History Main / ClassicalMusicIsBoring

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* ''WesternAnimation/HiHiPuffyAmiYumi'': The episode "Opera Yumi" has Yumi's old singing coach Madame Blubbery, a stuffy woman who wanted to make Yumi an opera prodigy, cajole (and eventually hypnotize) Yumi into performing opera. The performance is depicted as being very dry and boring, with Kaz several other audience members actually falling asleep. After Yumi accidentally snaps herself out of her trance with a high note, the girls turn the show into an impromptu J-pop concert, which gets the audience much more excited.

* ''Series/{{Acapulco}}'': In the third episode of season 2, an investor tries to get the pool singers fired because he doesn't like that they only sing Spanish versions of English songs. He tries to have them replaced with classical musicians, but Diane points out that it's bad for business as it just puts the guests to sleep instead of making them buy drinks.

[[quoteright:350:[[Series/{{Cheers}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/422everyonesleeping.jpg]]]]

* In the WesternAnimation/BettyBoop short [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhIDjS61RU4 Buzzy Bop at the concert]], all the audience fall asleep during the performance of the singer, Madame Shrill. Except Buzzy Boop, whos's bored, and go on the stage where she does mischief to the singer for a start. Then she convinces the band to play jazz instead, Buzzy start to do tap dancing, and even Madame Shrill indulge in. This wakes up the audience immediately.

* In the WesternAnimation/BettyBoop short [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhIDjS61RU4 Buzzy Bop at the opera]], all the audience fall asleep during the performance of the singer, Madame Shrill. Except Buzzy Boop, whos's bored, and go on the stage where she does mischief to the singer for a start. Then she convinces the band to play jazz instead, Buzzy start to do tap dancing, and even Madame Shrill indulge in. This wakes up the audience immediately.

* In the Silly Symphony WesternAnimation/MusicLand, the queen of the land of symphony is shown asleep on her throne during her subjects performance, and presumably her daughter run form her own throne out of boredom.

* In the Silly Symphony WesternAnimation/MusicLand, the queen of the island of harmony is shown asleep on her throne during her subjects performance, and presumably her daughter run form her own throne out of boredom.

* In ''Series/HomeImprovement'' Jill enjoys {{Opera}} but Tim and her sons find it boring at best. The only time Tim likes it is when he gives their stereo [[CatchPhrase "more power!"]]

* Music/FrankZappa, despite being a classical composer himself, held the opinion that he felt that most classical music before the 20th century was ''boring to him''. He adored 20th-century composers such as Music/EdgardVarese, Music/IgorStravinsky, Music/BelaBartok, Music/CharlesIves, Anton Webern, and Music/OlivierMessiaen because their work was more personal, adventurous, and less monotone. He went into more detail in his autobiography ''Literature/TheRealFrankZappaBook'' where he explained that most classical music from previous centuries was written to please some King, Duke, or Abbott who forced composers to make everything sound according to their wishes. In that regard, it's not much different from mainstream pop music nowadays, only with record producers forbidding artists to make songs that clash with their conventional tastes. Recent research has proven, however, that Zappa did often listen to pre-20th-century composers like Music/JohannSebastianBach, Henry Purcell, and Music/RichardWagner too, and was more knowledgeable about their music than he showed to the outside world. And he did record an album of ElectronicMusic performances of music written by his 18th-century Baroque namesake Music/FrancescoZappa.

* ''Theatre/{{Diana}}'': During the song "This is How Your People Dance", Diana is at a stuffy cello performance with Charles. Bored out of her mind, Diana imagines it as a rock-and-roll concert, using the genre's perceived authenticity to show her more modern sensibilities.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': During the episode, "Future Tense", Lynn Sr. and Rita take their kids to see an opera. The only kids that are actually enjoying it are [[BrainyBaby Lily]] and [[ChildProdigy Lisa]]. Every other kid has fallen asleep by the time Lynn Sr. and Rita look over at them.

* This trope is invoked and then subverted in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' when D.W. gets YoYoMa to come to the library to play cello. Arthur and his friends are sure it's going to be boring. Francine has invited her uncle, jazz musician Joshua Redman, for the same day. The kids hope that the two will get into a fight. An ImagineSpot has them in a wrestling ring; Ma pulls out his cello and puts Redman to sleep. But on the day of the meeting it actually goes well, both get along and Redman expresses his enjoyment of classical music.

''their''elders grew up on jazz and Big Band, while THEIR elders grew up on ragtime.You actually have to go...quite a ways back before you actually find a generation raised on classical[[/note]]).

There's some class consciousness embedded in this: [[SlobsVersusSnobs lower-class tastes are more "honest" and genuine, while upper-class tastes are false and pretentious.]] There are sometimes gender issues involved as well since [[MenAreUncultured it's often guys who find classical music dull]]. It also gets used as a young vs. old signifier, with kids loving loud rock while their elders prefer classical (even though most 70-year-olds nowadays probably grew up on first-wave rock and roll).