Minions

I’m definitely not a movie aficionado. I visit the movie theater about twice a year, and generally have to be bribed to watch a movie at home with the family. I’d rather read the book. But since the Times-Gazette doesn’t have its own movie critic on staff, I’m using this week’s seven hundred words to blather on about “The Minion Movie.“

Ever since we saw the original “Despicable Me,” the lovely Madelyn Simone and I have laughed together over the minions, those adorable banana-colored creatures who don’t speak English. When the trailer for this summer’s movie first appeared last November, I had a terrible time convincing Madelyn that the movie wasn’t ready yet. She was adamant that we go to see it immediately, today, and so I promised we would see it together when it was finally released.

The Minion Movie has become the highest grossing animated film not produced by Disney, only beaten out at the animation box office by Disney’s “Toy Story 3” and “Frozen.” But was it a great film? Not in my opinion. I agree with Michael O’Sullivan (The Washington Post’s bona-fide film critic) who gave it two and a half stars out of four. He commented, “I, too, once enjoyed the Minions in the small does that they came in. But the extra-strength Minions is, for better or worse, too much of a good thing.”  

Great movie or not, I really am amazed at the minions. If you've been privileged to make the acquaintance of Stuart, Kevin and Bob, you know they can be adorable. These pesky little creatures carried an entire movie while speaking a language based on gibberish, without the need for a single sub-title. According to Pierre Coffin, one of the films's directors and the voice of the minions, he tossed in some Indian, French, English, Spanish, and Italian phrases. He "mix[ed] up all these ridiculous sounding words just because they sound good, not because they necessarily mean anything." Yet somehow, we, the viewers, understand what the minions are saying. What a fascinating experiment in linguistics.

Instead of inventing a word to describe them, their creators used an English word meaning a follower or underling to a powerful person. The word itself derives from the French word mignon, defined as small or pretty, darling. But in actuality, the minions really aren’t so darling after all, for the historical overview at the beginning of the film suggests they exist only to serve the world’s most villainous masters.

Now as a woman of the cloth, I’ve been keenly aware of the presence of evil in our world. Using Christian terminology, I understand the damage sin can cause in an unrepentant heart, and how our destructive actions can injure other human beings. If you’re not convinced of that, just go back and read the headlines of the Times-Gazette over the past few weeks. Even here in Ashland.

As I’ve thought more about “The Minion Movie,” I recognize that our world isn’t quite as black and white as the big screen suggests. Yes, there are those like movie scoundrels Scarlet Overkill, Dr. Nefario, and Gru who are proud to be labeled supervillains. However, evil can also be insidious, appearing to be harmless yet seducing its targets as easily as did the three sirens in “O Brother, Where Art Thou.” Yet whether evil is blatant or hidden, Scarlet Overkill’s question is haunting: “Doesn’t it feel good to be bad?”

Gru prides himself on being bad, but he’s faced with his own feelings of love for others as the Despicable Me movies unfold, leaving me aware of the tension between the power of redemption and the beguiling call of the sirens. Perhaps what Gru discovers is that it also feels good – and is good – to be good.

In the end, the Minion Movie offered up zany characters and wacky antics that entertained Madelyn and family for ninety-one minutes, even if it did overdose on yellow. It also invited me to contemplate the lure of evil and the possibility of redemption, much food for thought. Yet I am still left with one nagging question: Why am I so charmed by those naughty minions?