Gru: the villain’s redemption

My favorite villain is an American animated film from Universal Pictures. Its protagonist is Gru, the best villain. During his life, all Gru ever wanted was to be accepted. Thus, to achieve his goal, Gru decides to become a supervillain.

In his quest to become the world’s greatest villain, Gru isn’t worried about the damage he may cause. One day, a rival villain, named Vector, outmaneuvers Gru by stealing a pyramid from Egypt. Thus, Gru and Vector begin a competition in villainy. Gru hatches a plan to obtain a shrinking ray from a government test facility.

Gru’s plan is to use the shrink ray to steal the moon . This theft would catapult Gru to the top, earning recognition as best villain. However, things do not go as planned. Vector steals the light beam from Gru’s claws. What can a criminal mastermind do? Develop another plan, of course.

Gru’s new evil plan includes using three orphaned girls. With them as spies, Gru plans to infiltrate Vector’s lair when they knock on his door selling cookies. This way, Gru can take away the shrinking ray.

However, Gru begins to feel affection for the girls he intends to use for his purpose. This love makes him change. In principle, Gru is totally unsuitable as a father. However, as the film progresses, Gru’s villainous life is altered by the new routine. The man must adapt his plans to the dynamics of the girls: ballet classes, homework, eating habits. Thus, Gru’s evil plans take a backseat to the need to take care of his daughters.

Single parents vindicated

It’s incredibly rare to see a single father portrayed in such a positive light in a children’s film. While Gru certainly has an “evil” calling, there are incredibly sweet moments between him and the three girls. This feeling is increased because the little ones are sweet and fragile, while Gru is a big and “bad” man.

Many single parents must combine their duties with caring for their children. Like all of them, in the movie Gru manages to do his job, even if it is being a villain. Like all single parents, Gru has moments when it is very difficult for him to take care of the girls without neglecting his work. The day of the great moon theft coincides with the date of the girls’ dance recital.

Gru decides to prioritize his work over the recital, and this gives his archenemy Vector an opportunity to kidnap them. It is Gru’s duty to try to achieve balance between work and home by recovering the three little girls.

The redemption of a villain

At the end of the story the moon regains its size and returns to its orbit. Gru, remorseful for his past actions, seeks his redemption. In this desire to undo his previous bad behavior, he also decides to return the great pyramid that Vector had stolen. Gru accepts that he loves his daughters and adopts them again. Thus, the best villain in the world decides to become a family man.

Gru’s redemption involves repenting, seeking and obtaining forgiveness from the girls he hurt, and also making amends to the society he injured with his villainies. l Redemption involves freedom from guilt and pain.

The need for redemption is real and powerful for victims and perpetrators. In the healing process, both parties need to know that they are worthy of love, kindness, and compassion. We will not find those things solely through redemption, but we can create healing and liberation through forgiveness.

The transition between good and evil

The overall message of the film is that even someone considered “evil” can have a change of heart. Despicable Me is a film that is different from many children’s films. In general, most films for children describe good and evil as absolute.

For many viewers, the transition of a character – between good and evil – is very difficult to accept. At the same time, this transition is also one of the most rewarding for those audiences who are committed to history.

In children’s and youth cinema, many times “El Malo” must make a heroic sacrifice at the end of the story. “The Bad Ones” who perform this sacrifice often die during the process. Although it is an ending that pleases the audience, it does not give the character the opportunity to change the way he acts. In Despicable Me, Gru finds forgiveness from the girls after a sincere repentance and change of heart. The girls turn out to be a positive influence on the villain.

Gru, a bad example of an adoptive father

Exposed to the risk of losing the love of his daughters, Gru still persists in continuing his life on the path of evil. The changes he makes are for selfish reasons. Curiously, although he returns the stolen items, Gru does not say goodbye to Team Misdeeds. Gru does not fire his evil workers, the Minions.

In this way, Gru’s future profession is left in a situation of ambivalence. The viewer can presume that the new family life will prevent Gru from continuing his life of misdeeds. However, this message is not entirely clear in the film. An important aspect in this story is that it seems that all the characters must forgive Gru’s evil. Despite his bad behavior and having used the girls, all the characters forgive Gru.

Adoption is a sensitive topic, and this movie doesn’t delve into it. Mistakenly, Despicable Me shows how orphaned children could be used and then discarded. The misdeeds of former villain Gru and his bad behavior towards girls should resonate with some of the characters. In this movie, perhaps it would have been more realistic for some characters to resist forgiving Gru.

Equating forgiveness with happy endings can place an unfair burden on real-world victims. This kind of ending makes the audience feel that perhaps the price of misdeeds is not well adjusted. In fact, the biggest criticisms of Despicable Me have come from families with adopted children.

Despite the criticism, the redemption stories are fun, rewarding, and popular with audiences. We all want to believe that anyone, no matter how disgraced, can get their life back on track.. And this is possible, with effort and persistence.

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