Minecraft mayhem: ‘Chicken jockey’ chaos reaches Australian cinemas | RNZ News

By Sohani Goonetillake and Dannielle Maguire, ABC

A viral “chicken jockey” trend during screenings of A Minecraft Movie has sparked chaotic behaviour in cinemas worldwide, with Australian movie-goers now joining in on the mayhem.

The trend sees people erupt in loud cheers and throw items such as popcorn, flour and toilet paper.

In one instance, film-goers even snuck a real chicken into the cinemas.

The behaviour has become so disruptive that some cinemas have had to pause screenings, call security and at times, involve the police.

Tahlia Gass, who saw the movie at a cinema in Forest Hill, Victoria, posted to TikTok a video showing the aftermath of a screening, with flour and toilet paper strewn across the theatre.

“I had no idea about the trend before going in, so I had no idea this was going to happen,” she told the ABC.

“The manager stopped the movie and the security were called. The manager on shift told the boys to stop and watch the movie or they would be kicked out. We had to have security stay in the cinema.

“The people that didn’t participate in the scene got refunded and complimentary tickets as well. It was definitely an experience, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

In a separate incident on Sunday night, police were called to a cinema in Erina, on the New South Wales Central Coast, after an alleged altercation between two adult men and two 14-year-old boys.

Brisbane Water Police told the ABC the incident was related to people “throwing popcorn”, with officers still looking into the matter.

Similar scenes were playing out in cinemas around the globe, with one TikTok video surpassing 4.3 million views.

Despite receiving lacklustre reviews, A Minecraft Movie has smashed box office records, raking in nearly half-a-billion dollars during its opening weekend.

It has now overtaken The Super Mario Bros. Movie as the biggest video game adaptation launch of all time.

What is a ‘chicken jockey’?

The term comes from the best-selling 2011 Minecraft video game, on which the movie is based.

In the game, a “chicken jockey” is a rare occurrence when a baby zombie rides a chicken like a horse.

In A Minecraft Movie, the appearance of a baby zombie riding a chicken is paired with Jack Black’s character yelling “chicken jockey!” – which appears to be the audience’s cue for fans to lose their minds in the cinema.

Why do people go off at the ‘chicken jockey’ line?

For some people, part of the motivation would be filming the reaction to post online, says writer and filmmaker Jamie Tram.

They’re participating in the trend, but drilling down into people’s the specific motivations is complex.

“On one level, it’s ironic, but there’s so many levels on which it’s operating,” Jason DiRosso, who hosts ABC Radio National’s film program The Screen Show.

“It’s hard to know why they’re doing it.”

What do cinemas think about it?

Palace Cinemas chief executive Benjamin Zeccola says it’s mostly a lot of fun, but there is a line that can be crossed.

“The whole room is in on it, the whole room is anticipating it and there’s a sense of excitement that’s really good fun.”

Mr Zeccola admits it’s messier than usual sessions, with Palace Cinemas rostering on extra staff and allowing extra time between showings to allow for the clean-up.

“We bought leaf mulching vacuum cleaners meant for gardeners to suck up all the popcorn,” he says.

But the clean-up isn’t always easy.

He says a screen will need to be replaced after cinema-goers threw their drinks at it – and with an estimated cost of $50,000, the company is getting the police involved.

However, Mr Zeccola focuses on the positives to the trend, which is bringing more young people to the cinema.

“It’s pretty innocent fun,” he says.

How did the trend start?

“Social media is fuelling it,” film critic Luke Goodsell says.

“Or maybe word got out early – the studio may have leaked it to key audiences.

“I feel like the trend has been wildly over-exaggerated on social media, which of course has the effect of people participating in it when they maybe wouldn’t have, thereby making it real.”

When did this trend start?

The movie only came out at the start of April, so this particular trend is quite new.

But this kind of audience participation goes way back, DiRosso explains.

“This is a really interesting example of the memeification of film culture and the way small soundbites really pop and connect with audiences,” DiRosso says.

“It’s an example of a long history of certain films triggering or inspiring a much more active cinema-going experience where the audience wants to, in some way, speak back to the film.”

He points to more recent trends like people dressing up in pink to watch the Barbie movie.

Or how cinemas put on special sing-along screenings of the musical Wicked because so many people were wanting belt out the lyrics along with the actors.

Viral speed of trend catches people off-guard

The scenes in some cinemas could be compared to screenings of The Room, where audience members throw plastic spoons at the screen at certain points of the movie.

And the cult following might be likened to the fanfare that surrounds The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

“Audience participation can be spectacular fun when there are clear expectations set for both patrons and cinema workers,” Tram says.

“Also, the point of audience participation in Rocky Horror/The Room isn’t just to record your friends causing mayhem – it’s about celebrating the culture that’s evolved around those movies.

Screenings of movies like The Room and The Rocky Horror Picture Show are usually ticketed as special events, so people know what they’re in for.

And the audience behaviour trend is something that gradually develops, but the “chicken jockey” trend erupted very quickly.

“The memeification culture is something that accelerates the process by which audiences can narrow down on an aspect of a film,” DiRosso says.

“By the nature of it being memeified, it travels around the world really quickly and so do the reactions that are filmed and posted online.

“Audience participation that perhaps took months or years to develop and become codified as things people did, now can capture people’s imagine and become viral essentially in a matter of days.”

And this can mean people who aren’t as chronically online as others might go along to the movies completely unaware of the trend.

“I feel for those people,” DiRosso says.

“Sometimes these things are lot of fun and but you’re not always in the mood and they do risk getting out of hand for obvious reasons.

“It’s not fun for people who aren’t in on the joke.”

Mr Zeccola says some parents were caught off-guard by the trend in the early days of the film’s release.

“But now that everyone knows about,” he says.

What does this say about the future of cinema?

There are positive and negatives.

“It’s bad for the people who have to clean up the cinema, but I think anything that encourages audiences, and especially young audiences, to go to the cinema can only be a good thing,” Goodsell says.

“The worry is, will studios respond by gearing more of their multiplex product toward interactive, audience participation screenings?”

He’s not alone in fearing this outcome.

“I worry that the film industry will learn the wrong lessons from the ‘chicken jockey’ trend, and start investing even harder in nostalgia bait and shameless ‘fan-service’ moments,” Tram says.

“I also worry that it encourages people to treat cinemas with less respect.

“That being said, the film industry can choose to learn important lessons from ‘chicken jockey’: primarily that kids love communal experiences that they can’t get from online streaming, and that a healthy cinemagoing culture is worth investing in.”

– ABC

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