It seems when I was a wee chap, folks would clap after movies, whether they were really that good or not. Even in school, after a filmstrip we’d clap, just like they do in the theater. In the last 10-15 years however, I don’t really recall noticing this. Did people stop clapping after movies, or did I just invent that in my brain? Could the explosion of home VCR’s have something to do with it?
Sweet Basil
Clapping after movies is pretty rare, but it does happen if the movie is really good. I’m trying to remember the last movie I went to where the audience applauded; I think it may have been American Beauty, but I’m not positive.
it depends on the movie and whether or not the theater is packed.
i think the last movie i saw where people actually clapped was the haunting with liam neeson and catherine zeta jones. the movie sucked, but i think the audience was clapping at the fact that it had some good scare scenes.
I’m a schmuck for good movies. I not only clap; I also cry a lot (even if it’s not terribly sad). You should see me at the end of some movies (Disney’s Little Mermaid makes me sniffly, even).
I believe I clapped at the end of Sixth Sense, mostly because the ending hit me like a ton of bricks and the movie was so well-constructed.
The last time I can recall applase during a movie was during South Park. When Bill Gates was shot it was very easy to tell where all the computer geeks in the audience were sitting.
Apart from this I have found clapping at the end of a movie to be very rare but because of this to truly reflect adudience apreciation of a damn good movie.
Most recently, I clapped along with the audience after Saving Private Ryan and True Lies.
Arnold Schwarzenegger for President!
I think I’ve seen applause at the end of a few movies. The one bit of audience participation that stands out in my mind is when I saw “Blue Chips” (cast your mind back…the least sucky Shaq movie) in a theater in Champaign, IL. The whole audience booed Bobby Knight pretty much the entire time he was on screen.
I will clap at the end of a really good movie, and I have seen the audience do it a few times. I think the last one I saw may also have been American Beauty. Actually, that may also have been the last time I was in a movie theatre, I really do need to get out more.
This brings up the question: Why do we applaud things to begin with? I was thinking that the only real reason to applaud is to show your appreciation to those persons who have entertained you. With movies, however, to whom would our applause be directed? The projectionist? Obviously, there’s really nobody on the receiving end of the applause, as there would be in live theatre or a concert.
But then I thought perhaps there is some sort of intra-audience bond that develops in which people like to reinforce the feeling that they have enjoyed themselves by applauding enthusiastically. “I liked this performance, so I will applaud and then when others applaud they will confirm that it truly was a good show and that I do have good taste and wasn’t this just a wonderful evening all around?” I dunno. Just a thought.
The audience applauded at the end of The Sixth Sense. That’s the only movie I can recall that had the audience clapping at the end.
I do remember after the “escape from the train scene” in The Fugitive. When the train crashed, the audience went wild. I thought that was the best scene in any movie and went crazy clapping too!!
It is kind of silly since the actors can’t hear you, but I think it shows everyone else in the theater that you liked the scene or movie.
I don’t think the reason for clapping after movies has to be hedged with excuses like how silly it was to clap for entertainers who weren’t there to appreciate it. The movie you saw was in the dark and you to a certain degree are unaware of others in the theater and it becomes your own private little experience. The clapping is because you enjoyed it, and it springs from your own pleasure. When others clap too, it becomes a community experience and it snowballs into something other than what it started with. I sometimes find myself clapping a time or two even alone at home watching a movie, but the noise of my own clap brings me out of my inner reverie and the self-consciousness of it takes over. But in a theater the community thing happens and it adds to the movie experience itself.
As far as the OP goes, I don’t know if clapping was more common 10-15 years ago, but certainly there were times when strings of movies came out that were highly enjoyable. In 1989, the year Batman came out, there was also Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Lethal Weapon II, Look Who’s Talking, The Abyss, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Back to the Future II, Ghostbusters II, Driving Miss Daisy and The Little Mermaid.
I think we are now in a period where there are fewer movies per year that have wide appeal. There may be one or two that each interest group really likes but not as many as in other years or that crossover to more audiences. You might have heard more clapping in those years when there were a lot of good movies.
Audiences frequently clap in revival houses. I even saw a standing ovation once, for “Chicago” (1927), with Phyllis Haver. Anyone who’s seen and enjoyed the B’way show, try and find this film on video, it’s a knock-out!
The only time I saw applause before a movie was “Pulp Fiction”… The audience spontaniously started to clap when “Miserlou” started in the opening credits.
A movie has to be pretty good around here before the crowd starts to clap at the end. It also seems to be more common in movies that have an older crowd. That may be because the movies that attract older crowds here tend to be better than the average movie that appeals to youths. Or I just go to bad movies that have young crowds.
Keith
I clap.
Then I realize I’m the only one clapping and people are looking at me funny, so I stop.
I guess I’m wierd.
– Sylence
Don’t you love those moments when your city is mentioned or shown, and everyone howls? Like in Goodfellas, released when I was living in the Burgh: “I hate Pittsburgh: where’d you find such creeps?”.
Isn’t clapping after a movie about as pointless as wildly gesturing during a phone conversation?
Yes.
At one of the theaters here in Moncton before the movie starts someone announces the movie, tells you where the exits and garbages are and invites you to enjoy the show. Now this person is usually only about 17 years old. Sometimes speaking in front of a crowd as an adult is intimidating, so I can imagine this poor 17 year old kid having to announce the movie in front of a full house, which would largely be made up of his peers, would be a little nerveous.
Anyways, I went to a movies with a couple of friends one night when the theater started doing this. The kid was so nervous you could tell he just wanted to go through his speech and get the hell out of there. When he was done the three of us started clapping…and the whole theater followed our lead.
That poor boy was the most beautiful shade of red that I have ever seen!!! 
If applause at movies has become rarer why is it that a standing ovation at any theatrical presentation seems to be required?
I hate going to some so-so play and having everybody around me stand at the end like we had just watched the return of Olivier or something. It makes so there isn’t any way to show appreciation for a truly great performance.
Oh, by the way, I am hijacking this thread. Put your purses and other valuables in the aisle and I will be around to pick them up.
** mega! you crack me up! ** No, I don’t clap at the end of movies. I remember at the end of a seemingly endless Turtles movie, I thought about clapping, but it would have been like the sarcastic SNL skit. I was just glad to get out! Little kids kept kicking everybody, it was a nightmare.