Misunderstood Monsters: Parental Fears in ‘M3GAN’…They’re Insane, Right?
By Matt Konopka
Previous ⬅ Misunderstood Monsters | A Painful Transformation in ‘The Boy Who Cried Werewolf’
Welcome fellow monster kids to Misunderstood Monsters. This is where I, Matt Konopka, sink my fangs into all sorts of beasts, ghouls, and creatures from above while I search for the humanity behind their frightening exteriors. From monster favorites such as The Wolf Man to obscure monsters like the whistling Shadmock, there is more to these fiends than bad hair days and gooey tentacles. Within them all is a piece of ourselves.
I don’t have kids. My wife and I decided long ago that we never would. Some people (wrong people) would say we’re malfunctioning adults. We’d say screw off; kids just aren’t in the cards for us. That’s why it isn’t the killer doll at the center of Gerard Johnstone’s M3GAN that I find scary. What terrifies me is the idea of suddenly becoming a parent.
Written by the mega-talented Akela Cooper (Malignant), M3GAN centers around Gemma (Allison Williams), a toy designer who has just become the legal guardian of her niece, Cady (Violet McGraw), following the tragic death of the girl’s parents. Focused more on her work than being a mother, Gemma uses Cady to test out her latest invention, M3GAN, an A.I.-driven doll meant to take on the role of toy, friend, and parent all in one. But when the cyborg puppet show takes her role of protecting Cady to a deadly level, it’s up to Gemma to decide what’s more important: her work or her niece?
I have two little niece-bots, myself. One on my wife’s side of the family, and one on mine. Both mean the world to me. I also happen to live over two thousand miles away from each of them, which means I’ve barely been a part of their lives. Despite the love I have for them, the thought that I could be responsible for their well-being tomorrow fills me with a dread as heavy as M3GAN’s titanium body. Would I be able to support them? Nurture them? Give them the comfort they need? I don’t know. And not knowing is terrifying.
That scenario becomes Gemma’s frightening reality. One minute, she’s arguing with her boss, David (Ronny Chieng), about the possibilities of M3GAN, the next, she’s picking up her niece from the hospital. Based on the awkward silence between the two, it’s clear Gemma doesn’t have much of a relationship with Cady. There’s an irony in the fact that she makes toys for a living yet has no idea how to interact with children. She knows no stories to tell her niece. The toys she keeps are only “collectibles” not meant to be played with. Gemma isn’t just clueless on how to be a parent…she’s forgotten how to be a kid, as well. Anything and everything related to taking care of a little one is so inconvenient to her, that Gemma’s life’s work has been dedicated to one thing: creating something that takes care of kids for you.
“She’ll take care of the little things, so you can spend more time on the things that matter,” says Gemma’s cold promo for M3GAN, cut with an image of her opening up a laptop to get some work done. Ah yes, the things that matter! But this is where that Barbie on steroids comes in, and why she’s included in a column about monsters that are misunderstood. For as fake as M3GAN is, she’s a very real representation of the parental fears that most of us face.
Portrayed by Amie Donald (a remarkable young stunt performer who should have a lucrative career going forward), M3GAN is everything Gemma wishes she could be…at least on the surface. She’s the friend Cady enjoys being around. She’s the teacher Cady learns from. She’s the source of comfort whom Cady confides in. To the naked eye, M3GAN is a perfect parent. She has the qualities I could only hope to have a fraction of if I ever became the guardian for my nieces. M3GAN does what seems impossible to the average person by always being there. No matter how hard any of us strive for it, though, no one can physically be around for their kids one hundred percent of the time.
‘It’s insane, right?”
You bet. What M3GAN is for Cady isn’t achievable. Nor should it be. Kids have to be left on their own to grow. As Gemma later admits to Cady, she can’t fix what happened to her parents. The girl isn’t a broken toy that can be glued together. That grief will always be there. M3GAN is simply a distraction keeping Cady from dealing with those feelings. And just like kids need to be allowed to make mistakes to learn on their own, so do parents. So does Gemma.
At the same time that M3GAN acts as a stand-in for the “perfect parent,” she’s also an exaggeration of a parent’s worst fears. There is such a thing as being too protective. By handing Cady over to M3GAN and bubble-wrapping her feelings by not discussing the loss of her parents, Gemma ends up treating all of them, including herself, like the collectibles on her shelf. Untouched. Unmarked. Safe in their original packaging. I’m sure most parents wish their child could go through this life unharmed. God knows I worry about the future my nieces face. But, for better or worse, it’s the scars that make us who we are. That’s part of being a living person, something an A.I. system would never understand.
This is why, despite being the “villain” of the film, M3GAN isn’t necessarily the bad guy here. She’s a reflection of a struggling parent. She is Gemma, who is both the true protagonist and antagonist. Created through their conversations together, M3GAN embodies various pieces of Gemma’s own personality. She didn’t arrive at her views by herself. She’s a walking, talking metaphor for all of Gemma’s hopes and fears in being Cady’s guardian. It’s the moment the concept of death enters M3GAN’s mind, after all, that more or less breaks her. Protecting Cady at all costs becomes her primary prerogative. Each and every person whom the stylish doll slays poses a threat to Cady. Aggressive bullies. The nosy neighbor spraying chemicals in the yard. The boss exploiting the little girl for money. M3GAN becomes a vessel for Gemma’s rage at a world she feels incapable of protecting her niece from.
Ultimately, Cooper’s script plugs into a difficult yet necessary-to-understand reality — none of us will ever achieve “perfection” as a parent. Not Gemma. Not even M3GAN, who was built for that exact thing. All we can do is be a parent and not hand children off for the difficult part. You can’t solve all of your kid’s problems. You can’t protect them from everything. You’re going to fail sometimes. That’s okay. Because if there’s anything I do know about them, it’s that what kids need is something no M3GAN could ever give them: real, genuine love. When I think about it that way, maybe I’d do all right with kids. Better than being a raging robot. 🩸
About
Matt is a writer and wannabe werewolf who began his love of horror at the ripe old age of 3 with Carpenter’s Christine. He has a horror podcast called Killer Horror Critic which he does with his wonderful wife and has previously been published on Bloody Disgusting, Shudder’s The Bite, and Daily Grindhouse. You can also find more of his reviews and ramblings at his blog, KillerHorrorCritic.com.
Follow MANOR on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, and other sites via Linktree.
© 2023 Manor Entertainment LLC
