On a recent drive to Saskatoon, I had the radio tuned to a popular call-in show where folks had the opportunity to voice their concerns or air their beefs.
My attention was immediately piqued when one woman phoned to complain about the overuse of standing ovations.
“Yes!” I wanted to shout to no one in particular, since I was travelling alone. Finally someone was brave enough to publicly say what many of us have been thinking but reluctant to voice.
Maybe if there were enough of us out there, I thought, we could put an end to this blatant misuse of a well-intentioned gesture.
The standing ovation, according to Wikipedia, is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim.
But these days the quality of the performance does not seem to factor into the equation. Even after the most mediocre of acts, some over-zealous audience member will jump to his or her feet (quickly followed, I might add, by several other jack-in-the-box imitators) clapping enthusiastically for a less-than-stellar presentation.
Meanwhile those seated nearby squirm uncomfortably in their seats until they feel compelled to rise to their feet as well. Usually I try to wait out the uncalled for, over-the-top response, but invariably I succumb to audience pressure instead of appearing like some unimpressed concert snob and reluctantly stand up and join the admiring throng.
But I can’t help wondering that if the benchmark for standing ovations has become the ordinary, ho-hum performance, what does one do when a truly inspiring act takes place? How does one separate the mundane from the superb?
I suppose some enthusiastic whistles and shouts of “Bravo!” might be in order. Maybe standing on one’s chair? But why should this be necessary when there already exits a means of acknowledging excellent performances – it’s called a standing ovation.
By over-utilizing the standing O, we have rendered it ineffective and meaningless.
We seem to be living in an age where instead of praising performances of high calibre, we are more focussed on bringing everyone to the lowest common denominator.
Maybe it’s time we stand up for, or should I say, stay seated, in order to make a point.
