A bizarre trend is leading to cinemas banning teens in suits from watching the new Minion movie, Minions: The Rise of Gru.
Teens across the world have been dressing in full suit and ties to see the latest movie in the Despicable Me franchise. After releasing on July 1, the movie made a reported $128 million on the opening weekend..
High schoolers have been showing up to movie theaters in large groups, donning suits and even smoking cigars as part of an ironic online love for the movie. Many even go one step further, moshing and cheering loudly inside the movie theater.
Despite the trend going viral online, not everyone is a fan and some movie theaters in the U.K. have outright banned formal wear from showings of the movie in a bid to combat the disruptive behavior, while others across the world have been forced to kick people out.
The trend has been dubbed "gentleminions" and is a term coined by the movie franchise itself. After seeing the videos of the movement, the official account of the Minions franchise shared a video showing a Minion stuffed toy looking out of the window with videos of men in suits playing over. "Bobspeed you gentleminions," read the caption.
It's a plan that's been in the works since before the movie was released. Playing on the popular 2019 "Tickets to X, Please" meme, TikTok users joked about buying tickets for the children's movie while wearing full suits, as part of a very-online ironic adult fandom for the movie.
Surprisingly, the idea became fully formed and groups of teens have been going viral online, filmed by onlookers lined up cheering and shaking hands outside the cinema. One video even showed a woman tricking her family into watching the movie in formal dress, after telling them she had booked a fancy restaurant.
Clips have gained views in the millions, as users record their experience seeing the movie as a "gentleminion" group, turning up in suits and sunglasses with some even carrying bananas.
One video, by TikToker Stephen Healy, gained over 11 million views after he and a few friends watched the movie in suits. He told Newsweek that the ban is "absurd." Healy said the reaction in-person was far less than the attention online, explaining: "There wasn't much reaction if I can recall because we walked into the cinema late because we were too busy filming, but I do remember some laughs and stares as we walked down the stairs."
TikToker @_.itzvan_ attended the movie with a far bigger group, but only eight of them were his friends. The rest, he told Newsweek, just happened to be at the showing in suits too. "We just approached them and we all just vibed together," he said.
"As we were from Singapore, we did not see anyone do this trend in Singapore yet, so why not just film it?" he added. "As for the movie experience, I think it made it a more fun experience as it was just an ordinary minion movie. All of us clapped at the start and the end of the movie too and the rest of the theater followed us."
But what could just be harmless fun has caused groups to get kicked out of showings and some movie theaters to outright ban suits inside, after some seemingly took it a step too far. Videos show groups being kicked out after becoming too loud during the movie and throwing bananas at the screen.
One cinema, reported to be Odeon cinemas in the U.K., placed a sign outside warning cinema-goers about new Minion-related rules. "Due to recent disturbances following the #gentleminions trend, any group of guests in formal attire will be refused entry for showings of Minions: The Rise of Gru. Thank You."
A spokesperson for Odeon told Newsweek that "due to a small number of incidents in our cinemas over the weekend we have had to restrict access in some circumstances."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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