Disclaimer: This article is based on actual news from the real world – honestly! However, it has been sprinkled with a healthy dose of satire.
Not a cell phone in sight, just people living in the moment. (Charlotte/Creative Commons)
Remember the movies that came out last year that were nominated for Best Picture? Of course not! You might remember one or two of them, like that Wizard of Oz one or the Bob Dylan one, but overall, it was a pretty forgettable year. Compare that to now, where A Minecraft Movie has made more money worldwide ($313 million) in just one weekend than all ten of those movies’ opening weekends combined (or at least close), a global phenomenon that shows no signs of slowing down. How big is Minecraft mania? Enough that law enforcement nationwide is getting involved.
It’s no surprise that A Minecraft Movie has taken off. Based on the extremely popular video game that’s been enjoyed by little kids since 2009, many of those kids who first played it grew into annoying teenagers, but kids still like the game (64% of the opening weekend audience was under 25). Kids also like TikTok because social media trends are almost as fun as going to see a film based on a video game. However, when you’re playing a video game, you usually don’t throw food at the screen and freak out like you can when you’re in a crowded theater. You’re not particularly supposed to do that, but try telling kids that.
The TikTok trend comes from a point in the film where Jack Black’s character sees a zombie riding a chicken and utters the words “chicken jockey.” Given that the phrase was a meme before the film even came out, instead of watching the movie and acknowledging a thing that’s been said before, one video shows most of the audience filming the screen, then erupting when the line is said. Popcorn is thrown, the crowd goes wild… and then the film is stopped, and the cops are called.
‘Minecraft’ Kid Freakout Epidemic Hits Theaters Worldwide. (Prakrutim/Creative Commons)
If there’s one thing that being told not to do something does, it’s get those people to do what they’re not supposed to. Are there copycat freak-outs? Enough that BBC News reports that some theaters are posting warnings. “Any form of anti-social behavior, especially anything that may disturb other guests such as loud screaming, clapping and shouting will not be tolerated,” a Cineworld theater in Oxfordshire said. “Anyone who is found to be acting in this manner will be removed from the screening and not entitled to a refund.”
This isn’t new behavior by any stretch of the imagination. People have thrown toast and rice at The Rocky Horror Picture Show for decades now. And who can forget throwing Whitman’s Samplers at the screen during Forrest Gump, snowballs at the screen during Frozen, dollars at the screen during Anora, and DVDs of Joker: Folie à Deux at the screen during Oppenheimer? (get it, because the movie was a big bomb?). That said, it’ll be interesting to see if kids keep interrupting the film. Or if they get blocked.
This article is based on fully factual news, so if we got it wrong, blame these guys, we’re just here to make it funny.
