New ‘Minions’ movie’s use of satanic and occult imagery sparks parental backlash
The PG-rated movie has prompted advisories from those who say the material isn’t suitable for its target audience.
A scene involving direct satanic and occult imagery, including a pentagram and a seance-akin attempt to summon the Lovecraftian monster Cthulu, in the newly released animated children’s movie Minions & Monsters is causing serious concern and backlash among Christian parents.
The third installment of the Minions movies, which are spin-offs from the Despicable Me series, Minions & Monsters follows the story of the yellow humanoid creatures called “minions,” who are taking over Hollywood in the 1920s. Planning to create a movie about monsters, the Minions use a book of incantations to summon a frightening creature for the film.
A number of parents have spoken out on social media warning about occult imagery used in a key scene of the plot. One Million Moms, an organization that helps bring parents awareness of concerning content in children’s media, has launched a petition explaining the reason for a boycott and calling on Universal Studios, the studio behind the film, to cancel the movie. At the time of publication, the petition has 9,264 signatures.
“In an attempt to represent mini-conjurers as cute characters filled with mischief, Minions & Monsters is advertised as ‘family-friendly fun,’” the press release from One Million Moms said. “That fun includes a spellbook, drawing a pentagram, magic, dark rituals, and a former warlock boss to summon monsters.”
Yahoo Entertainment, which reported that parental reactions were a “Satanic panic,” explained that the incantation scene was inspired by American horror author H.P. Lovecraft. The minions attempt to summon “an ancient godlike alien entity” and end up with a small green creature instead, who identifies himself as “Goomi,” short for “Gary Orkam Oliver Magma Ichabod the Deceiver."
A Christian review of the film published by The Collision reports that at the end of movie, it is “revealed that the entire movie has actually been an in-world minion-made film, and that nothing on the screen represents the ‘real world’ (although the end credits suggest that perhaps the magic spellbook is real after all).”
However, even if the magic is suggested to be fictional even within the movie itself, parental concerns center around the use of the Satanic imagery on a fundamental level. Exposing children to portrayal of a seance and overtly demonic symbols, even if just used as plot devices, has been criticized as desensitizing and unnecessary to tell a good story.
"This is straight up satanic," one mom, Tailah Scroggins, said in a video she shared on Facebook. "[Minions & Monsters is] desensitizing our kids to witchcraft and the occult, just like so many other movies and TV shows out there. … You can make a fantastic movie without all of those demonic supernatural themes."
Other parents were concerned that the incantation was depicted as light-hearted and humorous and that there was some sexualized imagery in the movie.
