The newest addition of the Despicable Me franchise, Minions & Monsters is out now looks to be a goofy, slapstick comedy, similar to previous films in the series.
However parents have taken to social media to warn others that the movie may actually not be appropriate for younger audiences, depending on what you are happy for your kids to watch.
What is Minions & Monsters about?
Minions & Monsters hit cinemas earlier this month and the film revolves around the Minions being the stars of the silent film genre. But when sound comes into play, they are fired as people cannot understand their language. So some of them decide to make their own monster movie in Old Hollywood and accidentally unleash real monsters into the world using a forbidden spell book.
It is a prequel to the first Minions movie and is set in the 1920s, so there are many Easter eggs to Old Hollywood that children are unlikely to understand.
Universal Pictures
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Why are parents against it?
Parents found that many of the jokes and innuendos are unsuitable for children and while in many films, such as Shrek, the jokes go over kids’ heads, this isn’t the case with Minions & Monsters. Some pointed out the fact that most of the jokes were visual rather than verbal so young children would wither know what it was about or be confused or concerned by them.
One mum said that the film was ‘hyper sexual’ with too many jokes around ‘butts’ being shown and slapped, jokes that some parents may not want their children exposed to.
The mum added that her four year old had pointed out that there was a lot of ‘private stuff’ in the movie and parents who are teaching their young kids about privacy you will teach them that their bottom is a private part. ‘I’m utterly disgusted that kid movies are no longer kid movies!’ the mum said alongside her video on Instagram.
Universal Pictures
Another mum said that some of the scenes and jokes in Minions & Monsters ‘crossed the line of what [they] expect from a movie marketed to children.’ She said that her family have been fans of the movie franchise for ‘a long time’ and she wouldn’t think twice about taking her children to see one of the films. However this one was different and they left the cinema ‘more concerned that entertained’.
‘This one left me feeling extremely uncomfortable. There were multiple jokes and references that in my opinion do not belong in a children’s movie. I counted at least four scenes where things were going up places they should not be going up’.
The mum continued: ‘An extremely alarming amount of times characters were seemingly naked, in a thong and Gru, the dad, naked in front of the Minions.’
Universal Pictures
The mum added that she had practiced ‘so much body safety’ with her autistic son which led to him confused and exclaiming that characters were ‘naked’. She said that instead of talking about their favourite parts of the movie on the car journey home, she found herself telling her five and six year old children ‘we don’t play naked with anyone, private parts are private and nothing goes up where it does not belong.
People in the comments agreed too, saying that they had either changed their mind about viewing the film or that they had the exact same opinion after watching it.
‘My husband and I left thinking wtf was that?! And I haven’t even seen anyone else have this take!’ said one person and another parent added: ‘It was pretty wild. I was shocked. She’s not wrong about the references. We actually left half way thru because my daughter who’s autistic and non verbal was so uncomfortable she started crying. She never cries in movies. It was a very odd experience.’
A third chimed in with: ‘These themes are reoccurring in a lot of the Despicable Me and minion movies’. Others claimed that because the film is PG parents should vet it before allowing their kids to watch it. However, the majority of parents will probably agree that they would presume that Minions is safe for any age, despite a PG rating.
After watching the trailer and the extended trailer, I can see some of the parents’ points. There is a lot of cartoon violence even in those couple of minutes and some kids may find it a bit scary, overstimulating or just plain confusing.
While some may find the jokes in Minions & Monsters hilarious that doesn’t mean they is suitable, especially for younger children and parents should certainly watch the trailer, at least, before deciding to take their kids to see it.
Have you seen it yet?
Watch the trailer below
