Parents are defending teens destroying ‘Minecraft’ theaters: ‘Get over it’

“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, minimizing the outright vandalism and destruction left behind when the movie is over.

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?

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Utter chaos and criminal acts in screenings of the Minecraft movie

As a mom 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. 

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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 behavior 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 behavior — entitlement, self-loathing, anger and violence — that it explores through main character Jamie. Nor was I surprised by how accurate it was.

“I know firsthand 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.”

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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?

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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 single mom on a single 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 been 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.