What the adult men at a kids movie may really be saying

Until early last week, I intended to focus this column on the phenomenon of young men dressing up and attending showings of the new movie, "Minions: The Rise of Gru."

The just released images from the James Webb telescope didn’t so much supplant mentioning that youthful activity as give it another perspective — let’s call it a longer-range one.

According to NASA’s July 12 press release, the first released image “covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground...[It] shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago, with many more galaxies in front of and behind the cluster... light from one galaxy traveled for 13.1 billion years before Webb’s mirrors captured it.”

That blows my non-scientific mind, challenges my limited perspectives, and reaffirms my long-held thought that we are far from alone in the universe. Infinitesimal we are.

Yet we are also precious, all 7.6 billion of us. Everyone of us should have the near-infinite potential of our youngest granddaughter, soon to be four.

Let’s now look with longer-range eyes at our close-in world, beginning with those #gentleminions.

Years ago, my wife and I were in rural England and went out to the movies. They were playing "Calendar Girls" (the 2003 version). To me, what was particularly unique and enjoyable about the movie wasn’t the movie. It was the audience, who made frequent comments throughout. I had a similar experience when I went to see "Waiting To Exhale" in 1995. I was about the only man in the theatre. There was extensive cheering! The same was true for the screening of "Thelma & Louise" when I saw that one long ago. In all three films the common and frequent comment was a loud, “Go Girl!”

Now comes "The Rise of Gru" and young men attending in groups dressed in suits and carrying bananas.

An article in NPR on July 9 implicitly captured the difference between the women cheering in the various films noted above and the young men attending this Minion movie:

“…in a world where influencing has become a preferred dream career choice for young people, the opportunity to have your moment of fame can explain why so many are compelled to join in, even if they don't want to see the movie, or care for those banana-loving pill-shaped workers…. ‘I didn't like the movie," admitted Law…I thought it was mediocre at best. But I liked the atmosphere.’

And when pressed on why they chose to join in on this trend, to go through the trouble of spending their own money to go see a movie targeted for kids, Law gave perhaps the most honest, accurate answer as to why teenagers have always done the things that teenagers do: ‘I think we're just bored. There's not really anything else better to do.’"

Unlike the women in the theatres years ago, the young men attending the Minions movie seemingly haven’t yet formed an agenda to promote.

I just hope when they do, it’s a positive one. That’s our job — and the images from billions of years ago can give us the right perspective. Think long term. 

We can now see back billions of years, land on the moon and soon travel to Mars. We have a future as bright as those stars if we work at it.

Uniquely, young guys need a public way to appropriately sound off, to let off steam verbally. Obviously, a caveat is needed. While in those other films women appeared to be attending in groups, they were not throwing bananas.

We have seen too much of the opposite — violence, mostly by disturbed young men with guns — who have seemed to polish their hatred too often alone.

We seem to have a clearer picture of the profile of the recent young men killers, who might well have benefited from collaboration with other young men in a light and fanciful way — maybe even in a movie theatre.

What they really don’t need can be illustrated by the apparent dysfunction the press has exposed in the family of the shooter in the Highland Park case. Family fractured fairytales likely stirred up an ignored loner.

We need to spend some time looking at those pictures from billions of years ago to see that we all have a job to do so that youth are not “bored.” If they are, we will pay the price, sometimes with a gun.

Those who may be potential aggressors could use of bit of a “Gentleminion” catharsis — even better the love of a mom and dad. We are all infinitesimal and precious.

Contact Larry Little at larrylittle46@gmail.com. 

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Larry Little: Why a silly trip to the theater may be just right