Monster University and the American Dream

Monster University is a Pixar and Walt Disney prequel about the beloved characters James P. Sullivan and Mike Wazowski. As the first film was released in 2001, 12 years later we get to see the start of the beautiful friendship between Mike and Sully. The movie is set at a college university, as Mike and Sully are first year freshman. Mike, an unlike little monster, wants to be the greatest scarer of all time yet lacks the one thing to be the best, being scary. Mike is the know it all, he works harder than anyone and does it with a great attitude. Then there is Sully, his father is a legendary scarer, Sully has the makings for something great. Sullivan has the scariness down but it is the book smarts he lacks. With a final semester exam conducted by Dean Hardscrabble, scare majors must past or get kick out of the program altogether. As things start to look grim for both Mike and Sully they decide they need to team up together to prove that they are worthy.

**SPOILER ALERT**
Mike and Sully did not get off on the right foot in meeting each other. Mike thought Sully was a lazy, 'everything is handed to you' person, while Sully thought of Mike as a know-it-all nerd that would never become a scarer. It was the typical jock versus nerd scenario, yet throughout the movie we see that together they have their own struggles and that understanding each others problems they became the solution. This movie was definitely a feel-good movie made for the whole family. I watched the movie with my sister and her family, from 3-32 years old we all laughed and enjoyed the movie together. The most interesting part of the whole film was not the way Mike and Sully became friends or how they created a team of nobodies and still came out ahead or even how Sully cheated to help out Mike which in turn made Mike go into the human world to prove himself. No, it was the moral of the story that was very interesting since it was in fact a children movie, aiming to mold young minds. What do you ask is the moral of the story? It is that you do not need education to accomplish your dream. All you need is hard work and dedication, and not to be afraid to start at the bottom. So as you've guessed or already know, Mike and Sully get expelled after their first year of college and go on to the mailroom at Monster Inc. From there they have a good attitude and strive to be the best at whatever low position they held. They worked together climbing the ladder of success and finally after years of hard work and a positive attitude they made it to the scare floor. All this learned from the last two minutes.

Greek Scare Contest

Throughout this movie the writer Dan Scanlon, Daniel Gerson and Robert L. Baird portray college life in true form, not sugaring coating it. There was orientation, which they added overly annoying cheerful and helpful characters, as to make fun of the real life scenario, which is true at any first day at college. Then meeting your roommate for the first time, classroom settings and teachers, and who could leave out the fraternities and sororities. The bulk of the movie was about winning this Greek Scare Contest to see who is the best scarer, nothing about school itself. It makes you wonder the importance the the writers are putting on education versus good ole' fashion hard work.

Orientation day

As a culture we are learning that even with a college degree in your back pocket that does not always get you a job. I think students are learning that the hard way. Some students are shocked and offended when they have to start down on the totem, thinking that their education earns them a spot higher up. The American dream is to work hard and striving towards your goal without giving up and if you can do that you will get your dream. Monster University shows that in every way, yet still respecting those that want or have a degree, the overall take from this film is to change the way we as a culture see accomplishing our dreams. It has been drill into our heads that getting a degree and even going onto a higher educational level will get you your job, but what about your dream?

1st day on the scare floor
(The teams ultimate dream)

Most the time students are just going to school to get a job so it can pay the bills, we are missing out on what it is like to work hard for your dream. Monster University helps us channel our inner child and start to dream that American Dream again.