Inappropriate Audience Laughter?

When I was watching the movie i found your statement true. I just had to ignore it because it was a truly wonderful movie.

The audience I saw the movie with laughed, but not laughed at the kids as you experienced, but laughed with them. Like the kid who did not want to dance with the girl much taller than he..that WAS funny, to see his reaction..and there was other laughter, but when appropriate, and when there was something amusing. People cried when the teacher was crying, both times in fact. I can't imagine laughing when someone is crying.

That woman sounds like the reason many people prefer to see movies at home..

I don't quite agree with you that the audience laughter during the scenes you mentioned were inappropriate. Do remember that when directors make a film adeptly, they are aware of what sort of reaction they are going to elicit from their audience. When the scenes were shot/edited, the people involved in the film knew that this particular scene would evoke audience laughter, otherwise they would just be a bunch of inept Ed Woodish directors/editors who have no idea their movie is unintentionally funny.

My view might be a bit askew here, but I think that during the scene where the teacher cries, the filmmakers WANTED you to laugh. And truth be told, it WAS quite a funny scene, precisely because these people were almost placed in a position that was meant to be laughed at (or ridiculed, depending on how you see it). And besides, it takes a great eye for satire to find it funny how mentors/guardians push kids to their limit over a rather ridiculous thing like a trophy or award (see Spellbound), or how some people take competitions way too seriously (see Best in Show). In fact, the reason why I did not like this film very much is that it lacked the satiric twist of those other films. This could have been a goldmine for gently poking fun at American consumerism and competition (like the teacher who pushes her students because she NEEDS to win), but instead, it came out glorifying the competitive process. I found it a bit disconcerting.

The audience I saw it with didn't seem to have any of this type of inappropriate laughter. There was laughing at all the parts that were supposed to be funny, but none at parts like the teacher crying, thankfully.

I think you are being too judgemental, characterizing the laughter as "inappropriate." People don't always laugh because they find something funny in the literal sense. Laughter can be a consequence of a variety of feelings. In this particular movie, which I just saw, many audience members, including myself, laughed at the things you mentioned, but, at least for me, I laughed because I REMEMBERED having those SAME experiences as a kid, and maybe, when I was younger, it was the worst thing in the world, to be partnered with the tall kid, or the fat kid. etc., and now I can say "oh yeah, i remember that, thinking it was the worst thing, but now I can laugh at it." You laugh because you KNOW those feelings. Its laugher as an affirmation. I can chuckle when my 11 year old nephew begs his parents to see an "R" rated movie..I am not laughing AT him, but laughing because I remember what it was like to be that age, and dying to see Saturday Night Fever, and my parents saying "NO!!" So, give these people a break, and if they want to laugh, and are having a good, happy, perhaps nostalgic moment, why should it bother you?? Let it go, and celebrate this wonderful movie.

I just saw this movie, and must say it was one of my favorite documentaries I have seen. Partly because it was so satirical.

That teacher crying was HYSTARICAL, I’m sorry, but any adult that gets that worked up about seeing their students fail, P L E A S E. If this was a fictional movie with that same high pitched over emotional educator in a role anyone would be dying of laughter.

People laugh AT kids all the time. Think of the entire premise of Kids Say the Darn’st things!! I know I look back and watch old home movies of myself and die of laughter at my awkwardness and the dumb things I said.

This movie was a serious look at the positive effects, but that doesn’t mean it cant poke fun at how overly serious people were taking it. (The other team that lost just moved on and were happy with being able to compete, while the other team had to have a counseling session with miss emotional!?!?!?! That teacher was crazy, and the kids going hysterical when loosing was so over dramatic for the situation)

Maybe I just have a really dark sense of humor, and if that’s the case I would not change it for the world. But personally I think you should lighten up.

I saw this a couple of nights ago and I was kind of surprised when people started laughing hysterically when that one particular teacher started crying. I started laughing myself because everyone else was laughing. The group I was with were all laughing hysterically and they're all teachers.

I didn't find it particularly funny but then again, when I saw Schindler's List, I was laughing out loud when the Nazis found that guy strapped under the bed and when that other guy hiding in the piano stomped on all the keys when he thought it was safe to come out.

"I think a plan is just a list of things that don't happen."
-Parker from "The Way of the Gun"

I didn't experience much of this during the screening I attended, although I was seated near a few young women who felt the urge to comment after EVERY line (check yourself folks--it's inappropriate and inconsiderate of those around you).

Perhaps the source of some of the laughter, particularly at the dancing, was a kind of acknowledgement and pride at the kids' talent. The audience at my screening howled when Wilson and his partner totally nailed their rhumba at the semi-finals--I think they were amazed at how easy it came to them (and being Dominican didn't hurt either) and how much they seemed to enjoy what they were doing.

However, I did have to laugh at the incredibly, and I do mean INCREDIBLY, pretentious AND precocious kids from the school in TriBeCa. Little Cyrus' "I'm indignant!" is not an expression uttered by most fifth graders and his asking to see the scores was nothing short of nervy. Then there's the "know it all" little girl who felt she and her fellow 11-year old female school chums were prime targets for child molesters--what a HOOT--not that child molestation is funny; just that she seemed to "know" so much about it at such a young age. Face it--these were whitest kids on the face of the earth.