The American Crowd
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The American Crowd is a film cliché which appears mainly, if not exclusively, in Hollywood films, generally of a comic or light dramatic genre.
When main characters of a film have some kind of scene to play out in front of a crowd of people, wherever they are, the crowd watching or listening will display certain characteristics completely unlike that of a real crowd; generally displaying much more altruism and patience than anyone would ever encounter in real life.
For instance, in any scene where opposite sex characters are having an argument in front of people, in a subway train for example, the people listen attentively, perhaps giving verbal encouragement to one or the other side. No embarrassment or annoyance is ever displayed. Sometimes the crowd members are capable of super-human feats, for instance a crowd at a sporting event can hear and see the relevant characters at all times despite distance and noise in order to cheer heartily at the plot resolution. Also, the crowd members are instinctively aware of whatever context is necessary to understand said resolution, regardless of how personal the conflict was. Examples are the movies Crocodile Dundee, Coming to America and The Last Boy Scout (where an entire football stadium of people witness several horrific deaths, then immediately understand that the survivor is a hero rather than a villain, and begin to cheer heartily.)
A particular sub-genre of American Crowd are the American Wedding Guests. These guests sit at a wedding and are completely unfazed by the romantic male or female lead dashing into the church and disrupting the ceremony, often for several minutes. Only the officiating priest attempts to get the ceremony back on track; all others happily sit and watch while romantic entanglements are resolved, and if/when the resolution ends in a kiss, they always applaud loudly - even if the bride or groom has just been publicly rejected.
