Some life lessons we can learn from the movie Despicable Me are:
- Don’t take yourself too seriously and be able to make fun of yourself.
- Nothing of any great significance can be accomplished alone.
- At some point in your life you will be forced to make a decision between what is right and what is not.
Well, one thing that struck me when I watched the movies is that I related to the character of Gru quite a lot.
I am not (or never have been) a super-villain, but I think there are plenty of human qualities the character has. And as a dad, I think I identified with Gru more than I thought I would.
The first movie sees Gru struggling to steal the moon by zapping it with a shrink-ray gun, Gru also faces several other challenges:
- He's trying to establish himself in his industry.
- He wants to get his mother's approval.
- He ends up being responsible for 3 little girls
- He needs to decide whether to prioritise his professional criminal success or make sacrifices to bring up Agnes and her sisters.
Although these challenges may seem daunting, Gru overcomes them successfully, and ends up becoming the "good guy" that we all suspected he was deep-down.
In both movies, Gru plays a dysfunctional parent - and I know I've often felt like that from time to time.
In the second movies, Gru tackles the problem that father's fear most - your daughter reaching that age when she begins attracting male attention.
At first, Gru responds by brandishing his freeze-gun as soon as any boy takes an interest in Margo.
But eventually he realises that, as protective as you'd like to be, your kids will eventually have to deal with hardships like heartache and disappointment.
All we can do as fathers is to try and prepare our kids to cope with life as best we can.
In the second movie, we also learn a bit about Gru's more vulnerable side: Having been rejected by a girl when he was younger - he struggles with women, love and dating as an adult.
We all have baggage that we carry over from childhood, and Gru's awkwardness with the opposite sex is something that most men can relate to.
Finally, if all Gru's tribulations are too deep for you, then there is one major lesson you can take from Despicable Me:
Never drink a vial of purple liquid you find lying around.
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