It premiered last weekend. Minions: The Origin of Gru, a film that Universal Pictures had prepared since 2020, but that they have not wanted to release until now so as not to put one of their most successful franchises at risk. The animated feature film is being a success, but many families wonder why movie theaters are filling up with young kids in suits and, that sometimes, they behave like savages. What is the origin of this meme?
'Tickets for X, please.' The origin of the Gentleminions
The premiere of Minions: The Origin of Gru It has been marked by the Gentleminions phenomenon, a TikTok viral that has managed to fill half the world's movie theaters with kids dressed in formalwear to watch the animated film. The viral itself has been simmered, and its origin is in the year 2019.
In September 2019, 4chan brought the meme to life'Tickets for Joker, Please'. All this happened within the /tv/ subforum, where users began to imagine the target audience that came to see this movie. The meme began by putting the photo of the two shooters from the Columbine Institute, with the text 'Two tickets to the Joker, please.'.
During the following weeks, the meme experienced numerous variants. They combined everything into a single image and imagined new versions with other films. It wasn't long before she ended up leaving 4chan and coming to Twitter. Since then, thousands of users around the world have been imagining the audience of certain movies by creating images using this formula. To this day, the meme has become standardized, and you can see it pretty much anywhere.
And where does the #Gentleminions come from?
It is nothing more than a way of applying the meme to real life, but we can affirm that things have gotten a bit out of hand, especially in English-speaking countries. Late last month, some TikTok users began to fantasize about the idea of go to the cinema to see the Minions dressed in suits.
What seemed like a simple joke ended up materializing, and this was published by the user @____pan in his account, next to song Rich Minion of teat:
@____bread
The video had almost 17 million reproductions and 4 million likes in a matter of four days. A couple of days later, the Minions official account on TikTok he opened the box of thunder giving visibility to the meme.
@minions Bobspeed you gentleminions. 蘆 #Minions #TheRiseOfGru only in theaters now. #gentleminions #gentlemen #riseofgru #mintok
And, obviously, the inevitable happened. If by itself, part of the tiktok humor It is based on repetition and challenges, the fact that the official Minions account gave it an impact was the necessary spark for the meme to become trend.
A meme that has clearly gotten out of hand
There is nothing wrong with going to the cinema dressed in a jacket, but in some cinemas in United States and United KingdomMany customers have asked for their entry money to be returned, as the teenagers have dedicated themselves to behaving like the Minions themselves while the movie is playing.
Screams, throwing bananas at the screen... what is necessary to continue feeding the meme on TikTok. The joke has reached such a point that many cinemas prohibit the entrance of young people dressed in suits.