Please stop with the clapping... (1 Viewer)

[Mike Brogan]

Again. Unless you're at the opening premiere, special showing or something along those lines with the stars, filmmakers, or money men...please do not clap during the film I paid to see. I've heard and read long diatribes against those surly heathens that choose to annoy the majority of filmgoers by answering their cell phones, pagers, children or (in many cases) parents during the show. This hatred for said occurence(s) is something I wholeheartedly agree with and wish to combat as vehemently as Jack Valenti fighting Senility, Reason and the American Way.

In the spirit of said regard; please DO NOT clap at an unappreciative movie screen that cannot answer you back with bow or belch. I mean I realize that King Kong just punched the big bad t-rex in the face, I realize that Kong is the good guy in this digital battle, really I do. So what I don't need is You, dear over-enthusiastic uber-nerd, clapping your sweaty palms two inches behind my ears to arrive at that same conclusion. Contain yourselves, please.

This is why I stopped going to the new Star Wars films (besides their total suckage)...too many dorks clapping at unfunny in-jokes and "wow moments" while ignoring (or even appreciating) some of the unintentionally funniest/bad dialogue to be put on celluloid since Ed Wood operated a typewriter and an angora. Yipee indeed, Jar Jar loves you!

Maybe I'm wrong and if you're a child, Harry Knowles or an imbecile please accept my 'appy polly loggees'. Or maybe just "boo" in the general direction of your monitor in disgust.

P.S: Yes, I know what irony is.

 

[Kevin M]

..............um...NO.

 

[Mike Brogan]

Applause!

 

[Tino]

I love it when an enthusiastic crowd claps and cheers.

I for one hope it continues and never stops. It makes for a much more enjoyable experience in my opinion.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I agree with you. There is nothing worse than going to movies and watching a comic moment on the screen, but nobody laughs except you.

 

[Dennis Castro]

The next time I go to a movie I will clap as enthusiastically as I can with the hope that I just happen to be sitting behind you.

 

[SteveJKo]

Same here. My earliest memories of film going include the audience enthusiastically bursting into applause (for the nannies being blown away in Mary Poppins). Audiences have always done this, hopefully there will always be movies good enough that they continue to applaud.

 

[Sean Laughter]

I think an enthusiastic, applauding crowd is great in certain instances, and even better when you go in not expecting it.

By "not expecting it" I mean at something other than a midnight showing for a fanboy-based film. Obviously, if you go to a midnight showing of a LOTR or Star Wars film applause is expected.

However, when I saw X2 for the first time it was opening day, not a late show, but an early evening show and it was sold out, but I didn't really expect a highly animated crowd. The crowd was amazing and to this day it's one of the best theater experiences I've had - I'll never forget when Rogue gets sucked out of the jet and Nightcrawler saves her
- the whole theater just erupted into applause and hollering, it was really great and energetic. It was like I'd stepped into an X-Men convention showing of the film or something

 

[Tino]

Btw, this is a really insulting comment too.

Plus, you ARE wrong.

 

[MichaelBA]

I need quiet at the movie theater, so I sympathize with the diatribe against clapping.

My one exception was when I saw JAWS back in 1975, as a little kid (what were my parents thinking?!), and the entire movie theater full of people, which had been as silent as the grave in abject terror for nearly the entire movie, just about EXPLODED with cheers and hurrahs and applause and joyous screaming when the shark finally was killed. People were in the aisles pumping fists and some even standing on their chairs, just yelling out in uncontainable exuberance.

It's been 30 years and that far and away remains my single greatest moment at the movies.

So maybe I shouldn't be against clapping.

Just an old curmudgeon now... :frowning:

 

[RobertR]

I think word does get back to the filmmakers when applause occurs, so to complain about applause to an unknowing screen is not quite accurate. But even if it didn't, are people not supposed to express ANY emotion while watching films? That sounds rather unrealistic. That doesn't mean I agree with the reaction to a particular film, just that I have no problem with people expressing their emotions.

 

[Kristian]

While I don't think all clapping should stop at theaters, I think there are certain times when it's inappropriate. It's one thing to clap when Yoda shows up to fight or Kong defeats the T-Rex. It's another thing to loudly clap during a movie like Munich when the Eric Bana character decides not to cheat on his wife (yes, this actually happened during my screening and it took me out of the movie).

 

[Steve Christou]

Whoa! I had exactly the same experience, watching Jaws at a London cinema in Dec 1975, the audience erupted at the climax standing and clapping, it was the first time I'd experienced something like that at the cinema, stuck in my mind ever since.

Another similar incident that remains in memory forever was when I went to see Star Trek The Motion Picture at a West End cinema in 1979, when the film started and the names of each of the Trek regulars appeared on the big screen the whole cinema seemed to erupt in applause, I was a bit of a trekkie and couldn't help but join in, must have brought tears to my eyes realising how well loved those tv characters were even by us Brits. A fantastic experience.

 

[Tino]

I had pretty much the exact experience here in the States back in'79. It was great!:b

 

[MichaelBA]

Nice to see films received similarly across the pond, Steve!

When I saw STARS WARS in 1977, the audience also cheered and clapped at the death of the Death Star.

It's been so long, you know, it's probably hard for people to imagine there was a time when that final image of the exploding Death Star (or even the exploding shark in JAWS) was quite exhiliratingly NEW.

Damn. I'm old. :frowning:

 

[DougFND]

One of my favorite moments ever at the movies was the midnight showing of Star Trek VI on Dec. 6, 1991. It was the last showing on opening day and I had twice driven 40 miles to see it. The earlier showing had sold out and I had to come back.

When Scotty found and killed the would-be assassin, the audience erupted. It was a wonderful moment and I wouldn't have had it any other way. The applause at the end was nice as well.

Maybe people applaud too much, but a full theater with lots of energy and people really enjoying themselves is a very cool thing.

 

[Andy Sheets]

When I saw Star Trek 2 and Kirk finally got the upper hand and the Enterprise began blasted the hell out of Khan's ship, the crowd gave a standing ovation. Must be something about Star Trek...

 

[Kain_C]

When I went to see The Phantom Menace on opening day, people clapped when Kenobi killed Darth Maul.

Also I remember people going crazy when the trailer for the Star Wars Special Editions played. Hell, I was one of them.

 

[DavidPla]

One of the great things about going to the theater IS that audience reaction you can't get at home. One of the things that is lost when home viewing is that electric energy you get at the openings of these films. I for one hope that clapping and that excitement never stops. There's one thing to just view the film. There's another to EXPERIENCE the film. This is why home entertainment will NEVER replace the magic that is the movie theater going experience.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

The most applause I ever remember at the movie theater was the opening night for SUPERMAN II in June of 1981. It's still the most memorable movie experience of my life.