[Spotlight Post] For the Love of Minions
Friday spotlight day… huzzah, mostly because it’s, well, Friday. And today I feel like extolling the virtues of my long and abiding love of Minions – in all their forms.
Minions are unsung heroes in the world. Whether you’re talking sidekicks to Superheroes, helpers to Super Villains, without minions nothing would get done. Minions are also the poster children for ability vs. looks. Most of the “important” minions in literature are very capable but seem to have some “flaw” that makes them unsuitable for “Hero” or “Villain” status.
Minions have their own “superpower”, so to speak, and that’s the ability to steal scenes (and sometimes whole franchises) from the main character. The most obvious being Despicable Me Minions. Though Gru is an amazing Evil Villain Turned Hero, his Minions have taken the world by storm enough that the sequel teaser trailers were simply the Minions being silly. It didn’t matter what the plot turned out to be, and in December of 2014, Illumination Entertainment is giving them their own movie. Gru and the Girls will play pivotal roles, but there’s no masking the focus of the movie.
What, in my mind, makes minions from the classic Igor to Despicable Me awesome stems from my love of sidekicks. These are often character actors giving power (and often the comic relief) to the main plot and actors. They give the story depth and humanity – and many times have to be highly skilled actors to give what could be incidental characters life.
I didn’t say minion characters are disposable. On the contrary, without minion characters nothing happens. The hero is bogged down in detail that makes for long, boring sections of story. As with any organization or organism, there are everyday minions without whom nothing gets done, and we all relate to them because at some point in time, we (most of us anyway) are or were a minion to someone else – we know what it’s like to not get the credit for effort, and can completely relate to the overworked, underappreciated characters.
Though it does help when they’re funny, loveable, and makes you want to love them and pet them and call them George. So, I’m calling today “Hug a Minion Day” – Minions rock. The world would be a much darker – and truly less productive (if functional at all) – without them.