has you, because The Despair has me and this movie affected me deeply. Everything's Not Awesome makes me bawl like a little baby every time I watch it.)

But we're not here to speak of the despair. We're here to talk about why Emmet's definitely a trans woman. And holy fucking shit, when I tell you the second movie makes Emmet even more transfem, I MEAN IT.

Emmet’s whole conflict in this film is about how according to everyone, she’s too soft and kind. She isn't tough enough. The word "tough" is used repeatedly- by her, by Lucy, by everyone. Everyone says that Emmet isn't tough enough. These words burrow in her brain, and she decides she has to fix it.

And the thing about that is... toughness is very much associated with masculinity. And when you point that out, you realize that her WHOLE ARC in this film is basically Emmet being told she’s failing at her assigned gender and trying to lean into it harder.

This whole plotline is why the thought “hey, her self deprecating speech kinda comes across as her feeling like a failure at masculinity” appeared in my head. Because Emmet feels like she’s failing at masculinity here as well! And it’s a lot more CLEAR here, because all the shit she said she’s bad at in the first movie- leading, fighting, being brave- while those are associated with masculinity, toughness BLOWS THEM OUT OF THE WATER. It is SO MUCH more associated with masculinity than all those other traits, and it’s the thing Emmet MOST feels like a failure at.

There's a thing that happens with a lot of trans women, where before they transition, they try to lean as hard as possible into masculinity in hopes of basically suppressing the transfem stuff/not feeling like a failure at masculinity. That's what Emmet does in this movie. That's her entire arc here.

Emmet feels like a failure at “being tough,” so she goes “ok then, fuck it. I'm gonna try as hard as I fucking can to be ‘tough.’ I'm gonna try as hard as I can to succeed at being a dude. I'm gonna prove everyone wrong. I'm gonna be good at being a guy. I'm going to get a good grade in gender, something that is both normal to want and possible to achieve.”

And her doing this- trying to become more tough, trying to lean into her assigned gender harder- is presented as a bad thing. As the movie goes on, she wears a blue vest, she tries as hard as she can to close her heart off and be smug and confident, she at one point (well, technically at two points) draws stubble dots on her face (don't worry about it. I love her).

All of this is a Bad Thing. All of this is showing that she’s getting Worse. And all of these things she’s doing are very much associated with masculinity.

And she's not exactly super comfortable with it. There's a scene about two thirds into the movie where Lucy and Emmet reunite, and Emmet's weird little friend who has come from the future to help her get worse on purpose starts hyping Emmet up as a badass. And Emmet looks really unsure of herself, almost uncomfortable. She looks more confident as her weird little friend keeps hyping her up, but when Lucy clearly isn't that excited, Emmet's certainty in it wavers too.

And when interpreting her as transfem, this is really interesting. Because through the transfem lens, it’s Emmet... being dysphoric. Emmet is not comfortable being masculine and tough. But it’s what everyone wants from her, it’s what she feels she has to be, it’s what Lucy felt she needed to be, and it’s what her weird little friend is encouraging in her. So she keeps doing it, even though it feels wrong and uncomfortable, because it's what everyone wants.

The good end is Emmet... Not doing that. Refusing to lean into masculinity. Wiping off that fuckin stubble she drew on her face, taking off the blue vest she's wearing. Regardless of if others want her to be "tough" and masculine, it's not who she is. Because she, at heart, is not masculine. She, at heart, is not a man.

A disclaimer, since I am on the Reading Comprehension And Transmisogyny Website. I don’t think gender presentation equals gender identity. And even if it did, I don’t think that being kind and soft is inherently feminine. I think men being kinder and softer is good actually and they should do it more! And I really, really feel like one of the themes of this movie is how specifically toxic masculinity sucks shit.

All of this is true, yes. AND. Multiple readings can be taken from a work. I see the purpose of interpretation as "maximize the value of the art." And reading Emmet as a trans girl makes her arc in the second movie WAYYY more compelling.

And. Uh. If we're talking about A) Emmet leaning into masculinity being bad for her, and B) aspects of Emmet that become infinitely more interesting when reading her as transfem...

There's one gal we can't not discuss.

Part Six: Rex Dangervest (AND WHY SHE PROVES I'M RIGHT)

Behold: Emmet's weird little friend. My sopping wet meow meow. This smug, pathetic asshole. An absolute wet rag who I want to throw into the ceiling fan so she gets spun around at 8000 miles per second and dies. And my absolute nail in the fucking coffin for transfem Emmet.

So for the uninitiated: Rex Machete Ninjastar Dangervest (her full name) (according to her) is a galaxy-defending rogue who sails the stars and has allegedly gone on a plethora of space adventures, which she could be lying about. She's got a cool-ass spaceship, a bunch of dinosaur buddies, a massive and definitely not performative ego, horrendously scarring trauma, and a plan to murder literally everyone. Rex is THE WORST. And I love her.

[Future Me Addendum: Sorry this is a personal note, but why the hell do I keep latching onto characters who I describe as "They're the WORST, And I LOVE them." Why does this keep happening. I just really like characters who are assholes but are really entertaining and really interesting ig?????]

Rex shows up about half an hour into the movie, saving Emmet from falling into the cold abyss of space. Emmet sees her- this cool badass who doesn't take shit- and IMMEDIATELY latches onto her, asking her to "teach me to be like you." She sees Rex as a masculine ideal, all the her she could be. She straight up says they can be like brothers.

That's just an extension of Emmet wanting to not feel like a failure at masculinity, though, right? ...Well. Yes. But not in the way one may at first think. See, you may have noticed that despite Rex being canonically a dude, I'm using she/her pronouns for her. That's for a reason.

The twist of the movie is that Rex is Emmet from the future. Specifically, a future where Emmet had no one to save her from the cold abyss of space. To put it VERY short, she was left alone for years and became someone angry and bitter, before she traveled back in time to save Emmet, ensure Emmet became her, and also kinda cause all her former friends to fall into a horrifying abyss no one knows if they'll come back from. (her backstory is kinda fucky writing-wise but I don't care because I make things up about her in my head and ignore the stuff I don't like and also I love her)

[Future Me Addendum: I should clarify, I do that OUTSIDE OF THE CONTEXT OF NORMAL ANALYSIS. I am 90% sure I was trying to NOT let my own personal biases get in the way of analysis of the ACTUAL TEXT. The shit I make up is in regards to her BACKSTORY, not to HOW SHE ACTUALLY IS, I am looking at the ACTUAL TEXT for that. Please don't let this damage my credibility. I'm really smart i promise.]

So. Rex is a version of Emmet from the bad future. She is bad future Emmet. She is Emmet if Emmet is isolated from her friends (who, reminder, the master builders are very much coded as queer), experiences horrible horrible trauma, stews in her insecurity, and decides to get worse on purpose.

We got that? Okay. Now let me point something very obvious out.

Rex is really fucking manly.

Rex listens to rock music. Rex wears blue sleeveless vests. Rex's voice is in a lower, gruffer register than Emmet's. Rex has stubble and chiseled features (that she drew onto her face because she's a loser). Rex is extremely physically strong, able to hold back an entire crowd with one truck, and able to destroy anything with a punch or a light tap. Rex leans hard into being tough and strong. Rex leans hard into traits associated with masculinity.

So we've got this future version of Emmet who's masculine as fuck, who's leaning as hard as possible into being tough, who's leaning as hard as she can into being a dude... and this is to convey to us that this is the bad future version of Emmet.

Like. Come on.

Remember that thing I mentioned, about a lot of pre-transition trans girls leaning into masculinity as hard as possible to overcompensate for feeling like a failure at manhood/to outrun the trans stuff? Yeah, Rex is that. She's doing that. She's not just doing that, she's doing that to the fucking extreme. She's the endpoint of Emmet's leaning into masculinity, she's the one to most encourage Emmet to do that. From omnipotina's post again:

Dangervest's plot throughout the entire second movie is to cut Emmet off from every single form of support in their life, ensuring Emmet becomes him, a bitter maniac. This includes the already established queer support group of Lucy and all their other friends (Metalbeard is 100% a trans bear btw). In this way, Rex Dangervest can very easily be read as a metaphor for and maybe even a physical manifestation of Gender Dysphoria.

YOU GET IT OMNIPOTINA! YOU GET IT!! THAT IS SUCH A GOOD WAY OF PHRASING IT!!! GO CHECK HER POST OUT!!!!

That bit of her post really brings attention to something. The reason Rex is like this is because she was completely isolated from her queer friends, all alone, stewing in the insecurity of not being tough enough, the feeling of being a failure at masculinity. And she decided to do something about it, satisfying the need to change. But instead of changing as in “transition,” she fully pushes away the trans thoughts and tries to be as much of a man as humanly possible.

And in this, Rex makes crystal clear just how damn important community is when it comes to embracing your queerness. Because when she has no one around, when she’s all alone and feeling like a failure, when she’s completely isolated from any semblance of a queer community, she never comes to realize that “hey, maybe I’m not a guy at all.” When there’s no one like you around, you never realize that you don’t need to have that wrong feeling, that splinter in your mind. When there's no one like you around, you never realize transition is possible.

Am I making myself clear? Let me spell it out. Emmet’s bad future is one where she’s isolated from her queer friends, is swallowed by her insecurities, and goes in the opposite direction of what would be good for her. Emmet’s bad future is one where she closes her heart, and leans as hard as possible into pain, into toughness, into masculinity. Emmet’s bad future is one where she leans as hard as possible into being a man.

Emmet’s bad future is never transitioning.

Rex is my goddamn nail in the coffin for transfem Emmet. Like, I already had the headcanon when I watched the first movie, but it was more a "that would be neat" thing. But then I watched the SECOND movie and saw Rex Motherfucking Dangervest and was like "Oh shit, this isn't just a neat headcanon, this is a headcanon that actively enriches the text." Emmet being more masc was already A Bad Thing, and the worst possible outcome for her is a version of her who leans hard into being a man, and is Not Doing Well Mentally.

Because Rex isn't exactly having a good time. She can't move past her trauma. She's in a pit of nihilism and anger. She's so joy-averse that the catchy song that puts you into a happiness trance (long story) has no effect on her. She encourages Emmet to stew in her anger and her pain to gain destructive power. As though that's what she herself has been doing. Wallowing in her misery.

And there's whole new layers to this if Emmet is trans. Rex overcompensates for her previous lack of toughness by leaning as hard as possible into being tough. By leaning as hard as possible into being masculine. Which would A) not help with the trauma, and B) MAKE HER REALLY FUCKING DYSPHORIC. Like, even if Emmet doesn’t experience a ton of dysphoria on a day to day basis, leaning into masculinity THIS HARD would make dysphoria A LOT WORSE.

But Rex doesn't change her approach because being “soft” hurt her, and being tough and masculine protects her. Masculinity is her armor, and she doesn't realize (or, more accurately, doesn’t care) that that armor is lined on the inside with razor sharp spikes. Because if she's not the cool, confident, masculine, miserable Rex, she's the pathetic, cowardly, softhearted, weak little Emmet.

And let's be clear here, Rex is a persona built on top of Emmet's pain and trauma. There is no way in hell that Rex's confidence is fully genuine- as I said, one of Emmet's most consistent traits, one that CONSTANTLY drives her forwards across both movies (but especially this one), is her insecurity. That wouldn't just go away after horrendous trauma and years stewing in that insecurity. If anything it would get worse! But it can be hidden under a layer of false confidence so thick I don't think she knows how to stop.

And Rex being a performance of false confidence becomes even more layered if she's trans. Because her performance of confidence is also a performance of masculinity. Which, again, would make her more dysphoric. But the pain from that dysphoria can, in her mind, be chalked up to the pain of betrayal, of abandonment, of isolation, of trauma.

And like. Let’s be honest. Rex loves leaning into her pain.

She brings up her traumatic backstory basically the second she has an excuse, and Emmet mentions that she “kept bringing it up,” meaning she likely kept doing that offscreen. All possible motivations of hers are fueled by her trauma. The ENTIRE REASON SHE’S HERE is because of that trauma. Despite supposedly being here to undo her past, when faced with an actual possibility of it being undone, she not only rejects it, she tries to cause it again. And the way she encourages Emmet to become a master breaker is to focus on her pain. To, in her own words, crack open that pain bone and suck out the marrow.

Rex is kind of obsessed with her own pain. She leans into it to cause as much destruction as she can, therefore feeling more powerful. So any dysphoria from being this masculine? Well, that's just more pain that she can lean into. Even if she's AWARE that being this masc hurts her, she won't change it because the pain is part of her identity. To Rex, pain is power. And without that power, without that hypermasculine identity of Rex Dangervest, then who the fuck is she??

[Future Me Addendum: The answer is "Emmet." Without the power of pain, without being Rex Dangervest, then she's Emmet. And being Emmet got her sent to the dryer. No one liked Emmet. Especially not her. She can't be Emmet. She can't be anything less than the hypermasculine Rex Dangervest. She can't.]

BUT!!! Despite Rex leaning SO HARD into masculinity to be as tough as possible, she has one key difference from Emmet in appearance that leans just a tad, an inch, a smidge into femininity. And that's her hair.

Rex has longer hair than Emmet. Emmet's hair is really short, while Rex's is a more of a shoulder length mullet. And she CHOSE this hair- she picked it out herself when she was getting her makeover. And like everything else I’ve discussed here, when viewed through the trans lens, this is fucking FASCINATING.

Even through this desperate performance of masculinity, even through her leaning as hard as she can into being a man, a piece of her still clings on to femininity as hard as she can. Because it can be passed off as “Oh this is just a mullet, it's not long hair, I'm still a man.” But nonetheless, when she got a makeover, she chose- she specifically chose- to have longer hair. A small shred of femininity, barely breaking through her razor-sharp armor of masculinity.

And still. Even after all of that. There is still one final thing, one last little thing that I can't not bring up. A specific line of Rex's. One that references a very specific movie.

Man why do I even try. Why do I write 7k word analyses when I can just point to shit like this. I rest my case I'm going home

Ok so. For those who don't know. The Matrix is one of the transgenderest films out there. It was directed by two trans women who have said that yeah in retrospect the film was definitely about them being trans, and I do not have time to go in depth about it, but if you want more on that, here is an excellent video by Aranock on why the Matrix is trans as all hell, go watch it. (Big fucking content warning for discussions of transphobia and a lot of the pain of being queer)

So like. I know WHY Rex brings up The Matrix. She's bringing it up because of the "reality is fake" angle. She brings it up because of her existential crisis. She brings it up on a literal level, not on an allegorical trans level.

But on the other hand.

out of every film you could've brought up??? The Fucking Matrix??????? The transgender film?????? The film by trans people for trans people about trans people????? That film?????? The Matrix??????? That fucking film????? REX???????? You had to reference a movie about reality being an illusion AND YOU CHOSE THE TRANSGENDEREST ONE???? REX?????? DID THAT FILM RESONATE WITH YOU??????? FOR SOME UNKNOWN REASON??????? REX????????? THE MATRIX????????? REX??????????????

so yeah rex is a deeply closeted transfem. get her far away from a time machine. get her in therapy. get her on estrogen. please get her on estrogen. estrogen would've saved her. rex please just take estrogen

[Future Me Addendum: There's this exchange between Emmet and Rex I screenshotted part of but I wanna fully highlight because it's kinda funny. REX: It's time to take action. Which planet do you wanna try first? EMMET: Um… What do you think? REX: A tough guy doesn't ask where to go. Just pick any of 'em and act like you're sure. That's called leadership. This exchange is just generally really funny. But I wanna point out how Rex asks where to go right before saying a tough guy doesn't ask where to do. So like... you admit you're not a guy? (i know this isn't evidence and is a deliberate misinterpretation, but consider: it's really funny.)]

Part Seven: Shit I Forgot

Watevra. I won't go in depth here, but I argue in my video that Watevra is a parallel to Emmet in many ways. Watevra is a creation of Emmet. Watevra is arguably an expression of Emmet's desire to bring joy. Watevra has confidence, something Emmet provably wishes she had. Watevra can be whatever she wants to be. Watevra is also a woman. Watevra, creation of Emmet, someone with multiple traits Emmet and Rex have and the confidence Emmet wishes she had, can be whatever she wants to be. And she chooses to be a woman. Cisgender behavior 👍

I have not seen The Matrix (I'm sorry transgender community), but I know that many read Lucy as a bit of an expy of Trinity, and I know that Neo is an everyman who starts off as just some guy and then becomes the Chosen One and sees the world as it really is, which has parallels to Emmet. It's pretty clear to me that the creators took inspiration from The Matrix (just look at the visual presentation of Master Building), and again, The Matrix is a trans allegory and Neo is very transfem coded, as many many people have talked about. So the fact that Emmet has parallels with the transfem coded Neo- it's not evidence, but I'm noting it

Construction work is generally seen as a masculine job, it makes sense why Emmet, who's already insecure in her masculinity, would wanna go into that

omnipotina mentioned this and I'm gonna mention it as well. Phillip Lord and Christopher Miller, who wrote The Lego Movies and directed the first film, also are two of the three credited writers on Across The Spider-Verse. And in that movie, Gwen Stacy is VEEEERY VERY VERY VERY coded as trans. Like, "her wikipedia article has a whole section on this" levels of coded as trans. This isn't INHERENTLY evidence for Emmet being transfem- Gwen's coding is way more explicit than Emmet's- but it's worth bringing up because it's funny to me how accidentally transfem coded Emmet is in conjunction with "the guys who wrote her also wrote Gwen Stacy from Spiderverse."

Emmet in general has this throughline of just doing what other people want her to do, which could apply to her gender. "Everyone wants me to be a guy ok I'll be a guy" (her friends don't know she doesn't wanna be a guy 💔 emmet babygirl your girlfriend is trans she will understand and love you nonetheless bc she loves YOU!!!)

god i can't get over how bad future emmet is masc as all hell. and she brought up the motherfucking matrix. they wanted you to believe this was a cisgender man

[Future Me Addendum: I'd have to rewatch the movie to be sure, but I'm fairly certain the theme of change was very present in the second movie. And I remember specifically, there's this one line from Emmet where she says she's (paraphrasing from memory) "very scared of losing Lucy, and it'll be all my fault, because I wasn't able to change." Emmet wants to change. She's just being directed to change in ways that make her worse, being directed to change to be tougher (and more masc). I don't have to explain. Idk I'm tired it's 2 in the morning lol I brought this up briefly before, but I wanna highlight it again.]

Again, none of this was INTENTIONAL. There's no way they intentionally coded Emmet as a trans woman. But it is VERY fun how all this lines up.

Conclusions

If you disagree with my reading, that's fine! Diversity in fan opinion is part of what makes fandoms thrive. I see how one could read Emmet as transmasc, or as nonbinary, or as any flavor of queer. Transfem Emmet is just what I find enriches the text most, and what I find to be most compelling.

And I hope I've convinced at least one person of transfem Emmet. I think of myself as good at arguing for queer readings- I mean, I’ve convinced people that Amy Rose from Sonic is aromantic and that more BLATANTLY goes against canon but makes her more compelling. Emmet being an uncracked egg isn’t really directly contradicted by canon, and enriches her character by a lot.

And that's what I consider the best headcanons and analyses do! I like it when someone presents me with a headcanon, and I think about it, and it makes things work even more. I like thinking up a headcanon, thinking about it, and realizing it actively makes the work better.

When you read Emmet as a trans woman, everything about her character becomes more interesting, because the transfem stuff runs through everything. Her insecurity, her need to follow instructions, her loneliness, her relationship with Lucy, her fear of not being tough enough, Rex in general, everything. Emmet is already a great character, and reading her as transfem makes her even better. It's the rare headcanon that makes everything about a character click and become goddamn incredible, but this is it for me. Emmet's a trans woman, and you can't change my mind on this.

And me personally, I hope Emmet and Lucy get be in sapphic T4T love forever and ever. I think they deserve that <3

Thank you for reading! I'll link the video when it's done. If you had thoughts, I'd love to hear 'em. If I got something wrong, please let me know. If you got this far in the post, clean any plates and cups out of your room. Drink some water. Do something nice for yourself. I hope you have a good day! 🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵

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Aaaaand that's my essay. Rereading it I kinda expected to disagree with a few of my points, but uhh. No I was completely right lol

Again, that video I was planning on making is definitely not coming out. I don't have the hyperfixation or the motivation to make it, and the script isn't even done despite being Three Hundred Fucking Pages How The Fuck Did I Do That. But I still think my analysis of Emmet as trans is good and worthwhile, and I decided to not let it rot in the drafts. The more trans reads out there the better.

I will again restate what I just said, thank you very much for reading. If you had thoughts, I'd love to hear them, in the tags or the comments or in your reblogs. Reblogs are very appreciated- even if you haven't watched The Lego Movie, I know we all love watching video essays on art we don't know shit about, spread this post and recruit more people to the agenda.

Again, clean out any plates, cups, general dishes that are in your room, leaving them in there is bad for your mental health. Stretch a bit. Drink some water. Eat if you're hungry. Do something nice for yourself. Keep finding reasons to live no matter how small. Have a good day. I love you.

🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵

#rbs this again bc im thinking about it again and i cooked #maybe i'll post my lucy overanalysis from my og script as well bc i cooked there too #happy pride y'all