I have an unpopular opinion to express: I don’t like Minions. I know, shocking, but I can’t stand those little yellow creatures. If you live under a rock and don’t know what “Minions” are, they’re those little yellow guys in overalls from the Despicable Me franchise.
They started off in the first movie as a whacky little distraction (similar to the green aliens in Toy Story), and admittedly, weren’t so bad. However, Minions became extremely popular with the release of "Despicable Me 2", and to make a long story short, are now a national phenomenon.
These yellow creatures are now the star of a new movie called “Minions,” which explains how they came about. It seems like everyone loves these Minions, and that I'm in the minority when I say Minion-mania is overkill.
Admittedly, Minions are cute when you first look at them. They’re funny looking and have funny features such as their love for bananas and their plain, human names (like Kevin, Stuart, etc.). However, for me, their cuteness was curbed when I started seeing them literally everywhere.
You cannot go to a store without seeing a Minion printed on even the most ridiculous of items. Please tell me what these little yellow evil sidekicks need to be doing on tissue boxes? How about Tic-Tacs? And please, please explain to me why the other day I was shopping and saw Minions (characters made for children) printed all over a thong. Why is that remotely necessary?
See, here is my problem with these yellow guys. Universal Pictures saw a way to make money with Minions, and they did. Minions bring no redeeming quality to film. People like them, so they are added to everything and are thrown in our faces, and therefore the public will eat them up.
Sure, Minions are cute, but they don’t do anything. They can’t speak (only through unintelligible babbling), and don’t really do much of anything besides follow evil people around and cause mischief.
To me, Minions portray a greater problem in American pop culture, which is the fact that if something is popular; it is blown out of proportion. I have no problem with Minions being on children’s’ toys and clothing, because that is where they belong. However, the fact that Minions have become a brand of their own put on random objects just to make them more marketable.
Imagine walking through the store with your three-year-old who loves Minions. As you are in the household cleaning aisle getting something that you need, your child spots the toilet brush that has been packaged to look like a Minion (this is a real thing, unfortunately). You might like to think that if you don’t need said toilet brush, you’d be able to tell your three-year-old, “No, you are not getting that,” but in reality, when a kid is throwing a fit in the middle of a crowded store and everyone is watching, even the best of parents are likely to crack under pressure.
Marketing executives are (smartly) using Minions to pull in customers, tricking us to buy stuff we don’t need in order to keep up with the craze. It is not the Minion itself that I have a problem with. Rather, it is the way the Minion, what could have been an innocent and lovable children’s character, is being used that bothers me.
Minion-mania has swept America. While most people love these little yellow guys, I am not their biggest fan. I hate the way business is using the Minions to trick people into buying unnecessary items, and I hate that these babbling things have become the focus of an entire movie. I tried to like Minions, but I just couldn’t. For now, I’ll have to wait until the storm of Minions passes.
