The film has created a viral and enduring meme from the “chicken jockey” scene. In this fight scene, Jack Black’s character Steve is squaring up against a Minecraft chicken. Suddenly, a small zombie drops onto its back, leading Black to shout the now-infamous line: “Chicken jockey!” The line is an in-game reference for Minecraft players, and also prompts kids, teens, and Minecraft fans of all ages to go berserk.
Kids are going absolutely bonkers over this scene, and that’s no exaggeration. They’re throwing massive bags of popcorn and hurling their drinks in the air. There was at least one screening where someone brought a live chicken, which appeared to be concealed until the titular scene. One employee claimed that they kicked 30 teen boys from the showing due to their obnoxious behavior. At one, kids pulled out a whole row of movie theater seats. Other reports mention that kids brought in “Costco-sized amounts of toilet paper.” Even for the rowdiest showing of “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” this kind of fan participation is a bit much. It’s all fun and games for the kids, but theaters are left with overworked employees, broken screens and seating areas, and floors sticky with food and drinks. Employees are touting trash bags and using leaf blowers to collect the massive amounts of popcorn.
A moviegoer with a live chicken at A Minecraft Movie showing. Photo via _bobbyfunk_
In response, theaters have had to adapt. Some theaters just stopped selling concessions in light of the “disrespectful” behavior. Others banned unaccompanied minors from seeing the film. Police were called at other screenings. Some screenings were so rowdy that the movie got cut off right after the “Chicken Jockey” scene.
Photo via u/TheDelftenaar
As an avid moviegoer, rather than just lamenting about children and teens hooting and hollering at A Minecraft Movie, I’m more concerned with the average theater experience. Since the events of the early 2020s that kept us all huddled inside for a year or so, movie etiquette has undergone a big change. Talking during movies used to be frowned upon, but now I’ve witnessed it at almost every single movie screening I’ve been to lately. Recording portions of the movie goes unnoticed and unpunished. Having a full conversation with your spouse and saying, “What do you think will happen next?” is not what we’re shelling out money for when we go to see a movie.
Photo via Matteo Discardi on Unsplash+
I recently made a TikTok for Cheezburger about movie theater etiquette, and right after I published it I went to see the movie “Drop.” Lo and behold, the woman next to me was on her phone for a lot of the movie. I kept glancing at the bright, distracting blue light of her phone, and when I did, she would put the phone away. I believe she was “accidentally” taking her phone out, acting on a reflex that’s hard to quit. Think about it: Checking your phone is probably the literal first thing you do each morning as you turn off your beeping alarm clock. It’s probably the last thing you do before closing your eyes at night—plus, you’re always checking your email, texts, and socials dozens of times throughout the day. According to Reviews, 43% of Americans feel they are phone addicted, which isn’t surprising since it also states that we check our phones 205 times daily on average. In the same study, people spent about 4.5 hours a day on their phones. To be honest, this feels low when your whole life is contained on this one tiny rectangle—texts, emails, phone calls, social media, games, camera,alarms, and more—it feels all but impossible to put it down even for a few minutes. Apparently, almost 80% of us won’t even leave the house without our phones and we get anxious when the battery runs low.
One of the most interesting aspects of this study was that about 48% of people claim they’ve never gone longer than 24 hours without their cell phones. For many kids, teens, and young people, living in a world without cell phones is unthinkable, and it’s something they’ve never experienced before.
Phone usage has amplified, and the recent activity at movie theaters has made that clear. Many people simply don’t want a single-screen experience. Instead, people love scrolling their phones, laptop, or iPad while watching TV—screens galore! I’m not immune to this either, I like to scroll while watching a TV show or movie, but only sometimes. I try not to because it just feels overstimulating after a while. It feels like you’re never really experiencing one particular media with 100% attention. Have you ever watched a movie while second-screening and realized you barely absorbed the film at all?
That seems to be just the point for some people: Algorithms are designed to be all-consuming and powerfully addicting as they show people content curated just for them. Can we really ask people who are uncontrollably addicted to their iPhones to stop using them during movies?
Even though tech has advanced so much, it also rewards antisocial behavior. Sure, people might still be throwing popcorn at the movies if there were no phones around to record them. But the levels of movie-theater insanity we’re witnessing in real time on TikTok is an example of the heightened stakes of social media. People want to have the most interesting content and draw in views at any cost, even if that means taking their stunts to https://www.tiktok.com/@hottakesbycheezburger/video/7492147995304086827extremes.
A Minecraft Movie has drawn in plenty of viewers, but some theaters are still struggling to pull in consistent viewerships. Instead of lowering prices or offering cheap snacks to lure people in the door, some theaters are adding in pickleball courts, ziplines, bowling, or cocktail bars. If this feels familiar to you, then you must’ve been a kid in the early aughts. Why? Because what that’s describing is a mall—we’ve come full circle. All it needs is a few stores and restaurants surrounding it and that’s a mega mall. Whatever gets people in the door is what movie theaters will embrace. Will this encourage moviegoers to actually watch the movies or will we see them leaving midway through to play a round of pickleball? Only time will tell if these strategies pay off. For now, unless you’re a tween at a showing of A Minecraft Movie, just sit down, chill out, and try your very hardest to watch that movie with zero distractions. Or you might just walk right out of that theater into a food court offering free samples from Panda Express and a sale at Spencer’s on the shocking gum prank.
For a visual rant on the subject, check out the HotTakesbyCheezburger TikTok channel.
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