Movies and Clapping

[Deviluk]

From what I've herd, clapping in the cinema is a very American thing. It seems very rare in the UK, but I might have just avoided it due to my natural misanthropic tendencies.

Yeah I've seen movies in the states and it seems more common. Also I live in Berlin, and so go to the english screenings of movies where there are normally a lot of americans, and they also do it here too. One cringe moment was when, the Captain America movie, when he comes over the hill having rescued all the POWs, everyone cheered. I was so embarrassed for them.

Also people laughing too much at parts that aren't that funny. I was just in a full screening of Skyfall and the jokes are not THAT belly-aching, more like tittle tittle, so why was that one guy behind me going HAHAHA, when the villain said something a bit sarcastically.

 

[snagli]

Yech. When Jim Parsons made an appearance in the Muppet movie, when Hulk punched Thor in the Avengers, when just the title screen of Star Wars Episode 3 came up, people clapped and laughed and went nuts for minutes on end, fucking crazy. I actually asked someone afterwards why he was clapping like an idiot. He said that's how he shows his appreciation to the creators. Right, because paying to see the bloody thing isn't good enough...

 

[Rook takes Knight]

People never do it here,fortunately.But I guess I can understand why americans would do such things(JK,I can't)

I'm fine with just watching the movie which cost hundred millions of dollars to make,on the screen without some idiot clapping,or saying unnecessary shit.I'm pretty sure I rather hear what the hundred million dollar movie have to say over you.

 

[snagli]

Yech. When Jim Parsons made an appearance in the Muppet movie, when Hulk punched Thor in the Avengers, when just the title screen of Star Wars Episode 3 came up, people clapped and laughed and went nuts for minutes on end, fucking crazy. I actually asked someone afterwards why he was clapping like an idiot. He said that's how he shows his appreciation to the creators. Right, because paying to see the bloody thing isn't good enough...

Because I have to be a grim downer all the time who hates on every sign of approval or enjoyment beyond the necessary one...

Is it really that far over the heads of people here that some clap after a movie to suggest that the audience as a group enjoyed the movie? It happens a ton in the kind of screenings I attend (we never know what we'll see) and in about every second case where people clap I tend to join because I truly enjoyed the movie and the clapping is the small tip on the social experience that is 'going to the movies'.

And yes, paying is not really enough to show my enjoyment - paying is not enjoyable. I pay for a permission to watch it on a big screen with a group of friends and several other people who might enjoy movies in the same way I do. And if the movie was good and the whole audience enjoyed it then what is so bad about a clap to release all the energy?

I get why people do it, it makes complete sense, I just don't like it when people overdo it. Round of applause after a really good movie? Sure, go ahead. Clapping and cheering and yelling DURING a movie? Please don't. When people cheer for a cameo, the scene doesn't pause for it like a comedy pauses for laughter, it just goes on, and it can get pretty hard to follow when you can't hear it. When 50 people all around me clap, I get distracted and pulled out of the story.

I guess I don't have anything against the clapping itself, just the general "being an obnoxious idiot who shatters my immersion".

 

[Tohru_Readman]

The only time I think clapping is acceptable, is at the end credits. I have actually gone to see quite a few films where this has happened. Usually it's at a film festival or a anniversary screening of a older film.

Lucky for me I have never been to the cinema, where people have start to clap or shout out during the film. That would annoy the hell out of me.

 

[Adept Mechanicus]

That shit ruined the Avengers for me. Every single time a new Avenger was introduced, the audience cheered like it was a sitcom. Not to mention that they even cheered for Loki. Sorry girls, I know Tom Hiddleston opens your floodgates, but you don't cheer for a supervillain when he murders someone.

 

[algalon]

"So I don't like people" seems to be a pretty good indication that no matter what they did, it would've upset you.

If they, y'know, showed that they were enjoying it, that's wrong because reasons. Heaven forbid people be happy at a movie theater.

If they don't, and remained completely still and quiet and emotionless, you'd be on here wondering why they wouldn't show some enjoyment of the entertainment in front of them.

It has nothing to do with not liking people and everything to do with being disruptive. Clapping and cheering during a dramatic or horror movie is about as disruptive as shining a pen laser at the screen. Save it for the end of the movie if you have to clap and cheer. This isn't a play or a sitcom where the actors might pause during big applauses. It's a movie, where there are no breaks in what's happening in front of you. I go to theaters to be enveloped in the movie experience. Having no 3D stereo sound system or 3D HDTV at home, this is the only way I have to experience movies in such a manner, so on the rare occasion that I decide to drive 50 miles to see a movie, I expect a certain amount of decency from the people around me or I will ask for my money back, which btw I've only had to do once.

 

[KissmahArceus]

Folk clapped like crazy at the end of each of the LOTR films, 3 years apart as well. Inverness LOTR fans be crazy.. cannot wait for The Hobbit

 

[Marter]

It has nothing to do with not liking people and everything to do with being disruptive. Clapping and cheering during a dramatic or horror movie is about as disruptive as shining a pen laser at the screen. Save it for the end of the movie if you have to clap and cheer. This isn't a play or a sitcom where the actors might pause during big applauses. It's a movie, where there are no breaks in what's happening in front of you. I go to theaters to be enveloped in the movie experience. Having no 3D stereo sound system or 3D HDTV at home, this is the only way I have to experience movies in such a manner, so on the rare occasion that I decide to drive 50 miles to see a movie, I expect a certain amount of decency from the people around me or I will ask for my money back, which btw I've only had to do once.

First, you are aware that we're talking about Wreck-it Ralph, yes? Y'know, that animated movie whose main demographic is children? That it's not a drama or a horror movie? And that the topic creator went to a midnight screening, where this sort of behavior is often expected?

Because that's kind of important to this whole argument.

Second, many dramas and horror films do give you a pause to clap for a second or two. We're not talking full-blown applause here; I'm thinking just a few claps after something fun/cool/whatever happens. After the killer "dies" in a slasher, presumably after an extended chase sequence in which the protagonist's life is in danger several times, you want to let out that tension and some clapping might be the best way to do that.

Finally, I would hope that a theater manager wouldn't automatically refund your ticket price because of something outside of his/her control. He/she can't help what another customer does.

 

[Swiftkillz]

For films like the Avengers or something i can totally see audience participation as a good thing. People cheering when this or that happens in a non issue, that is my opinion on blockbusters.

 

[klown]

First, you are aware that we're talking about Wreck-it Ralph, yes? Y'know, that animated movie whose main demographic is children? That it's not a drama or a horror movie? And that the topic creator went to a midnight screening, where this sort of behavior is often expected?

The main reason I did a midnight showing is because I expected less people due to curfew and what nots. The whole reason I go to any midnight showing is because there tends to be only a few people in the whole place, and certainly no children. I was wrong in this case though.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

First, you are aware that we're talking about Wreck-it Ralph, yes? Y'know, that animated movie whose main demographic is children? That it's not a drama or a horror movie? And that the topic creator went to a midnight screening, where this sort of behavior is often expected?

The main reason I did a midnight showing is because I expected less people due to curfew and what nots. The whole reason I go to any midnight showing is because there tends to be only a few people in the whole place, and certainly no children. I was wrong in this case though.

You'd be wrong on that count for pretty much /any/ big event movie, and Wreck it Ralph is nothing if not an event movie. What midnight premieres have you been going to?

 

[ninjaRiv]

I'd prefer someone clapping over belching (Something that happens more than once). People in theaters are disgusting and loud.There's obviously a few of us who just watch the film but nobody can tell we're there, which is the way it is meant to be. Sure, clap at the end. That's fine. Go ahead and burp, talk, rustle, cough, text, giggle etc AT THE END OF THE FILM.

 

[roushutsu]

I don't mind it, mostly cause it rarely happens when I go to the movies, even if the movies are really good. Applauding and such only happens when people really get into the movie, and I tend to join in on the fun. I really enjoyed Wreck-It-Ralph as a movie, but I think the experience of being in a packed theater full of kids and gamers who were all on the same page made it all the more enjoyable, and we all had fun throughout the whole thing.

 

[omega 616]

Where do you guys go that they clap at a film?!?!?!

The actors, the camera man, the director etc can't hear you or appreciate the applause, so why bother? I have never seen or been the person to clap.

Sure I laugh but that is an involuntary reaction to something

 

[sinsfire]

How has no one posted this yet.

Spoiler

OT: I try to remain calm during a movie, I laugh and scream when the movie intends me too (usually) but clapping mid movie only happens when a particular asshat dies in a gorry mess.

 

[wadark]

If ever I applaud a film, it's at the conclusion. To clap and cheer in the middle of the movie seems rude and disruptive. If you dig the movie, and feel the need to clap and cheer, save it for when the credits roll. It's a movie, not a football game.

Definitely this, it was why I had to go see Avengers twice in 2 days when it opened. I kept seeing this "puny god" joke all over the internet the next day and had no clue what it was about because everyone in the theater was laughing and clapping at Hulk beating up Loki.

I clap at the conclusion though, pointless though it may be.

 

[klown]

First, you are aware that we're talking about Wreck-it Ralph, yes? Y'know, that animated movie whose main demographic is children? That it's not a drama or a horror movie? And that the topic creator went to a midnight screening, where this sort of behavior is often expected?

The main reason I did a midnight showing is because I expected less people due to curfew and what nots. The whole reason I go to any midnight showing is because there tends to be only a few people in the whole place, and certainly no children. I was wrong in this case though.

You'd be wrong on that count for pretty much /any/ big event movie, and Wreck it Ralph is nothing if not an event movie. What midnight premieres have you been going to?

WEll I found that out this time, but most of the time when I go to a theater, it's pretty much empty. Outside of the two I did for The Avengers and Batman, but I expected those as they were the big watch all the movies in a row event.

I do tend to go to less mainstream movies, so that could be why my idea didn't translate over.