What scares you more in books/movies: social embarrassment, or horror/gore?

Cafe Society
1

I realized I don’t mind horror, supernatural stuff, or tragic events in books/movies.

But show me a character that does something embarrassing, something that might cost him his job, his friendships…and depicted in a real way, not for comical relief. And I slap my hands before my eyes and refuse to look. It’s just too scary.

That’s why I don’t mind Stephen King books. People might die, might be horrible to one another, but social embarrasment is absent in his books.

Anyone else feel this way?

Strangely, I don’t feel that way here on the Dope.

2

I don’t find either scary, but when someone does something embarrassing, even if I laugh, I feel squeamish for some reason.

3

I avoid movies like meet the parents. Those movies invite you to laugh at other peoples discomfort. To me that just isn’t cool.

4

I’m the same way. I often turn the channel if someone’s about to socially fail somehow. I find it too hard to watch.

5

Agreed. I read all kinds of horror and gore (barring sexual violence) but I cannot read or watch crap like Meet the Parents.

6

Social embarrassment, totally. It’s probably my own baggage, but I hate seeing people in awkward social misunderstandings, especially when romance is involved.

Horror and gore? Meh.

7

I enjoyed Fraiser, but had to turn away from it at least once an episode…

8

I guess so far I’m the odd one out in that horror/gore scares me more. Like the rest of the thread, I do get a bit uncomfortable watching really outrageous social embarrassments. But after the movie’s over I can easily forget about it; social awkwardness doesn’t stick with me and my imagination afterward like horror does.

9

Welcome to the Dollhouse was like a horror film - cringe worthy from the start.

Saw type movies I find stupid, but not horrific.

10

Social embarrassment. Unless the target is really villainous, then it’s perfectly fine.

11

You and me both.

12

I can watch social-embarrassment movies. I hate 'em, but I can physically sit through them and watch.

I cannot watch modern horror. Simply physically can’t. Unless I were chained to the seat, I would have to get up and leave.

In abstract terms, I admire horror a little more…ETA: no, a lot more. There is more craft, more creativity, more inventiveness. Social-embarrassment scenes can be written by any idiot, but, say, Alien: that was a damn masterpiece. (Which…I’ve never seen and never will.)

13

It’s easy for a horror movie to startle me or to gross me out.

But no horror movie has ever unnerved me as badly as Jon Favreau’s repeated phone messages to a woman he just met in the movie Swingers. That scene was truly horrifying- because I KNOW there’s no chance I’ll ever be attacked by a vampire or zombie. But at the time I saw the movie, I was newly single, and I could all too easily imagine myself embarrassing myself the way Favreau did.

14

I, too, avoid entertainment that focuses on social embarrassment and discomfort. To me, that includes most reality shows, too.

(I also avoid horror movies and TV shows because I scare easily… except for Supernatural which is delightful.)

15

I agree with the OP.

16

Social embarrasment does it to me. I find it hard to think of it as entertaining. I won’t say I’m scared of it exactly, more that I find it painful to watch.

17

Social embarassment, definitely. I can tell myself that the horror and gore are fake or just part of a fictional account, but social embarassment just hits too close to home for me.

18

My unable-to-watch list runs from worst to least bad:
Psychological horror
Social embarrassment
Physical pain and suffering
Gore.

Consider the movie Cloverfield.
The most difficult to watch part for me was the scene in the subway tunnel. The second-most-difficult was a small scene near the beginning where the group passes an ambulance with someone screaming inside. Then there’s the part at the beginning where the camera operator is being a douche. The gore rates last.

19

I’d say usually embarrassment.

20

I love horror and slasher flicks, the gorier and more realistic the better. But I can’t say the same for certain scenes from *Dan in Real Life, *40-Year-Old-Virgin, or Meet the Parents. However, I wouldn’t say social embarrassment scares me. It just makes me identify *very *strongly with the character in question. I feel bad for them, and the “comedy” becomes a tragedy. At a certain point during these humiliating scenes, continuing to watch just completely ceases to be entertaining. Because, who on earth *hasn’t *been made the laughingstock or scapegoat at some point? It’s just not funny.

Exceptions are made for schadenfreude, which is why I like *Always Sunny *so much.