We were talking about this at lunch today and I thought it might make a good blog entry, so here you go. I would have to assume that most people are aware of one of the oldest (or at least most overused) motifs in movies: the slow clap. It is so overused that it was spoofed, surprisingly well IMO, in the movie Not Another Teen Movie. If you're unfamiliar with the slow clap, essentially it is the scene in a movie when the hero or heroine overcomes some obstacle in front of a crowd of onlookers and one of the onlookers begins a very slow and deliberate clap which is then slowly but surely picked up by the rest of the crowd as it escalates into full blown applause, usually to the dismay of the hero/heroine. Probably the best example of this is in the movie Lucas (starring Dave Beuscher), when at the end of the movie Corey Haim returns to school after being in the hospital because he tried to play football and was knocked unconscious (because he's the undersized underdog of the movie), and the jocks who have tortured him all year end up giving him a letterman's jacket for his courage, and at which point the #1 bully begins the slow clap which builds into the full applause for our young hero. This also led to another frequent 80's movie motif: the freeze frame at the end of the movie before either fading to black or having the credits roll over the freeze frame.
Anyway, my question is this: how many movies out there can you think of that have employed the slow clap? I'd like to point out that the slow clap MUST start off slow for it to count, so a scene like the one in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story where at the premiere of Bruce's first Chinese movie he gets up to leave because he thinks everyone has hated it but it turns into a big standing ovation, would not count, because the applause begins with a guy who begins clapping vigorously. This is an example of a less used motif, where applause is expected, but then delayed for a moment to create the suspense of uncertainty before finally delivering the praise upon the hero. The slow clap is almost always unexpected applause at a moment where you are expecting the villians to berate the hero, but instead they show their appreciation for the hero's efforts by clapping, and they always begin slowly for emphasis. It doesn't always have to be the vilian that starts the slow clap, however, it is just usually someone that you would not expect to do it. So there it is, how many movies can you think of that have a slow clap scene in them?
Comments (9)
"Let Them Play! Let Them Play!"
Posted by Cookie | May 4, 2004 3:32 PM
Posted on May 4, 2004 15:32
"You're alright Blye!"
Posted by Cookie | May 4, 2004 3:36 PM
Posted on May 4, 2004 15:36
- Here's how the slow clap starts at the end of "Foul Play" -
Posted by Cookie | May 4, 2004 3:51 PM
Posted on May 4, 2004 15:51
Ok, here's a couple more:
Can't Buy Me Love - When Ronald Miller comes to stick up for Kenneth who has wandered into the "cool" section of the cafeteria, and gives his "big speech" at the end about how when everyone was younger they were all friends before the cliques were established.
Rudy - To be honest I can't remember exactly when this happens, but I know it is somewhere near the end. It is either when Rudy decides to come to the last practice even though he didn't make the squad, or when they are chanting "Rudy" at the end to put him in the game (can anyone help me on this one?)
Against the Ropes - Even though the box office would tell you almost nobody saw this movie, I did, and in the very last scene of the movie everyone who has been in the movie is all there together to give Meg Ryan's character the slow clap. The piece de resistance of this scene is definitely Tony Shalhoub, the guy who has been her nemesis the entire movie, when he holds his hands up and joins in. Wow.
Other movies I haven't seen which supposedly employ the slow clap are The Girl Next Door and Intolerable Cruelty (what are the Coen Bros. thinking?).
Posted by Yams | May 4, 2004 4:23 PM
Posted on May 4, 2004 16:23
Cool Runnings - when they get to the finish line carrying their bobsled because they crashed, the Austrian (German?) guy who had been telling them to "go home Jamaica" throughout the movie, starts the slow clap.
Posted by iendive | May 4, 2004 5:52 PM
Posted on May 4, 2004 17:52
...the "slow clap" which appears to be not as harmful as the actual clap, but definitely more infectious.
Posted by iendive | May 4, 2004 5:57 PM
Posted on May 4, 2004 17:57
For this entry, the comments section should be re-titled "People who gave a clap."
Posted by J-Krue | May 5, 2004 6:16 PM
Posted on May 5, 2004 18:16
:lol Very true.
Also, I think there was a slow clap in About a Boy during the performance of "Killing Me Softly", before Will went off on his own with that number; but I could be wrong.
Posted by Yams | May 5, 2004 7:41 PM
Posted on May 5, 2004 19:41
Off the top of my head...
Hoosiers (rhythmic clapping)
Brubaker (more rhythmic clapping)
Beverly Hills Cop 3 (after the ferris wheel stunt?)
Revenge of the Nerds (not so much a clap as it is a chant)
Posted by Gunny Tom Highway | May 6, 2004 9:42 AM
Posted on May 6, 2004 09:42