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[pmcd9]

I saw a great movie this past Friday at the MFA, the classic The Apartment starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine.  The movie was wonderful as you all know and it has a great ending which prompted the audience to break out into applause.  What I want to know is who the hell is the applause for anyway?  Noone that had anything to do with the movie was anywhere to be found.  Actually, seeing as this movie is almost a half century old, most of the people who made this movie are all in the grave.  Is the applause for the museum that brought the movie to their theater?  Perhaps it was for the projectionist for running the projecter correctly?  For ourselves, for being such a good and attentive audience?  I must say I just didn't get this at all.  Well i'm gonna hit the submit button then give myself a standing o.

~Paul

[V-Adore]

I think it's just tradition. Of course, I've only seen this at particularly anorakish movies (read: first-night Star Wars or LotR marathons), which have little resemblance to normal human behavior, so who knows?

[AugustWest]

Love that movie, first of all.

I suppose the applause is because it's just the way we are conditioned to show appreciation.  It's  about sharing the moment of appreciation with the other folks in the theatre rather than complimenting the creators.

After all, how often is the director, screenwriter or cast in the theater with you?  Wouldn't this behavior be just as odd after a screening of You've Been Served?  Notwithstanding the unlikelihood that you'd feel compelled to applaud after such a screenig.

[CortJstr]

Applause makes sense to me when you're at a festival or something and peaple involved with the movie are present but not randomly. I saw people applaud Sean Connery at the end of Robin Hood which was just weird.

[jough]

Applause is your culture's way of celebrating something it enjoys.  When you applaud at the end of the film, you're signaling that you enjoyed it immensely.  When others share your enthusiasm, they can applaud too and for a brief moment, in a darkened theatre, the patrons can easily share a moment of recognition of a shared experience (the film) and be connected.

It's all about the humanity.

[pmcd9]

Applause is your culture's way of celebrating something it enjoys.  When you applaud at the end of the film, you're signaling that you enjoyed it immensely.  When others share your enthusiasm, they can applaud too and for a brief moment, in a darkened theatre, the patrons can easily share a moment of recognition of a shared experience (the film) and be connected.

It's all about the humanity.

So it's performance art?

~Paul

[AugustWest]

So it's performance art?

~Paul

OH THE HUMANITY!!!

[CortJstr]

Applause is your culture's way of celebrating something it enjoys.  When you applaud at the end of the film, you're signaling that you enjoyed it immensely.  When others share your enthusiasm, they can applaud too and for a brief moment, in a darkened theatre, the patrons can easily share a moment of recognition of a shared experience (the film) and be connected.

It's all about the humanity.

If I wanted humanity I'd see a play. Give me cold impersonal mass-market entertainment. And blow some shit up while you're at it.

[V-Adore]

The anorak discussion has been split with EXTREME PREJUDICE.

See, I sort of admire the tradition of applauding movies; it may be a little illogical, but it's graceful and, as Jough implies, somehow humane. That said, I entirely fail to understand people who applaud in the middle of movies, repeatedly, unless one is watching Rocky Horror or The Fifth Element* or some other movie obviously intended for audience participation.

(Why, yes, I did go to see RotK on opening night. And yes, the theater applauded approximately every five minutes, sometimes just to a character coming on-screen...)

* Seriously, try this. It's fun!

[jough]

I went to see the Star Wars SEs when they were re-released to theatres in 1997 - they released one of the films every three weeks and then a few theatres in the area were showing the trilogy on a single ticket (it was like, $10, which is the price for a single film around here now).

Anyway, a few friends and I went to the last showing of the trilogy, and the place was just PACKED with fanboys, who cheered at EVERYTHING.

It was a good time, though.  A guy was selling plastic lightsabres in the parking lot and we beat the shit out of each other and many of the other patrons with them, then ended up giving them to some kids who were complaining that they wished that they had some themselves.

And of course they were complaining that we were beating them with plastic swords, so it was only fair to give them something for their bruises.

In any case, never have I heard of a parka being used in this manner, and neither have others of whom I asked about it who are far more hip than I.  

So I'm pretty sure that V is just making it up.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[Limmo]

My favorite movie applause moment happened about three weeks after Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon came out and I saw it with an audience of jaded cineastes near Lincoln Center.  After Michelle Yeoh had her first face-off with Zhang Ziyi in the courtyard, the room broke out in applause.  Even better: when she cleared the room and had the doors bolted for their big epic bitchfight, there was a collective ooooohhh in the theater.  It was great, hearing an entire room of Resnais-lovers reduced to the level of teenagers agog at seeing Enter the Dragon for the first time (i.e. my level).

[slink]

I have to say, had I gone to see Star Wars SE upon it's release I'd have probably screamed "Fuck you, Lucas" too many times before breaking down in tears, feeling betrayed and scathed.

Only film, except for Rocky Horror I remember seeing people appluad was fuck*ng Indepence Day when I went to see that. Everyone started applauding after Bill Pullman's speech, (he made the worst onscreen president ever!) to which I wanted to scream "Fuck you, all of you!".

[andalucia]

I remember seeing people appluad [...] fuck*ng Indepence Day...

Ouch.  And you're not even American.

[Gimpson]

Only film, except for Rocky Horror I remember seeing people appluad was fuck*ng Indepence Day when I went to see that.

I was attending the University of Houston when I saw that for the first time.  It was at a theater close enough to school that there were plenty of students there.  Just before the nuke landed on Houston, they showed a shot of what I assume was supposed to be I-45 with a sign saying "University of Houston next exit".  Then the city erupted in flames and the audience erupted in applause.

[jough]

"Yay, our school is in the movie!!!"

"Oh wait..."