“It’s not Schindler’s List, people. It’s a kids movie. Get over it.”
So read one of the reactions on social media to a post complaining about the behavior of viewers during a screening of A Minecraft Movie.
But it’s not just that man, it’s so many people, minimising the outright vandalism and destruction left behind when the movie is over (check out the photos below).
It’s excused, in the name of “boys will be boys” and “it’s a kids’ movie” and “they’re just having fun.”
Are you kidding me? Have we learned nothing from the recent Adolescence phenomenon?
Utter chaos and criminal acts in screenings of the Minecraft movie
As a mum of an almost 18 year old, who’s cared more about kindness and respect than school grades, the scenes of the chaos caused in cinemas have been heartbreaking.
I can only imagine what it’s like to be a cleaner after a session, and be confronted with images like this:
It’s rude, disrespectful, inconsiderate, and yes, arrogant, to think your ‘excitement’ in a movie should be expressed by leaving a trail of destruction for someone else to clean up.
For someone doing a job, cleaning up after you.
Forget about ‘punishing’ kids or young adults for this. That ship has sailed. A more useful topic to consider is how entitled they are to feel this behaviour is acceptable?
That they matter more than others?
It was one of the questions raised in Adolescence, and I wrote about it here:
“When I watched Netflix’s Adolescence this week, I was not surprised, or shocked, by the themes of male behaviour -entitlement, self-loathing, anger and violence – that it explores through main character, Jamie. Nor was I surprised by how accurate it was.
“I know first-hand this behavior is prevalent.
“And if you were surprised by Jamie’s character, you’re lucky. Because there’s a lot more Jamies out there than many of us realize.”
But the reaction to the Minecraft cinema chaos shows that many of us still think it’s just “young people testing boundaries.” Why can’t many of us see it’s so much more than that?
That these young people turn out to be a danger to society?
And further: Why has this woman’s post on Facebook been torn to shreds?
She’s been called a “Karen”, told that she should lower her expectations, be cooler than this as a Gen X.
Why is the reaction not, “Who the f**k do they think they are?”
Why are not more people disgusted by this lack of humanity?
And then we’re taken aback when we discovered kids like Adolescence’s Jamie are running rampant in our society.
What about their hardworking parents?
I can tell you as a sole mum on a sole income, I would be ropeable if my son took my money and threw it on the dirty cinema floor, stamped on it, and soaked it with soda.
But I can also tell you that he wouldn’t do that, because he’s been raised to be respectful of what he has. And he’s raised to be respectful of me.
Also, my kid’s reaction to the viral TikTok trend of movie-goers is revealing: “Who would waste popcorn like that?”
To me, that leads to the scariest part of this: those kids are not thinking of the popcorn, their parents, or anyone else, at all.
Read the full article here
