+
Sign up for
The Upworthiest
Our top stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox.
upworthy
Pop Culture

The gentleminions are coming: Legions of fans are dressing up for the new 'Minions' movie

Even the movie studio has acknowledged the trend.

minions, gentleminions, movie theaters, teens
Photo by Alex Litvin on Unsplash

Movie theaters have been full of teens in suits.

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past decade, you probably know who the Minions are. If you're drawing a blank, allow me to remind you. They're those little yellow guys in the overalls who are largely hard to understand unless they're saying "banana." After becoming the breakout stars of the "Despicable Me" franchise, they were given their own movie in 2015. The film's sequel, "Minions: The Rise of Gru" was released this Fourth of July weekend, and set records for being the highest grossing film over any Fourth of July holiday. And while some of that is parents looking for something to do over the long weekend, a large part is due to a recent TikTok trend, #gentleminions.

No one is entirely sure where the trend, which has more than 5 million views on TikTok, started, but it has spread in a way no one could have ever imagined. But what is the trend, you ask? Teenagers, mostly boys, have been dressing in suits when going to view the film. Wait a second, do the Minions even wear suits? No, they don't. Apparently, the decision to wear suits is an homage to Gru, the boss of the Minions.

@minions Bobspeed you gentleminions. 🤵 #Minions #TheRiseOfGru only in theaters now. #gentleminions #gentlemen #riseofgru #mintok ♬ Powerful songs like action movie music - Tansa

Teen boys all over the world donned their Sunday best to showings of the Minions movie all weekend, filming themselves for posterity. The hashtag has been blowing up so much that even Universal, the film's distribution company, has acknowledged the trend on Twitter.

Bill Hirst, an Australian teen, was an early user of the gentleminions hashtag. His TikTok of a group of teens on an escalator has amassed more than 8 million views, and is considered one of the earliest videos in the trend due to "Minions: The Rise of Gru" being released a few weeks ago in Australia.

@bill.hirst 🍌#fyp #minions #banana ♬ original sound - billh

“My mate saw one of the first videos that was quite small at the time. We wanted to do it just for fun,” Hirst told Variety. “We just chucked on our suits and went straight to the cinemas…It was very spontaneous."

It may have been just a whim for Hirst and his pals, but then he saw another group of teens also wearing suits.

“There were 15 of us, but, when we got there, there was another group of about eight. This was before it actually became a trend, so we were so surprised when we saw all these other guys there as well,” Hirst explained. “All the people who were just there to watch it were freaking out… You’re not used to seeing people in suits at the cinemas.”

And freak out they did. For the most part, the teens who are participating in #gentleminions are respectful and just having a good time. But being that they're teens, some kids have gotten a little too rowdy, causing disturbances to the families seeing the film. One group showed up to the film with a garbage can full of bananas, while another group was so distracting the police had to be called. It's gotten to the point where movie theaters in the U.K. have banned kids wearing suits from even seeing the movie.

“This is what happens when a generation grows up with a franchise,” an insider told The Hollywood Reporter. Jim Orr, president of domestic theatrical distribution for Universal said, “The movie is playing to a very broad audience, as well to families and the very young.”

Teen Norvil Rogers told Polygon, “We just thought that, with [Rise of Gru] being such a masterpiece, we would have to have to wear the appropriate attire [laughs].” His friend William White added that they got the idea from TikTok and Instagram.

Still confused? Join the club. But as long as the kids are having fun and staying out of trouble, it's probably best to just let them have this one.

Related Articles Around the Web
movies
Community

Facebook group brings people together IRL to make meaningful friendships

True

Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

Keep ReadingShow less
friendship
Democracy

This Map Reveals The True Value Of $100 In Each State

Your purchasing power can swing by 30% from state to state.

Image by Tax Foundation.

Map represents the value of 100 dollars.

As the cost of living in large cities continues to rise, more and more people are realizing that the value of a dollar in the United States is a very relative concept. For decades, cost of living indices have sought to address and benchmark the inconsistencies in what money will buy, but they are often so specific as to prevent a holistic picture or the ability to "browse" the data based on geographic location.

The Tax Foundation addressed many of these shortcomings using the most recent (2015) Bureau of Economic Analysis data to provide a familiar map of the United States overlaid with the relative value of what $100 is "worth" in each state. Granted, going state-by-state still introduces a fair amount of "smoothing" into the process — $100 will go farther in Los Angeles than in Fresno, for instance — but it does provide insight into where the value lies.

Keep ReadingShow less
money
Family

Woman bakes cheeky curse word pies for her grandma and it becomes a quirky holiday tradition

2023's pie is an homage to her favorite word to use while stuck in traffic.

Canva

You never know where a holiday tradition will come from.

Tried-and-true holiday traditions certainly have their merit, but there’s something quite special, magical even, about discovering personal rituals that commemorate one’s unique life. In my household, for instance, nothing quite rings in the Christmas spirit like sipping my partner’s delicious coquito and putting up a cardboard gingerbread house for my cats.

The beauty of creating customized holiday traditions is that they can be as festive, sentimental, or as silly as you want them to be. And you never know how one small moment can become the catalyst for a tradition that sparks joy year after year.

For Jess Lydon, that tradition is baking expletive-laden pies for Thanksgiving. (This is your profanity warning—the images below contain swear words.)

Keep ReadingShow less
humor
Family

Grandma got a secret DNA test after noticing her granddaughter didn't look like her siblings

People think she was right to do it, too.

via Christian Buehner/Unsplash and Warren Umoh/Unsplash

The grandmother was suspicious.

A grandmother always felt her middle granddaughter Lindsay, 15, looked slightly different from the rest of the family because she had blonde, curly hair, while the rest of her siblings’ hair was dark “I thought genetics was being weird and I love her,” she wrote on Reddit’s AITA forum.

But things became serious after Linday’s parents “banned” her from taking things a step further and getting a DNA test. If the family was sure their daughter was theirs, why would they forbid her from seeking clarity in the situation? After the parents laid down the law, the situation started to seem a little suspicious.

“I told my son and [daughter-in-law] that there was something fishy around her birth she needed to know. They denied it and told me to leave it alone,” the grandma wrote.

Keep ReadingShow less
dna tests
Pop Culture

Pianist uses every part of the instrument in this joyous performance of Toto's 'Africa'

"Not sure I can comprehend what just happened! Unbelievable."

via Peter Benace/YouTube

Peter Bence's piano cover of "Africa" by Toto

Peter Bence’s performance of “Africa” by Toto has over 17 million views on YouTube because of his creative reimagining of the song and, well, just about everyone loves “Africa.”

Bence is a Hungarian composer and producer who has become a viral sensation for his Michael Jackson, Queen, Sia, and Beatles covers. He has over 1.1 million followers on YouTube and has toured the globe, playing in more than 40 countries across four continents.

His performance of “Africa'' is unique because it opens with him creating a rhythm track and looping it by strategically tapping the piano and rubbing its strings to create the sound of shakers and congo drums.

Keep ReadingShow less
music
Joy

Family posts a very chill note to neighbors explaining why their dog is on the roof

“We appreciate your concern but please do not knock on our door.."

via Reddit

Meet Huckleberry the dog.

If you were taking a stroll through a quiet neighborhood and happened to catch a glance of this majestic sight, you might bat an eye. You might do a double take. If you were (somewhat understandably) concerned about this surprising roof-dog's welfare, you might even approach the homeowners to tell them, "Uh, I'm not sure if you know...but there's a...dog...on your ROOF."

Well, the family inside is aware that there's often a dog on their roof. It's their pet Golden, Huckleberry, and he just sorta likes it up there.

Keep ReadingShow less
dogs
Family

12 hilariously relatable comics about life as a new mom.

Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone's bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.

All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.

Some good not so good moments with babies.



Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone's bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.

Illustrator Ingebritt ter Veld and Corinne de Vries, who works for Hippe-Birth Cards, a webshop for birth announcements, had babies shortly after one another.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trending Stories