History Main / StunnedSilence

Compare ChangeTheUncomfortableSubject.

* When ToddInTheShadows reviewed ChrisBrown's "Deuces", Kevin McCall's line "Like Tina did to Ike in the limo, it finally hit me" caused this. And follows by asking how it remained on the song (complete with a mock conversation where Brown asks to remove the lyric because [[DomesticAbuse they compare him enough already with Ike Turner]]).

See also ShuttingUpNow for a possible follow up.

* ''{{MeetTheFeebles}}'' has this happen as the audience reaction to The Sodomy Song, which is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin about what it sounds like]].

* In ''{{Clerks II}}'', after God-fearing momma's boy Elias explains to Randall that the reason he's never had sex is because all girls have a "pussy troll" that prevents them from having pre-marital sex. Randall, kind of snarkiness, is absolutely speechless.

* Calvin's father in ''CalvinAndHobbes'', typically in response to one of Calvin's questions. The best one: "[[http://www.s-anand.net/calvinandhobbes.html#19860101 Why do you live here with Mom instead of in an apartment with a number of scantily clad female roommates?]]"

[[AC:{{Theatre}}]]
* This Troper saw a Broadway Production of "Grey Gardens" which had the audience do this. This is extremely odd since Broadway audiences generally applaud after every song because that's what you do. At the end of Act II, the audience just stopped applauding after the songs until the very end. Of course, the ending of musical is a string of four songs where the protagonist discusses how she's trapped in her decaying mansion and will never be happy, only to be interrupted by her mother affirming that all happiness is chosen, leading to the protagonists attempt to do so, failing miserably, and then getting up the strength to leave--only to be called back because her invalid mother can't open the cans of cat food (the only food they can afford) and will starve to death without her. And it's a true story.

!!Examples:

!!!Stunned Amazement

!!!Stunned Horror

-->Westley: It's not that bad.
-->Buttercup: [turns her head and stares unbelievingly at him]
-->Westley: Well, I'm not saying I'd like to build a summer home here, but the trees are actually quite lovely.
-->Buttercup: [continues to stare at him]

!!!Other

--> Azula: Together, you and I will be strongest couple in the entire world! We will dominate the earth!

* A Japanese audience was utterly silent at the end of ''StarWars'' -- their greatest possible compliment.

* Not sure if this is true, but apparently this exact same story happened to both ''StarWars'' and ''{{Transformers}}''. When they were first shown in Japan, the audience left the film in complete silence. The producer/director, concerned about the lacklustre response, asked their Japanese counterpart if they didn't like it. The Japanese counterpart then responded that the audience did like it, because for a Japanese audience, being silent means you're devoting your entire attention to that movie.

* AngryJoe's review of StarcraftII begins with a full fifteen seconds of him staring dazedly into the camera before fainting. ([[SoCoolItsAwesome Yes, it's that good]].)

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* A Japanese audience was utterly silent at the end of ''StarWars'' -- their greatest possible compliment.

[[AC:{{RealLife}}]]
* Subverted by the premiere of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. He thought the crowd was sitting there in silence. Actually, they were going nuts with joy, he simply couldn't hear them because he was stone deaf.

Stunned horror can be further divided into stunned by stupidity or stunned by surreality. This occurs when a character says (or does) something so stupid or off the wall other characters are rendered unable to talk or limited to a single world. See also ChirpingCrickets, LoudspeakerTruck, FaceFault and IdiotCrows.