As even the Minions start to question their morally compromised overlord, popular culture is increasingly siding with the workers in their fight against corporate greed
The cultural zeitgeist around work is changing. Last week, many of us will have been frantically adjusting our journeys amid nationwide train strikes. If the transport gods were merciful, we will have got home in time for the latest episode of Sherwood, a twisty drama about the legacy of the miners’ strike. You may have just finished Apple TV’s Severance, which depicts a future where work is so bleak the only way it can get done is by creating alternate versions of ourselves. Now we have Minions: Rise of Gru which asks if there is a place in today’s world for a morally compromised but lovable boss supported by a legion of subservient, amorphous workers.
Having worked in retail in the mid-to-late 2010s, no collection of words makes me shudder like: “It might seem crazy what I’m ’bout to say.” This is the opening line to Pharrell Williams’s Happy, as featured on the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack, which was blasted across shop floors like audible amphetamine to keep workers conscious and adequately cheery. The song also defined much of the 2010s, frantically screaming at us to be happy while the world around us, in many ways, became increasingly grim. The Despicable Me franchise also loomed large in the same era, becoming the highest-grossing animated film series of all time in the space of seven years. The film’s breakout stars – the Minions – were ubiquitous throughout the decade. They were plastered on everything from tic tacs to salad bags and Amazon parcels, they led Zumba classes and adorned the tops of NYC yellow taxis. They were quite literally everywhere.
