When he unleashed boom of hyperconnectivity and sms with multimedia content —or mms— began to bombard our mobile phones, we laughed at things as simple as a picture of a cow with a hysterical laugh playing in the background. But this gag born in response to the mad cow crisis was not enough to anticipate what was to come.
Suit up!
In full 2022 meme culture has reached unsuspected milestones. If we stick to the strictly cinematographic, the most recent has been to cause the re-release of a blockbuster of the stature of ‘Morbius’ after the internet was flooded with tons of content that turned the Sony feature film into little less than a cult —with not a little sarcasm, everything is said—.
Now, after the Marvel vampire, the new viral phenomenon has been none other than ‘Minions: The Origin of Gru’; the long-awaited new installment of the Illumination Entertainment saga that has seen the birth of #Gentleminions. Under this hashtag, already converted to trend On TikTok, groups of teenagers —and not so teenagers— have published their videos attending screenings of the film.
But of course, we are in the Roaring 20’s, and these cinephile dates were not going to be normal. The Gentleminions twist is that attendees come to the passes dressed or disguised as the yellow creatures that give the film its title, and show excessive enthusiasm during some of the scenes —the gossips speak of throwing bananas at the screen—; something that has made some movie theaters have prohibited entry to people who come in suits.
Right off the bat I find the thing as insane as it is funny, but of course, sitting in the chair and having a group of maniacs pepper the film like this shouldn’t be a dish of good taste. Anyway, we are still safe; real hell could break loose if the folks at dreamworks come up with a brand new a new numbered feature of ‘Shrek’.