Kevin Marshall's America
Cut from the same cloth: Pride 2004 Open-Weight Grand Prix Champion Mirko "Cro Cop" Filiposevic and Mrs. Potts herself, Angela Lansbury.
Two weekends ago, during the telecast for the Tony Awards, local theater-phile and All Over Albany co-founder Mary Darcy posted a status update on Facebook. In the update, she mentioned her enthusiasm for Angela Lansbury, and how she applauded and cheered when Lansbury arrived onstage.
“Oh, silly Mary Darcy,” I said. “Angela Lansbury can’t hear your applause!”
Then I remembered my reaction the previous night to Mirko Cro Cop’s submission victory in the third round over Pat Barry at UFC 115, and how I was so happy I jumped out of my chair and cheered. I celebrated a man I’ve been rooting for since I first saw him fight for the Japanese fight promotion Pride in 2000, and who was fighting that night over 3,000 miles away in our neighbor to the North .
What makes us cheer for those who can’t hear us? It’s a bit silly, isn’t it?
In both cases, Mary and I were perfectly aware that the target of our adulation was completely unable to hear us or even have any awareness of our vocal displays of approval. However, that never stops us from doing in the comfort of our own home what we would also do at a live event, particularly sporting events. Some of us take it even further depending on how passionate and emotionally invested we are in the game; shouting instructions as if the television was going to transmit the audio from our living room or spot in the bar directly to the player’s helmet.
“Whoa whoa whoa, guys, change in plans, I’m calling an audible. Tom wants us to throw the goddamn ball already.”
Although I’m not nearly as enthusiastic about team sports as I was in high school and college, I still engage in the same behavior when I’m watching MMA. I’ll scream to a guy to shoot in when he’s losing on his feet, or bring his hands back up, or throw elbows.
So is shouting instructions at Mauricio “Shogun” Rua or cheering for Angela Lansbury at home all that much different from doing so at a live event? Sure, in a live setting you contribute to the sound of the crowd, but the performer or athlete cannot distinguish your voice and hands from the hundreds or thousands of others. It’s ultimately still a futile gesture, but we still do it.
In both cases the cheering and the applause is just as much for us as it is for them. It’s a way for us to feel like we belong and are a part of that moment.
The one thing I can’t wrap my head around, though, is people who applaud after a movie. Sports are one thing, but a movie? And most of the time the movie isn’t even that good!
So, guys, tell me: when you read a blog post from me that you like, do you start cheering and applauding in front of your computer screen? Be truthful, now.
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14 Responses to Shouting at a Box: Why Do We Cheer Out Loud?
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STALK ME
Let’s see… Super Bowl 43, last play of the second quarter, if Kurt Warner gets a touchdown pass in there the Cardinals will have a commanding lead over my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers. I start screaming at the television screen, “Come on, Steelers, we need a stop right now!!” And sure enough, James Harrison leaps into the air and intercepts Kurt Warner’s sure-to-be-a-touchdown pass, and as Harrison scampers – er, lumbers – 99 yards in the final seconds and dives for a touchdown, I’m screaming at him to run, run, hurry, they’re right behind you, don’t stop, hurry, don’t step out of bounds, hurry, hurry, come on James, you can do it!
And sure enough, he did it. And the Steelers won the Super Bowl. And I think for the rest of the game, James Harrison was hip-soldered to an oxygen tank. And if I had an oxygen tank, I’d be inhaling some serious O2 myself.
I kind of just shake my head a little.
Kidding.
But I am extremely vocal when I watch sports. When the Yankees played the Phillies in the World Series my wife would of swore I was bi-polar.
One moment I would seem utterly depressed and the next I’d seem euphoric.
I often watch Criminal Minds and give advice to the cops….mostly”shoot this SOB!”..sometimes they listen.
One thing about sports: when your team wins, it’s “we won” when they lose it’s “they lost”.
I know a JETS fan who can be heard for blocks when watching a game on tv.
I only yell at bad acting.
I don’t cheer and definitely don’t applaud unless I’m at a live event.
Clapping, alone in your livingroom, should be left for those who live in group homes.
PS
Clapping to the beat of bad music while you dance in front of your bedroom mirror doesn’t count. (Technically that’s a live performance.)
OK, so…umm … it’s totally out there now — so yes, Capital Region, I am totally aware of what a geek I am. Thanks for outing me Kevin:-)
Also, in my defense, I didn’t so much applaud and cheer as resist the sort of knee jerk instinct to applaud and cheer — that’s different. Well… maybe not. But I swear to God I have never seen an episode of Murder She Wrote! I just kind of felt it was nice to see a woman in her 80’s still doing the thing she loved with so much heart. Angela ( I call her Angela) has had an amazing career in film and Broadway and she’s kind of a class act … really. But somehow I feel I’m not really helping my my anti-geek cause here…
Anyway, I once went to a screening of the re-mastered “Gone With the Wind” and when Clark Gable first showed up on the screen, all the 20 something women in the theater gasped. At the end everyone was applauding. Almost everyone involved in the film was long dead, but people were still applauding. For what? The projectionist? Maybe it was for the experience, or just out of habit. Maybe it was out of happiness. From the time we are babies, we’re kind of trained to think we should applaud for things we love.
So, you see — maybe I’m not such a geek after all.
OK, I’m off to go to listen to my Stephen Sondheim collection now.
Kidding.
Sort of.
Mary Darcy – I kept reading your name as Marcy Darcy and was having “Married… with Children” flashbacks!
I shout out the responses when watching Jeopardy and yell at the contestants when they get a wrong answer:)
Haha, I gave a victory arm pump when I read your bit about legalizing MMA! However I mostly just mumble to myself while I read your blog or nod my head in agreement.
Cro Cop is an amazing fighter, also my favorite fighter since I started watching him in pride in 2005ish. His sad performance in UFC will quickly be rectified soon enough.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Woo.
I do the Snoopy Happy Dance when Mary posts a status update.
How about people yelling at the movie screen?
Awww… Thanks Naomi. High praise, indeed. At my house, the Snoopy Happy Dance is reserved for things from Crisan :-)