In ‘Minions and Monsters,’ an invitation to creativity
Photograph by Harald Muller via Unsplash
Rev. Dr. Michael Woolf
The latest installment of Universal’s animated saga about Minions debuted in theaters on July 1. I went to see the movie with my family, and while it was a fun experience, the film’s message lingered with me for days afterward. It made me ask, “what would it be like to imagine a world beyond hierarchy and instead embrace the capital-C Creativity at the heart of all things?”
Everyone who knows the Minions franchise knows that these yellow creatures are constantly looking for a “big boss” to serve - the more malevolent, the better. They are constantly leading these evildoers to tragic ends and therefore moving unceasingly from one evildoer to the next. For however long they are in a villain’s service, they are under their complete control; they are minions, after all. By their very definition, they are not the boss.
But something different happens in this story. Instead of living in and supporting a rigid hierarchy, the Minions instead engage in a creative endeavor: making a movie. The film takes us through how they make it to Hollywood, their success as silent film stars, and their subsequent failure at the advent of sound. There are twists and turns, but the final reveal at the end is a bit awe-inspiring. I won’t spoil it but suffice to say the Minions have even more autonomy and creativity than I ever thought possible.
What seems clear to me is that the Minions are rarely permitted to be the beings that they want to be under normal circumstances, and this is not because of an outside force dominating them, but because of their very nature and worship of hierarchy. They are driving themselves to constantly search for a power to be above them. In some ways, we might say that the Minions are addicted to power and hierarchy.
It’s easy to laugh at the Minions’ antics, but we often drive ourselves into situations where we cannot flourish. Some of us are addicted to substances, others to experiences of control, or perhaps like me, you are addicted to productivity and the constant need to be doing something. Whatever it is, our fixations and addictions are often bad for us and quitting them is hard.
We experience joy when we engage in creative pursuits, because we are sharing in the creative endeavor that God began and that we participate in.
But the Minions manage to do it somehow. We see that James, in particular, is drawn to the creation of stories. He starts by drawing them, creating large storyboards, and even winds up acting for a while, but his true calling is directing. With his friends Henry and Ed, he works to convince other minions to participate in their attempt to create a movie for themselves, even though there is the constant pressure to continue finding a new villain to serve.
James’ embrace of creativity mirrors my experience of God. God is truly Creativity; otherwise, how could creation generate something from nothing? Mary Daly, a 20th century feminist theologian, who famously said that God is a verb, argued “It is the creative potential itself in human beings that is the image of God.”[i] When we engage in creativity, whether through art, work, or leisure, we are tapping into the Creativity that is at the heart of all things. That’s why we experience such joy when we engage in creative pursuits; we are sharing in the creative endeavor that God began and that we participate in.
And that joy is on full display in “Minions and Monsters.” As we follow James, we see him come alive with excitement. While he clearly was not a very dedicated personal assistant to villains and often misunderstood by his fellow Minions, as a movie director, he is in his element. Not even his fiercest critics can ignore his skills and accomplishments.
What I took away from the film is that we can do the same. We are often too busy, harried by others and our own selves, and obsessed with power and hierarchy, to find true flourishing. There are so many obstacles to our communion with God’s creative impulse, some of which are put there by ourselves. “Minions and Monsters” showed me that sometimes we must take drastic action to find what God is calling us to, and that effort is always worth it.
Rev. Dr. Michael Woolf is senior minister, Lake Street Church of Evanston, Illinois. He currently serves as the co-associate regional minister with the American Baptist Churches Metro Chicago. His most recent book, co-authored with Anna Piela, Confronting Islamophobia in the Church: Liturgical Tools for Justice (Judson Press 2026) offers a theology of interfaith engagement with Muslims. Woolf is also a co-founder of Challenging Islamophobia Together Chicagoland, an initiative that brings together people of all faiths to counter Islamophobia from a religious perspective.
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
[i] Daly, Mary. Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women’s Liberation. Boston: Beacon Press, 1993, p. 29 (revised, paperback edition).
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