Behind the rise of “Gentleminions,” the teenagers wearing suits to go see the new Minions movie
The trend involves nothing more than wearing a suit to see Minions: The Rise Of Gru
Film Features Minions
Almost a decade since they first squeezed loose from the grip of the Despicable Me movies’ framework to become marquee stars in their own right, the Minions have returned once more to conquer global cinema. Not content to simply sit and watch a series of eerily smooth, jaundiced testicle-creatures chatter about bananas without properly celebrating the occasion, the release of Minions: The Rise Of Gru has also seen teenagers wearing suits to the movie in a new viral stunt.
Variety looked at this trend—which is collected on TikTok and Twitter under the hashtag #Gentleminions—and interviewed one of the first people to take part in it. Bill Hirst lives in Sydney, Australia and, when The Rise Of Gru opened in the country two weeks ago, posted a TikTok showing he and group of pals heading to the theater in suits, shaking hands with one another, steepling fingers beneath chins while seated waiting for the movie to begin, and stoically filing out after applauding its credits.
Hirst says one of his friends had seen another video of the trend when it was still just getting started and decided to go “do it just for the fun.” Since his class had “had our formal literally a couple days before that,” they were well prepared to get dressed up. When they arrived at the theater, Hirst’s group of 15 were met by another eight guys doing the same thing, which apparently keeps happening when people head out to the movie.
Case in point is a Maryland teenager named Obie, who, like Hirst, had seen a video of the trend and took part in it with some friends before running into another group that had also dressed up for the movie. Their fateful run-in was documented on TikTok and Twitter.
Theater owners have reacted in opposite ways to these large gatherings of Gentleminions. In the UK, their presence at The Rise Of Gru screenings has been disruptive enough that managers have restricted ticket sales. In North America, at least so far, theaters have been more than okay with the marketing bump. (Universal Pictures, for its part, issued an all-lowercase, first-person #BrandTweet saying “we see you and we love you” to the those coming to the movie in suits.)
In trying to explain why, exactly, the Gentleminions trend has caught on, Variety points out that young men are the primary demographic buying movie tickets right now and that their age group—”seven years old when the first Despicable Me hit theaters in 2010 [and] now around the age of 19"—are primed to go see the movie anyway. Obie and Hirst both agree, the former Gentleminion saying that his generation “now have nostalgia and enough money to see [a new Minions movie] on our own” and are “inclined to do so in our own way.”
This makes sense and—combined with several explanations for their popularity—leads us to the somewhat worrying conclusion that the Minions as a concept not only refuse to go away, but are actually growing in cultural power with every passing year.
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106 Comments
Nothing makes me feel my age more than this type of shit. It completely escapes me.
Having fun with friends escapes you? There’s literally nothing bizarre or unique to a particular generation about this behavior. Touch grass.
Nothing about seeing a Minion movie or wearing a suit screams “fun” to me. Like I said, it escapes me.
Ah, well, once you have the anti-fun stick removed from your ass you might make some friends and decide that doing something as a group is fun.
Lots of us learned this when we had friends as children, but I’m not sure what insufferable cunts did as kids, so I don’t know why YOU missed out on being/having fun.
When I was 16 I saw the latest Bond movie with friends in suits. Does that make it a little clearer?
Depends. Which Bond, and which movie?
Man, you people are old. It was Skyfall.
A View To A Pussy
Are you trying to articulate that you take yourself too seriously?
We didn’t even tuck our shirts in. Are you trying to articulate that you don’t give strangers the benefit of the doubt?
Wrestling escapes me. Doesn’t mean I go into articles about wrestling and announce to everyone, “This escapes me.”
how old is your age? i’m 38 and i think this looks like a blast.
I’m 36 and this all looks very dumb to me. And I very much enjoy wearing a suit. But this just looks dumb.
31 years old. Ditto.
I’m 50 and I could see younger me doing something like this.
Young people dressing up to do something isn’t a 2022 thing.
C’mon old man. Tons of people dressed up for the Star Wars reboot.
Hirst says one of his friends had seen another video of the trend when it was still just getting started and decided to go “do it just for the fun.”When did wearing suits become fun to teenagers? Are we in the 40s again?
We need to talk about a trend with the kids that actually is sinister: The Rise/Return/Revenge/Curse Of The Mullet.
They’re back. This time, it feels pretty personal.
Probably after 2 years of a pandemic, getting dressed up for an outing with a group of friends seems like a great time.
Suits have always been fun to wear… depending on the context. If it’s for an actual formal event then yeah that sucks but if it’s in the service of looking silly then suits rule.
Do you work for Armani? Maybe you should
If they pay me I will start extolling the virtues of wearing suits in truly strange places.
Even when worn as a bit of a joke, you still get a lot of “actually you look good” type comments because that’s what suits do.
Counterpoint: I kind of love the mullet resurgence, and think some people look fab with it (Miley). One trend that I am dreading: the return of low-waisted-mid-2000s-era jeans. Spotting them with some frequency in LA, and it hurts my heart.
Flares have returned. So have big, fake eyelashes. Mullets are not far behind. I fear the rat-tails.Just so long as the plumber-with-a-thong look from the early 00s never returns!
This whole thing is hella stupid. Variety interviewed people over us? Why?“So, what made you decide to dress up?”“My friend saw a video of someone else doing it.”“Fascinating.”“Yeah. We see videos of people doing things and then we do them, too.”“Go on.”“Nah, that’s it. Someone does something and then we do it.”
“If you saw someone jump off a bridge, would you do it?” – standard rhetorical question every parent in every generation says to their kids in regard to copying trends.
That question became non-rhetorical during the bungee jumping craze.
30+ years later and the stupidity of this question still pisses me off. Me as a kid: but, he didn’t jump off a bridge. I wouldn’t do that.
I’m shocked that this trend spread like many trends do, and then it was covered by an entertainment magazine due to its proximity to entertainment!(you’re old)
(I’m old too but I recognize it)
This was Variety, not Harper’s. Did you expect more from them? Vogue has better writing.
This seems like the exact type of harmless dumbassery my friends and I would’ve done back in the (pre-internet) day, especially during summer vacation.
Yes. Despite being 40, and having zero interest in the Minions movies, this trend is very funny to me.
Whatever. I guess kids have to do something to occupy their hands and minds until girls and getting stoned become priorities.
Because you can’t wear a suit to a movie and also get stoned and laid
obligatory:
Not with that attitude you can’t.
My own kid is 19 and I also find this delightful and really funny. Also, I am glad I don’t have to go to any more Minions movies.
Harmless dumbassery is great, but fuck the little assholes who were throwing shit at the screen, yelling over the damn movie, being shitty to theater staff, filming the screen, and getting screenings on opening weekend cancelled for all the other non-asshole people there who just wanted to come see the damn movie. Asshole teenager gonna asshole teenager.Not sure why this article left all mention of that stuff out (which did happen). Oh right! Because this site is corporate shill nonsense. Almost forgot.
I did this exact same thing with a group of guys in school to see whatever James Bond movie had just come out. I think what these guys are doing now is much funnier because wearing a suit to James Bond just feels like lazy cosplay
For sure. This preempts the inevitable “aren’t you a little old for a Minions movie?” with an end-around “my good man, is this not your finest cinematic offering?”
Exactly, and it really seems to have brought out the “old man shouting at clouds” side of people for some reason. It’s just some kids having a laugh.
This only really makes sense when you consider that “these folks likely had the previous Gru/Minions films as an influential part of their childhoods” and everybody gets to pretend at least a little that the stuff they loved as a kid was “actually really good”.
How funny would it be if Sony re-released “Morbius” a third time thanks to #Gentlemorbs?
Wearing a suit and seeing a minions movie are two things I’d be glad to be excused from.
Didn’t you predict this in the David Harbour thread?
I’m not sure, lad. I’m a bit pissed.
People dressed up to see Star Wars’es. When I saw the Aqua Teen movie, people were in some pretty elaborate costumes. Though, I couldn’t imagine the 7 foot Master Shake guy sitting comfortably through a whole movie in that outfit.
This trend is adorable. We need more adorable young men trends that do not include guns and trump flags.
Yes, definitely! My three teenagers (one boy, two girls) dressed up and went with their friends. Harmless fun!
Movies Are Great Again!
We’re so habituated to kids like Euphoria, when they do harmless kid stuff, we figure something must be up here
Eh, they’re from Sydney. We can only wish being into guns and Trump will be the worst of their future sins.
really nice to see a wholesome internet trend that could have existed in any era.
Agreed. I’m genuinely concerned that right now there’s a marketing team for Wendy’s or whatever trying to find a way to make money off of this, but otherwise this is great.
Forget Wendy’s you should be worried about how RadioShack is going to respond.
Nope.Is what I’d rather see
It’s dumb but harmless fun.
There are people who are nostalgic for the first Despicable Me movie? Man, I feel old.
it has a tie-in game on the PS2. it’s fuckin’ old
Honestly that’s hilarious given that they didn’t release it on PS3 when the movie was released in 2010 and the PS3 came out in 2006.
No “damn kids” snark from me on this one, that’s ridiculous and I love it.
Charming and harmless. More, please.
Reminder that the first Despicable Me came out in 2010. That means most of the kids doing this probably don’t remember a world without Minions.
although it seems silly, this sounds pretty fun. the comradery of a bunch of dudes getting dressed up and doing something fun sounds great! The problem I’ve heard is some are trashing the theatres and being super disruptive, and ruining it for others. If movie theatres were smart, they would have special ‘gentleminions’ showing, where you can’t get in if you are not dressed in formal wear. That could take off like mad… or completely bomb (i.e. rerelease of Morbius).
With friends, I wore a toy Arc Reactor on my chest to Avengers 1 and a homemade Dumbledore’s Army shirt for Deathly Hallows 2. As long as you’re not intruding on other people’s enjoyment, have fun!
Wow for once an actual positive viral trend
Welp. Can’t do that from home.
I’ll certainly take this trend over plenty others young men are doing. Unless this is part of all that Sigma bullshit that’s all over the internets. In which case, these kids can fuck off.
If the movie industry builds an entire franchise on luring five-year-olds in with gibberish-spouting cartoon characters, it should also expect those children to grow up twelve years later and religiously spout gibberish back at the screen. If I were running a movie theater I would advertise a special screening for the Gentleminions instead. Aren’t they desperate for ticket sales and full theatres again? This is a godsend from heaven and they’re trying to ban it?
Have a designated spot for “cocktail hour” afterwards, play some light jazz, encourage them to buy soda in those faux champagne glasses you can get at the dollar store, it’s brilliant
They will, of course, charge $10 a plastic flute for it.
Oh god, this all sounds delightful.
This is a very good take
People in the UK seem less charmed by this generally given the disruption they’re causing, which seems to fly less here.
Americans seem to be more used to interactivity from the audience during movies, so I guess this sort of thing stands out less. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone cheer or clap in a movie in the UK.
Aye you’re right – there were cheers for the reveal of each Spider-Man when I saw No Way Home on opening night, that’s pretty much all I can remember.
I saw it once in a showing of Endgame.That’s once in 30 years.
Three times for me here in the UK – Endgame, No Way Home and, way back, the original Scream. People went wild in the opening scene.
Yep. Most of the big cinema chains have now banned teens in suits.
This is possibly one of the dumber reactions by corporations. Why? Manage it. Capitalize on it by using it in promos for your business. Don’t ban it and highlight how out of touch you are.Although I guess it would require the cinema managers to do (more) work.
Gee, Rocky Horror Picture Show in UK must be less innaresting.
Well the rules are different for screenings like that of course, but having seen the jokes shouted out during Rocky Horror screenings they sound absolutely insufferable.I remember looking up Alamo Drafthouse because I’d heard a lot about their cinemas and the etiquette rules and other than banning young kids it seems to boil down to this: “The cinema also prohibits talking and texting during the film. Anyone who violates this policy is subject to warning and potential removal from the premises” which is all pretty much standard practice in UK cinemas.
You don’t like the windshield wipers? Or the toast?
We make an exception for that – I went once and it’s just the same as the US, I believe
So…”cute for five minutes, but then slow creeping dread as you realize these people are going to do this for the entire duration of the movie”?
Yeah the article is missing the point that these kids are going in and acting like complete pieces of shit during the movie.
How is watching a movie in a nice suit a disruption?
Well they obviously aren’t just wearing suits:https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jul/04/uk-cinemas-ban-fans-in-suits-from-minions-the-rise-of-gru
How many teens have suits to wear? When I was that age I didn’t have one, I wasn’t gonna spend money in one and my parents sure as hell weren’t gonna waste money on something I would grow out of in a year. The one quote mentions a High School formal which, back in my day, you rented a tux for
I had a suit as a teen, mainly because that was the age that I started to get invited to older relatives’ weddings.It also came in handy for all the formal dances at university, not that I went to more than a few anyway.
That stuff varies. In our high school you only got a tux for prom. Homecoming, whatever other formal dances were your own clothes. Maybe you had a suit from an sibling’s or cousin’s wedding, from a grandparents funeral, from first communion. Some kids do have parents who spend money on things their kids will grow out of. Others shop the sales rack at Kohl’s or hit up Goodwill.
Some of these kids are just wearing a shirt and tie.
This is a movie stunt, it doesn’t have to be SAville Row. I guarantee you could get costumed up for $10.
Tarocash has frequent sales.
I thought minions were a boomer thing? Blowup minions holding Trump 2024 banners is one of my favorite new trends.
I imagine the UK response is just because of a few assholes ruining it for everyone else by being disruptive. Overall, this seems like goofy, harmless high school fun.
I mean, they aren’t eating Tide Pods or snorting cinnamon or releasing swarms of hornets into senior care centers, so as dumb TikTok trends go this one is… the best we could hope for?
Not just young men. My daughter attempted to explain to me why she and her girlfriends were all dressed up for the premiere. OK – rock on. You all missed out on prom during COVID, so you have earned quite a bit of goodwill.
Yes lots of people have dressed up to see movies in the past, but that was because those people earnestly liked those movies. Gen Z does literally everything for the memes. I’m almost surprised that the dumb morbin’ time nonsense didn’t turn into box office sales for Morbius now.
I am so neutral about this whole phenomenon I have written a sentence on the internet about it.
I find this comment entirely inoffensive. I am unmoved.
It’s nice to see a story about a TikTok trend that doesn’t involve people dying or getting hurt.
At least nobody is streaking!!!
When I first heard about this I thought they were dressing in ‘Minions’ suits and was wondering why everyone thought it was so classy…
There is definitely more than just wearing suits to see the movie. I have seen dozens of reports where these people constantly scream and cheer the entire movie making it literally impossible for anyone to watch the movie. There are also just as many reports of them bringing and throwing bananas at the movie screen and ripping it. This isn’t a harmless tik tok thing. It’s just kids being assholes.
There is definitely more than just wearing suits to see the movie. I have seen dozens of reports where these people constantly scream and cheer the entire movie making it literally impossible for anyone to watch the movie. There are also just as many reports of them bringing and throwing bananas at the movie screen and ripping it. This isn’t a harmless tik tok thing. It’s just kids being assholes.
I’ll take this over the Rick and Morty fans rioting about a shortage of cheap McDonalds szechuan sauce.
…the somewhat worrying conclusion that the Minions as a concept not only refuse to go away, but are actually growing in cultural power with every passing year.You know how it seems like every blockbuster is just another installment in the never-ending Marvel Comics Universe movie that we’ve been watching for 14 years?The future will be just like that.But with Minions.