It was French philosopher and existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre who, in his 1944 play No Exit postulated that “Hell is other people”. Sartre would find many agreeing with him among the audiences of A Minecraft Movie.
Proving once again that social media is perhaps the worst thing to ever happen to humanity, and that the internet remains a terrible idea, a TikTok-fueled viral trend has taken off around A Minecraft Movie which is really pissing off the cinema workers who have to clean the theaters after a showing – Chicken Jockey.
My children play Minecraft and I have asked them what is so important about Chicken Jockey? It appears it is just something noted in the game for its rarity.
It is triggered by the scene in the movie where Jack Black calls out “Chicken jockey!” at the appearance of a baby zombie riding a chicken. Footage has been spreading all over social media of audiences cheering, and throwing buckets of popcorn, candy, and drinks at this scene. There is even a report of one person bringing a live chicken to a showing of the movie.
One theater worker shared his opinion of this on a MovieTheaterEmployees subreddit:
“OMFG, I thought Wicked was bad but nothing can top what happened with Minecraft. During one of our shows we had to kick out THIRTY, yes THIRTY, teenage boys.” Another says: “All of us cannot wait for this movie to be gone.”
Well done, Minecrafters. You have managed to be even more annoying than a bunch of self-affirming women at some sing-along screening of a movie that celebrates a total lack of accountability. Really well done. That takes some effort.
The viral trend is being lambasted for its disrespect towards often underpaid cinema employees and others at the screenings. Apparently, the police have been called on more than one occasion. The Hollywood Reporter says that after those initial videos dropped, the trend has been spreading.
A Minecraft Movie continues to be something a phenomenon, despite this. According to BoxOfficeMojo it is currently approaching $435 million at the box office.
It would be the top-grossing movie of the year so far if it wasn’t for a pesky Chinese movie grossing more than 3.5 times that amount – Nhe Zha 2.