When Metro Man ‘dies,’ the entire basis of right and wrong, the balance they bring to society is tested and the reliance that exists between them is challenged. Ultimately, he decides he will be a bad guy, which raises the question: if the world refuses to see past their prejudice and continually labels a person as one thing, what will the outcome be but eventual compliance? If Megamind was a ‘bad guy’ no matter the intention behind his actions and it was the only thing he was seemingly good at, what should he have done? Lacking the validation of his peers and even his teacher, Megamind is constantly told he is a bad guy. With the guise of childhood innocence, the movie makes a strong point in addressing humanity’s inability to accept what does not fit societal norms. The movie doesn’t shy away from depicting how modern society views superheroes, even showing a scene of a crowd cheering as Metro Man juggles babies and then hurls them back to their parents as people kiss his feet. With blue skin, an inhumane head size and powers that backfire-due to his inexperience-not to mention a lack of privilege to flaunt, he does not gain any respect from others. Megamind is the stereotypical image of an alien. Also, apologies to all the superheroes but villain fashion does it better. and a blue Smurf who, despite having an impeccable fashion sense, faces discrimination and judgment. Meanwhile Megamind is the mix between E.T. He can fly, has super-strength and can shoot lasers from his eyes that he only uses to entertain, provide and protect. Metro Man looks like an exaggerated version of all those fitness bros on TikTok that gained clout doing thirst traps. It isn’t explicitly spelled out to the audience why Megamind is treated as such but the implication is that his striking physical difference from humanity is evident to those around him.īoth Metro Man and Megamind are aliens but they are perceived very differently. He tries his hardest to earn that love by attempting to fit in by replicating the behaviour of Metro Man, yet is met with alienation from his peers, school and even jail staff. It is important to note that Megamind craves the validation and love he sees his peers award to his rival, Metro Man. Metro Man, who is being raised by affluent adoptive parents, is a supposedly gifted or ideal child, when they both end up at the same elementary school. Naturally, the convicts teach Megamind their version of right and wrong.Īt this point in the story-not even past the five-minute mark-the movie has already begun to challenge the definition of right and wrong and how that creates the ‘bad guy.’ Megamind, in prison surrounded by criminals, is seen as a bad kid and troublemaker. To start, while his rival, Metro Man, is raised with everything handed to him on a silver platter, Megamind lands in a prison facility where he is raised by convicts. But the movie is quite the opposite, deconstructing the idea of good and bad, hero and villain and right and wrong. Megamind begins with a scene of an adorable baby being hurriedly strapped into a rocket pod-reminiscent of Superman’s origin story-and the audience is almost fooled into thinking this is a movie about a hero. It was released in what is objectively one of the best years for animation movies, alongside How to Train Your Dragon, Tangled, Despicable Me, Toy Story 3 and Shrek Forever After. In 2010, long before the popularization of “the villain arc” otherwise known as an explanation or deep dive into the backstory of someone other than the hero, Megamind killed the animation competition with an unusual storyline for its time and a voice cast consisting of Hollywood stars such as Will Ferrell, Jonah Hill, Tina Fey and Brad Pitt. Though many people may have watched this masterpiece, they may be ignorant to the intricately-crafted brilliance etched into the film the first time around. In an attempt to take the class less seriously-and because I thought it would be funny-I decided to watch Megamind. For my Introduction to Film Studies class, I was assigned to watch and analyze a movie of my choosing.
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