Amazing Grace and Lukaplakia
Posted on 03.04.07 in Thoughts and there are 4 comments.
My husband and I went to see Amazing Grace this past weekend.
It was a great movie and I really enjoyed it....until....
Until the climax when William Wilberforce (the hero) finally sees his bill to abolish slavery in England passed.
It was at this emotional and powerful moment in the movie that they did what I loathe the most in any movie:
“The-Bad-Guy-Slow-Clap”
What is the-bad-guy-slow-clap?
The most significant example for me is from the movie Lucas (a classic teeny bopper movie with Corey Haim and Charlie Sheen). I know...I know...I’m old.
Anyway, if you’ve seen that movie you may remember the last scene when Lucas (also called lukaplakia) opens his locker to find a letterman’s jacket made just for him sitting inside and everyone starts clapping for him. The camera then pans to the big-bad-jock-bully who sloooowly and reluctantly starts clapping.
For some reason, I’ve always found this type of scene to be really cheesy. Now it’s to the point that any emotional investment I’ve made in a movie is completely lost if they employ “The-Bad-Guy-Slow-Clap.”
So while I fundamentally recommend the movie Amazing Grace, please beware of “The-Bad-Guy-Slow-Clap.”
Have you seen Amazing Grace? Do you want to see it? Or have I just ruined it for you?
There are 4 comments.
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The Comments:
Good movie. I’m not bugged so much by the slow-clap. Mrs. E and I saw it this weekend, with a sleeping 4-day old in my arms. We both felt, though, that the song “Amazing Grace” seemed to be grafted on top of the story, perhaps as a way to more involve John Newton in the story.
Mar 05, 07 at 11:51 am
Euphrony,
Let’s get this straight...it’s called “The-Bad-Guy-Slow-Clap.”
There’s a big difference between regular slow-clapping (which is only mildly cheesy) and “The-Bad-Guy-Slow-Clap”
With that clarification out of the way, that’s a very interesting point you make about the song “Amazing Grace” and it’s role in the movie. Do you think that was possibly emphasized to attract Christian movie goers?
Mar 05, 07 at 12:29 pm
Do you think that was possibly emphasized to attract Christian movie goers?
Very likely. But, when you get down to it, there is likely no other hymn more readily recognized by both Christians and non-Christians. So while it may be a soft-play at getting a Christian audience in the seats, it is more likely an attempt to provide a focal point that an American audience could recognize. Very few people here in the USA know the story of abolition in the UK. (In fact, when you look into it, British courts had ruled two decades before Wilberforce’s crusade that slavery was not recognized by British Common Law, and had not been since the 12th century. His crusade was to end England’s part in the trade of slaves and their use in colonies.) By adding “Amazing Grace” into the movie, I think it gives a connection to the US audience, a glimpse at who wrote it and why, and draws us more into the story they tell.
Mar 06, 07 at 10:07 am
I agree with you that “The-Bad-Guy-Slow-Clap” is one of the most annoying things in all of cinema. It has recently made its freaky way to commercials.
BW3 (Buffalo Wild Wings and Wickets) is now using the “The-Bad-Guy-Slow-Clap” in their recent round of commercials to applaud servers for their effort to save wings from hitting the floor and for a bus boy who cleans up a broken glass. On principal I am now avoiding BW3 until this commercial is taken off the air.
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euphrony
Mar 05, 07 at 05:35 am