"Despicable Me" Despicable, or Just Despicable Me?

Often times I have to write things down in order to sort out my thoughts.  That's what this post is.  Here goes. (deep breath)  
I bought the movie Despicable Me for my children for Christmas.  I hadn't seen the movie, but based on all the rave reviews it was getting, I purchased it. (I think I need about 3 more posts to talk about how I feel about movies and television right now, and another 3 posts to explore why I bought another movie, after the way I feel about movies and television right now.  Complicated, I know)  I really knew absolutely nothing about the movie before watching it.  I should have researched the movie online before buying it, but I was Christmas shopping at Walmart, there it was, and now, here we are.  When I sat down to watch it with my children for the first time,  I quickly came to see that the main character who was a villain was also to be the hero of the movie.  Glamorizing the villain made me uncomfortable along with several other things (ie photo copying backsides). Three-quarters of the way through, I started to get sucked in to fact that Gru must not be bad because he loves the girls after all.  Still, at the end of the movie, I was really left thinking, "Is Gru good or bad, hero or villain?" "Did he reform, did he think being a villain was wrong?"  I think if I was left with these questions it probably isn't any clearer for my children.  As I listened to my children over the next few days talk about the movie, I was getting the sense that they thought Gru was pretty funny, even when he was despicable, and they quite liked him. I don't want my children to look up to and admire a villain.

Because of some of my questions and concerns about the movie I thought I would look up some reviews online to see if anyone was left with some of the same questions as I was. I started with the Christian website reviews.  I thought surly that if anyone supported my concerns they would be the ones.  I was a bit surprised to see almost EVERYONE was endorsing it, and that no one addressed the main problem I had with it.


Focus on the Family's Plugged In review sums up their review like this,

"Despicable Me, the first effort from Universal's Illumination Entertainment, starts a little slow. And I think the few toilet gags on hand should have been left on the cutting room floor. But by the time Gru starts rethinking his villainous ways and contemplating whether life wouldn't be better with some childish wonder in it, I was hooked.

Then the joys of family win the day. And the reformed "bad guy" finds his greatest accomplishment in uniquely voicing love for his newly adopted clan. And I found myself nodding my head and wiping away a secretive tear right along with all the other kids and parents in my row at the theater. 

So does Despicable Me, with its comedic boo-and-hiss minion action, Steve Carell-voiced not-so-bad-guy and pint-sized adorable heroines, add more momentum to the smile-worthy animation trend? 

Hiss. … I mean, yes".

Okay, did I miss something in the movie?  I understand that in the beginning he was heartless and now he has a heart, but when did he "reform" from being a villain".  I don't remember the movie stating that he would no longer be participating in "evil" plots or that he wouldn't be breaking the law, or trying to become the world's most famous villain.  And does being a "not-so-bad guy", turn you into a good guy?  I don't think so.


This review I read on Amazon was interesting: 

"While not quite as wondrous or challenging as a Disney/Pixar film, "Despicable Me" is still a lot of fun, able to make audiences laugh without having to sacrifice story or character development. It's also one of the few animated films to not entertain the idea of heroes - it merely distinguishes between evil villains and not-so-evil villains, the latter apparently capable of good deeds despite their propensity for hatching diabolical schemes. Such a person is Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), who looks like a pointy-nosed Fester Addams and speaks in a pseudo-Russian accent so delightfully phony, it only adds to his charm. His goal has always been to become the world's greatest super villain, but as the film progresses, we realize that, underneath it all, he's actually a pretty nice guy.  

Does he have it within himself to be a dad and a super villain?"

So maybe I didn't miss something.  He still is a "super villain", he's just a "not-so-evil villain".  Okay, I get it now.  It's okay to be a villain, if there is a villain that is more evil then you are.  Maybe that is why it was also okay for Gru to blow up the carnival guy's stand over the unicorn doll.  It was okay because the Carnival man was more evil.  I'm glad I got that cleared up.  Now I can explain to my kids that it is okay to do something wrong as long as someone else is doing something more wrong then you are.  


I was surprised to find some more of the things that I disapproved of rationalized in a review by Christian Answers.net.

Neither Gru nor Vector are, of course, above stealing to further their own plans, but while one learns from this, the other does not.

“Despicable Me” is as entertaining, charming and funny as you would hope a family film to be.Steve Carell does his comic best, and the change in his character is done slowly and believably. An otherwise brief dive into potty humor does not dampen the end result: a fun film for the family, that should entertain all ages."

Well, because the producers thought it was okay, and it was out of place with the rest of the film maybe we can say, "It was good, all except that one part"  and enjoy the film, because after all, a little potty humor "does not dampen the end result."

And again, maybe I missed something, but when does it ever tell us that Gru learned that stealing was bad?  I don't remember him saying he felt bad for stealing, or that what he did was wrong.  Oh, maybe they mean that Vector learns that stealing is bad, because he stole the girl's from Gru and then ended up stranded on the moon dancing and slapping his butt.  That must be what they mean.  Well, then that means that Gru, our hero never learned that it was bad even though he is our hero- I mean our not-so-evil villain.  


 I asked my kids which person in the movie learned it was bad to steal.  They didn't know.  One of them said " aaaah Gru?", I asked him how he knew Gru learned stealing was wrong.  He couldn't tell me.  Then one of my children said that "it could have been Vector that learned stealing was wrong." 


I thought finding out more about the sequel would tell me whether Gru was a reformed villain or just a not-so-evil villain, so I googled the squeal next.  While I didn't find any specifics about what the next story would be about, a discussion on what people thought the next movie should be about led me to believe that others still consider him a villain, and would like him to remain that way..

"don't know what it should be about, but it would definitely  involve Gru being the villain, which he is supposed to be. :\"

"My first thought actually was the girls becoming villains and sort of taking on the villain mantel from Gru. But I guess as a children's movie Gru should become a nice person I just thought his change came a little too quick for me to believe he has reformed to a hero's life lol. Plus how cute would it be for Agnus to be a fluffy super villain!"

 "The girls are completely on board with their dad being a supervillain; they didn't question it once the entire movie. And reforming Gru ruins the whole dynamic that makes 'Despicable Me' work. Like I said below, he can be a good person without being a good guy. "

Clearly these people don't think Gru is, or even should be reformed.  If fact, some of them want the children to become villains along with him.  


I'll admit that while I was reading all of the rave reviews this movie got, I kept thinking, "what is my problem?  This movie must be fine, everyone thinks so.  I'm the only one with issues about it.  I must be off my rocker."   But, I could not rationalize away my thoughts about it.  


I decided to look up in Moroni where Moroni tells us how to distinguish whether something is good or whether something is bad.  Moroni 7:16 says:

"For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God."

As I read that scripture I picked up on something I had never picked up on before.  It says ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.  That struck me as significant.  If it was from God I wouldn't be wondering about it.  The confusion comes in when it isn't of God.  I thought of the movie we had watched the night before, "Faith Like Potatoes".  It was a great movie.  After watching it I wasn't left wondering if it was good or bad, if the characters where good or evil, or wondering what message it was teaching.  I came away from that movie with greater faith in miracles, a greater desire to be faithful, and an increased desire to share my testimony with others.  


I guess what this really comes down to for me is how blurred the lines between good and bad, right and wrong are in this movie.  Like one person said, "He can be a good person without being a good guy."  Really, is that true?  I don't think so, and I don't want my children to think that they are doing what is right if they are great parents and then are crooks in their businesses.  I think we need to stop thinking there is such a gray area between right and wrong.  Either something is of God or it isn't.  
Satan wants the lines between good and bad to be blurred.  He doesn't want us to see clearly that he is evil.  He can catch us more easily if we don't know the difference between the two.  What better way for kids to associate with the villain then to make the villain a hero.  Elizabeth Barrett Browning said, “The devil’s most devilish when respectable.”




I wouldn't mind having an open discussion about this movie.  Whether you disagree or agree with me feel free to leave me your comments.