Crazy "Gentleminions" trend on TikTok: young people devastate cinemas
Created: 07/19/2022, 10:27 am
By: Sina Alonso Garcia
A single devastation in the Filmpalast at the ZKM in Karlsruhe: cinema-goers leave a trail of chaos after the new film of the "Minions".
On TikTok, the trend is referred to as "Gentleminions".
© Filmpalast at the ZKM/TikTok
It sounds completely absurd, but it's a new TikTok trend: young people meet in suits in cinemas to watch the new Minion film.
In Karlsruhe, the trend now assumed destructive proportions.
Karlsruhe – Anyone who has been to the cinema in the past few days should have been amazed: in many places groups of young people in suits are currently meeting there.
Her goal: to celebrate the new “Minion” movie and film herself doing it.
What started as a TikTok trend and initially sounds quite funny has now assumed destructive proportions in Karlsruhe, as BW24 reports: The "Gentleminions" left a trail of devastation in the Filmpalast at the ZKM (Center for Art and Media).
"Gentleminions": Video from the Filmpalast at the ZKM Karlsruhe shows the frightening littering of the cinema
In a video on TikTok, the Filmpalast channel shows a badly battered cinema hall.
Mounds of popcorn and empty soda cans lie strewn across the seats and floor.
More than 6.5 million users have already seen the video (as of July 18).
"So you know what the gentleminions are doing in the cinemas," write the operators.
"As a result, the film has been withdrawn from many locations around the world and teenagers in suits are no longer allowed in."
"Cleaning costs us an incredible amount of time and therefore money," the operators continue.
"On behalf of all cinemas, we therefore ask you for more respect." Numerous users have already reacted to the video in the comment column.
"And I feel bad if I drop three popcorns," writes one.
Others find: "That really goes too far!" It can also be read: "You can do this trend, but still be respectful."
Employees of Karlsruher ZKM describe incidents: "It was no longer normal"
"At the beginning of July, people were still behaving really well," says Marcel Malachowski, assistant theater director at the Filmpalast am ZKM, in an interview with
BuzzFeed News Germany
.
That's why the cinema even promoted the Gentleminions trend at the beginning.
"In Karlsruhe we also stand for the fact that we love the Minions," says Malachowski.
On Thursday last week, the mood then changed.
"It wasn't normal anymore: The Gentleminions turned on their phones, filmed, yelled and just disturbed.
The only thing that got dirty was that drinks were spilled, popcorn spread on the floor - even cups were thrown at the screen.” The destructiveness has now also become a financial problem - after all, a screen costs a lot of money.
The gentleminion trend started in Australia.
The idea: to celebrate the Minion film, no matter how you really find it.
The teenagers film themselves buying tickets, going to their seats and watching the film.
Later, the song "Rich Minion" by Yeat is placed under the video clips.
Although this does not appear in the movie itself, it does appear in the Minions trailer.
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Karlsruhe Film Palace ZKM: This is how the operators are reacting to the devastation
Marcel Malachowski from the Filmpalast at the ZKM believes that the young people who caused such chaos there simply wanted to "throw a party in the cinema and be disrespectful".
The behavior was also abusive towards the other customers: "One customer even had salsa smeared in her hair," the assistant theater director told
BuzzFeed
.
The subsequent cleaning of the cinema hall would have taken twice as long as usual.
While other cinemas are now banning the film with the small yellow figures, the Filmpalast at the ZKM would like to continue showing it.
Instead, the operators want to control access to the halls even better.
Suits per se are okay - just not the chaos.
"Everyone is welcome, both in every film and in the suit," says Malachowski.
“But there is a cinema etiquette that simply has to be observed.
Everyone deserves to sit in a darkened room for two hours and enjoy the cinema.
If that's not for you, you should stay at home and stream the Minions at some point - because we don't need that."