Patpeeve: Applauding the Movies

Hey, friends! Today I have a quick patpeeve about people being weird at movies, somewhat related to my rant on the show this week.

I recently saw Captain America: Civil War. It was awesome. For my spoiler-free thoughts, and the aforementioned rant, check out Episode 35 of the podcast. What I'm going to focus on here though, is what happened after the movie ended:

A number of moviegoers applauded as the credits rolled.

I have seen this happen after several movies, mostly big budget releases (Avengers and Star Wars for example), but it still makes little sense to me. Who will see this reaction other than the people in the theater?

My best guess is that this is a throwback to THE OLD DAYS when all these crazy productions were live and in color. At least then the performers got to experience that reaction in the moment. They were able to know how much their work was appreciated. That made sense, and still does when seeing a live show.

But for a movie? Who sees that besides other patrons? Do studios track this and use the information somehow? Does the crew send scouts to each theater on opening weekends for big movies? And if they do, how can I become one? That sounds awesome.

Seriously though, this practice is silly. You're applauding for no one. If you liked the movie, tell your friends to buy tickets for it. Buy it on VHS or whatever fancy method you use to watch moving pictures. Your wallet makes these movies popular and turns them into sweet franchises, not your claps (and definitely not THE clap). Do it the American way! You know, before the Internet happened.

And if you don't like the movie? Don't throw rotten produce at the screen. Save that for the politicians.

(Kidding!)

(Sort of.)

Cheers until next time, friends! Crap open a cold one!