[Cross-posting this wee bit o' commentary from my Overkills twitter https://twitter.com/TheOverkills/status/691352240557260800]
There's a Scarlet Overkill reference in this article about "Good Bad Women"+http://blog.pshares.org/index.php/good-bad-women-irene-adler/
"in the past few years there have been more bad women in film (Scarlet Overkill from Minions)"
The article is about how Sherlock Holmes character Irene Adler (original one) "breaks the female villain mold"
It discusses the trope of "stories with evil caregivers" & "the homogeneity of female villains in short stories"
The article mentions Scarlet only in passing, but made me realize she falls under the trope of evil caregivers.
"the lens of motherhood is the primary lens that most of these female characters are seen through"
Scarlet's character *kind* of subverts the evil caregiver trope, but simultaneously relies on it for characterization.
TV Tropes:+ Evil Matriarch http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EvilMatriarch
(The evil caregiver trope may be a deliberate theme in the Despicable Me Franchise, but I still have concerns re: Scarlet & this trope)
Just because #Minions is targeted at kids doesn't mean the evil caregiver trope *had* to be used. Many kids are open-minded.
Scarlet Overkill as evil caregiver is yet another way her character has been pigeonholed & limited by default settings.
Making Scarlet an evil caregiver was a deliberate choice even though her role was technically as an employer.
What would Scarlet's interactions with the Minions have been like if she hadn't been portrayed as an evil caregiver?
Scarlet could have been portrayed as this really cool boss who had created a job with awesome perks.
Instead of a bedroom, Scarlet could have given the Minions a fun work lab, with games, snacks, etc.
A "company" mission statement & code of conduct video could have done the same job as the bedtime story.
What other possibilities could have been explored? Better yet, just put Scarlet in her own movie and let's find out!
[Thanks for reading! Especially since I apparently will never stop beating the drum about a Scarlet Overkill movie!]
YOU ARE READING
Far Out!
FanfictionA collection of random ideas and my (occasionally racy) headcanon about Scarlet and Herb Overkill. New content will appear as the mood strikes.
