Sideswipe: June 24: Minions a metaphor?

Can we understand the whole story of the capitalist labor market through the children’s film Despicable Me? Polish academic Justyna Szklarczyk says yes. She says that Minions embody the ideal workforce and are exploited
it. “They are standardized, highly interchangeable, and desperate for any job they can find,” she writes. “They do not bleed or break, they do not need medical attention, they are tireless, they do not suffer from growth or aging, they remain immutable and always ready to work.” Their exploitation comes at the hands, he argues, not only of their master Gru, but also of Universal Pictures. Being portrayed as the undisciplined lower class, the film presents the Minions as foolish, childish creatures who are only able to actualize under capitalism: serving a master who belongs to the “transnational jet-set” of billionaire code criminals who own private jets. and living in palaces is the only way they seem to achieve happiness. The film also suggests that the Minions’ freedom from Gru is due to the fact that they are a bit weak, suggesting that of the working classes. Thus, the fatigue of the nascent subject is ultimately ridiculed. “

Did you know …

Traffic jam: The average speed of traffic in modern central London is roughly the same speed as when the streets were filled with horse-drawn carriages.

Too cute: According to a 2017 study, most young children think that having a birthday party is what makes you a year older.

Pride: In gay slang, a “friend of Dorothy’s” is a gay man. During the 1980s, the US military conducted a massive investigation to find out who Dorothy was.

Hell landscape slide

Pregnant people needed for research

AUT’s Sports & Recreation School urgently needs more pregnant people on the North Shore to take part in some research examining how pregnancy changes the body and how much exercise is safe to do during pregnancy. The ultimate goal is to help make pregnancy safer for the mother and baby. Women can be in any stage of pregnancy, have any fitness level, and ideally be between the ages of 18 and 40 (although they will accept people outside that range). They undergo monthly health checks, and each quarter their changing body mass is captured in a full-body 3D imager, while motion capture technology is used to assess gait and balance. Subscribe to www.sprinz.ac.nz.