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Wales Online
Wales Online
Entertainment
Cal Byrne

Minions movie suit trend: Where did the TikTok meme start?

The trend of teenagers turning up to cinemas around the country in full formal attire has led to several theatres banning groups wearing suits from screenings.

The reason behind the trend is unknown apart from the fact that it was started by a group of Australian teens excited to see Minions: The Rise of Gru and wanted to make the occasion formal. It has since spread around the world and has been replicated in numerous countries.

The official Minions TikTok account has even gotten behind the meme, posting a video three days ago which has already got over 2.3m views.

Read more: Swizzels launch new range of Minions sweets in time for summer movie

Where did the Gentleminions TikTok trend start?

Trend is believed to have been started by 18-year-old Sydney resident Bill Hirst, who said in explaining the idea behind the meme: “Everyone’s always loved a bit of Minions. They’re big on TikTok. So we thought it would be funny to chuck on some suits and go to a showing.” Another big part of the trend appears to be arriving at the cinemas with a bunch of bananas (which are famously loved by minions) with a lot of the teens wearing a banana as a cravat in their suit pocket.

A lot of the videos for the meme include the song “Rich Minion” by Yeat, which has become a sort of unofficial soundtrack for the film. Yeat samples bits of minions dialogue in the track, and includes the line “I call my Minion my children, I call my children my Minions”.

While starting off in Australia, the trend has quickly spread around the world in a matter of days, and some are suggesting may be in part the reason why the film is already breaking box office records in the US.

Why has it been banned by various cinemas?

Although the trend largely involves just turning up to the cinema in your suit and perhaps chowing down on a banana, there have been some reports of Gentleminions getting rowdy in the aisles of theatres which has led to some cinemas either attempting to ban the trend, or at least discourage it. Bill Hirst who is credited with starting the trend said they got some odd looks from another group of cinemagoers dressed up as minions when they first arrived in suits, but the two groups quickly bonded.

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