What happened to British reserve?

I think the audience are 'whipped up' to be extravagant and to make a lot of noise. It annoys me at times when it's obviously on cue. I haven't been in a tv audience myself and it will be interesting to hear from those that have.

rosequartz being a cynical old bat, many people have received free tickets to watch shows and possibly feel duty bound to follow orders such as when to boo or clap now. It maybe our generation which has retained some British reserve.

Yes, the days of polite applause and retrained public behaviour seem to have gone. Rowdy behaviour started on football terraces (and was contained there for a long time) but has now spread via the pub and telly to the high street and everyday life. Shouting, jostling and jeering are commonplace and can be quite intimidating. Increased public alcohol consumption is another factor, as is the bad example of Parliament during PMQs. Sadly, this has now all gone too far to change.

It is just 'not British'

Or is it, has the British psyche changed?

I don't really think anything has changed - I think young people have always know how to let their hair down. However, I did find this explanation of British Reserve.

The British are known culturally for many things, one of them “reserve”. Reserve relates to the general disinclination to show emotion, feelings or to act in any way that could be viewed as slightly off-centre. The cultural concept heavily correlated with the sense of privacy the British hold.

As a result of British reserve you will note that language is heavily tempered and gestures are restrained. Neutrality and diplomacy in communication are seen as necessary components of courtesy. British reserve does not mean that Brits are boring, lifeless and unemotional. It simply means that in British society people are trained from school-age to be self-contained and not to be open emotionally.

Having read that I am not sure I want to keep it. It seems incredibly old fashioned to me.

If you think the Strictly audince is rowdy, try listening to the X Factor! Probably younger and much, much worse.

I think that some people hope that if they make enough noise the camera will focus on them. There seems to be an insatiable desire to appear on the box - those ghastly daytime exposure programmes seem to bear this out.

I once had to sit through one of these programmes on a hospital ward whilst waiting to be called to theatre. Hours of cringeworthy stuff - no dignity left for the poor participants.

I am very old-fashioned about these sort of things.

I think it is working in reverse too. My daughter is very much of the huggy, kissy generation.
I dont know where she got it from. I was shocked the first time I saw her to it to her schoolmates, when she was about 14.

And photographs have become less formal too. Her generation [she is early 20s, says that photos of times gone by look grim. The people are not smiling and look unhappy!

Our Victorian forebears used to pose with their dead children for photographs - that was pretty grim!

We were also brought up with strict Calvanism in Scotland whereby anyone thought of as riffraff, was avoided like the plague. It was not the done thing to show off or draw attention to yourself.

Although it was quite stultifying in many ways, I wouldn't mind if some of those standards were upheld now. Especially when I see the behaviour of adults who still insist in acting like unruly teenagers.

Oh English reserve still is alive as witnessed at my granddaughters Christmas Concert Singalong.

The three reception classes sang several songs beautifully and in particular Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

At the end the Head asked them to sing it again and for parents etc to join in. What a pathetic bunch!

As the Head remarked at the end 'Well children, I think we can say the audience didn't exactly make that song their own!'

I like Strictly and the X Factor and I'm not particularly bothered by enthusiastic audiences - it's probably quite fund being there. The muted "stiff upper lip" approach would make these light entertainment programmes seem a bit "flat" I think.

Having said that, I do find it annoying on the X Factor when the panel walks on stage at the beginning to the accompaniment of dramatic music and hysterical screams, as if they were some sort of demi-gods and goddesses.

We stopped watching the X Factor because of all the whooping and hollering. My DH always says 'we follow what the Americans do'. I don't know if he's right. My granddaughter takes part in dance shows/competitions and the mothers all whoop and holler after the dance has finished. I find it cringeworthy but it is what happens now. Not my way but hey ho.

I think young people have always know how to let their hair down.
Gracesgran I don't remember me or any of my friends walking around half naked and vomiting in the gutter like some of today's young women do!

Anya yes, that's true, I went to a Frozen Singalong and no-one was singing very loudly (or much at all), nervously looking round to see if anyone recognised them!!
Obviously there was no-one from the Strictly or X Factor or Jeremy Kyle audiences there - or even from Question Time the other evening!!

rosequartz it was only a small proportion then and it's only a small proportion now. Even though some do behave without thought for others (and surely that is what matters) huge numbers of young people are, in my experience, thoughtful, considerate and much more adult in so many ways than my generation were all those years ago.

I really dislike the them and us of this sort of discussion. There will be almost exactly the same proportion of people behaving outrageously albeit in a different way to our generation and probably the same proportion of saints too. We just didn't see it 40/50/60 years ago as we didn't have the technology and society was more socially stratified.

This is their time not ours and they need to be allowed to get on with living their lives in their chosen way just as we wanted to in our early adult years or are you suggesting we all behaved like our mothers.

I think it all started with Diana's death - 1997. She was a person who showed her feelings, and it spread.
I'm quite reserved, but my grandchildren are more exuberant.

Excellent post, Gracesgran!

Remember the screaming girls when the Beatles hit town? And the hugging and kissing demonstrates, I think, the breaking down of stiff, former coldness and inability to express feelings. Give me a hug any day, rather than a sneer.

Remember Wimbledon in the good old days? Dan Maskell must be turning in his grave.

The umpire shouldn't have to keep appealing for quiet.

'Oh, my word'

Gracesgran - I agree re young people. I have three nephews in their 20s who are considerate and caring as well as being trendy and enjoying their youth. Ariadne - I WAS one of those screaming girls at Beatles concerts. I take back what I said above ! Note to self: Think before you speak (or post).

KatyK

I think it's good for people to show their feelings, provided they are genuine and not just for show.

But maybe it is not wise to air one's dirty linen in public and seemingly enjoy it? Am I just being a dinosaur?

By the way - I love the fact that young people (boys and girls) hug their friends and family so openly now. I think that is brilliant.