I'm of the same mind as a few of you: snarking, comments, etc. are entirely organic matters. They come and go as appropriate, and the films in the lineup often drive them in either direction. And the makeup of the crowd entirely affects them as well. For instance, I really dug ELECTROMA, and the crowd's seemingly closed-minded dismissal of it annoyed me to no end. I've always thought that science fiction is supposed to me the most speculative and open-minded genres, based as it is on often fantastical and far fetched possibilities. So to see the crowd vociferously crap all over ELECTROMA (which, granted, isn't great...but I think is at least interesting) was pretty disheartening. Now maybe part of this had to do with Bruce introducing the film as a real groaner. Or maybe most of the audience just wants to see a nice, conservative, ray-gun driven slate of films.
But you know what? None of my concerns matter in the big picture. Because I walked into the Drexel last year knowing full well that the audience could turn on a film that I really liked. And that's the beauty of the Marathon experience. Who knows how everyone will react? I was at that Boston showing of INVADERS FROM MARS that L.A. references. It was my first viewing of the film, and yeah, some of the yahoos went on a bit long. But I knew it was coming, and I was able to tune enough of it out that most of my memories of that screening remain fond.
That's not saying that anything goes. Every few years, someone steps up to fill the highly coveted role of GUY WITH NATURALLY DEEP AND LOUD VOICE WHO BROADCASTS EVERYTHING IN HIS HEAD TO THE AUDIENCE. And that guy is usually the direct opposite of funny. At Boston's SF30, I had the distinct displeasure of sitting directly across from one of those guys. Believe it or not, I've never told someone at a Marathon to shut up. But damn, I came close to reaming this guy out after 24 hours of non-stop stupid one-liners and comments. Haven't seen him since, so maybe we all won in that case.
But the larger point is that you just have to know how to read the room. Over the history of these Columbus events, we've had quite a few memorable callbacks that have stuck and remained charming (Shut the door! AARGH!). It's usually pretty easy to know when they succeed.
A bigger question, I think, is if the general energy level of the audience has diminished. I have very fond memories of seeing EVIL DEAD 2 and ARMY OF DARKNESS for the first time, back to back in the middle of the night at the 1993 NIGHT OF THE LIVING DREXEL. The crowd's lusty reaction to both was a large part of those fond memories. Most of you can think of other similar examples. But over the last 5-10 years, it seems like there are less and less moments of outright crowd exuberance like these. Part of it is probably the greying of a good deal of the audience. But there's been a steady infusion of new blood, so it's not like we're in a Marathon retirement home. But then again, I was pleasantly stunned by the reaction to last fall's screening of POSSESSION. I was convinced that the crowd would tear it apart, but they really glommed onto its eccentric and mercurial tone, reacting in a manner none too reverential nor mocking.
So what do you think? Are we just becoming way too damn civil at the Marathons?
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