It’s kind of difficult to think about the coronavirus when realizing the other firestorm that’s erupted in the world at this point but like it or not the virus is still very real and the danger it presents is real as well. In the growing line of voices and personalities that have been saying things such as ‘we’re all in this together’, Grue and his minions are yet another bunch that have been utilized to try to entertain and inform people in these uncertain times so as to make the current social climate a little more bearable and a lot less gloomy. For some this is bound to work as people still love being entertained and taken away from the world they know by animation and stories that are gripping and even just downright silly sometimes, which is where Gru comes in. As a villain and a mastermind he’s been someone that people have still found highly entertaining at times since he’s likely one of the most misunderstood bad guys of his time, especially since he doesn’t necessarily mean to be bad, but that’s the path he took. If he was truly evil incarnate however, three little girls wouldn’t have been able to change him so easily, and it’s likely his minions, who follow the most evil mastermind they can find, would have sought employment elsewhere. That’s kind of a fun contradiction really since the minions do follow an evil boss, or at least a tough boss, but continued to hang around once Gru became an adoptive father as more than just a facade.
Getting back to the point though, using Gru and his minions as a way to describe just what it means to weather the current pandemic is another attempt by those in show business to show some sense of solidarity and insure that people remember that they’re not being forgotten and that there is more in their lives than just the thing that have been temporarily lost. The idea that we’ve lost as many freedoms as people tend to think has become yet another byproduct of the pandemic as people throughout the world are convinced that our governments are stealing away whatever freedoms they can in order to control us in some way. Giving into paranoia at this time and allowing it to create struggle and strife between the lot of us is something that might amount to a real conspiracy, if it proved to be true. So many people at this time throughout the world are convinced that danger lurks around every corner, that real evil is staring them in the face while attempting to convince them that it’s wearing the face of a friend that the world has become a powder keg just looking for the match that’s willing to set it off. The coronavirus has become one more reason for people to find ways to divide each other, to look at one another and blame their neighbor, their friends, family, and anyone they can think of, that it’s their fault, that the pandemic is because of these people, or those people, and that everyone is out to get what they can for themselves. The sad part is that this is true in some ways, as great struggle and strife does tend to show the truth of some people, and that truth can be exceedingly ugly, not to mention disappointing.
If there’s one lesson that needs to be learned, or re-learned perhaps, in this time of difficulty, it’s that we are all in this, whether we’re together or not. Soraya Roberts of Longreads has something to add to this. Everyone is feeling the impact of the pandemic in some manner, whether they’re growing ‘bored’ in the lap of luxury or trying to find out just how they’re going to pay the bills due to losing their job. We are in this, and there are many ways to alleviate the problems that we wake up to each day, but only insofar as we’re willing to look for those methods. Waking up to each day and crying out for help is a commonality that many people have these days, but waking up to ask ‘what can I do to better my situation’ is something that many have forgotten apparently. The answer of course is different for everyone, but as Gru and his minions show in the clip above there are options, even if the lack of favorable options don’t appear to exist for everyone. Waking up and asking how you can better yourself, how you can better the world around you, and how you can make someone else’s day a little better are good questions and worthwhile pursuits. If not those, then simply moving forward and finding a way to alleviate your own concerns becomes a driving need that most people can still accomplish, if they’re willing to stop and realize that the way forward is still open.
