If you’re heading to the movie theater this weekend and see a group of young people in suspiciously classy outfits, the reason probably isn’t that they got lost on the way to a club or the prom. It’s more likely that they’re going to watch the animated movie Minions: The Rise of Gru and following a viral trend known as #Gentleminions.
@_.itzvan_ issa vibe #tiktoksg #minions #suit #kingbob #fyp ♬ Rich Minion – Yeat
@me_bryannnn Wearing Suits to watch Minions🥵🥵🥵#minions #riseofgru #fyp #sg#sgtiktok#foryou ♬ Rich Minion – Yeat
As you can see from the TikToks above, the memetic trend involving the incredibly (and some would argue inexplicably) popular Minions movie series has arrived in Singapore.
According to Know Your Memes, the origins of #gentleminions occurred in late June when some YouTubers and TikTokers joked about going to see the latest Minions film in fancy dress, partially in reference to an older Tickets To X, Please meme. As happens so often nowadays, the internet jokes manifested into real-life ridiculousness to then be turned back into Tiktok fodder.
Although the trend appears to have arisen organically and not as the result of viral marketing by the film’s distributor, Universal Studios, they were certainly happy to acknowledge it.
However, a lot of people are not happy about this particular trend. Some theaters in the UK have actually banned young people in suits from watching the movie after numerous reports of them acting rowdy and disturbing audiences by yelling at the screen throughout the movie. This has led to even more videos showing attempts at getting around the suit ban.
@jamesnormandy Cannot be stopped 🍌 #minions #fyp #gentleminions #riseofgru #cinema ♬ Rich Minion – Yeat
However such bans seem unlikely to happen in Singapore as apparently our minions really are the gentle type with no reports of rowdy behavior. Yet at least.
