The reactions at the premiere

I'm sure it was a bit over the top. The actress who played Lisa in the real film noted that people did laugh at the premiere, but I find it hard to imagine it was in an uproarious way.

I can't think, anyway, that it was such a surprise to the cast and crew in attendance, that they'd be laughing their heads off at the revelation that it was a sh**ty movie. They were there for the filming, seen the rushes, read the script etc. I'm sure they'd already done their share of laughing by that point, if they'd done any at all.

I think that this part of the film is meant to depict a composite of both the actual premiere reactions AND the subsequent screenings in which the film was discovered and eventually grew into a cult film with active audience participation and yelling.
It is an efficient narrative device to condense this journey into one section because it makes us (the actual audience) feel the true effect that this film had and still has on audiences who view The Room in the cinema and collectively bask in the warmth and glow of its wonderful awfulness.


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Hey, just saw this from IMDB's "Did You Know?" section:

"The standing ovation at the premiere was fictionalized but represents the future reception when the film became a cult hit. The real reaction of the first audience was uncomfortable silence and awkward laughter (described by one actress as "like trying not to laugh in church"), and some people simply walked out of the theater. The afterparty was equally awkward as guests tried to avoid even discussing the movie. It was not until then-college student Michael Rousselet saw it alone in an empty theater and realized how unintentionally hilarious it was. He called his friends to come watch the next screening and word of mouth quickly spread."

I hated that scene (and most of the rest of the movie, although it did make me laugh a couple of times). It presents the public as small-minded sadists who enjoy bad movies so they can laugh at them. Huh? Well I guess that's the sort of behavior you can expect from "cults."

That entire scene was not good.

Even if its intention was to be a "metaphor" for how the movie would be received in the future, it was still not good and extremely out of place.
Obviously the first reactions of the audience, seeing this DRAMA movie, was that of a terrible movie with very bad acting.
People were not laughing hysterically.

Only after word of mouth spread and people started watching it KNOWING it was bad, people would start laughing, but even then not hysterically like this scene depicted.

A person unaware of this story will really think people were laughing and enjoying it in the premiere, which is false as people were hating it and felt very awkward watching it.