# Origin of someone yelling, "Don't look at me!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570 "2009-10-04T18:48:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/1 "2009-10-04T18:48:38Z")
Just happen to watch an old Simpsons where Marge is afraid of flying. Besides reminding me of how great that show _used_ to be, it made me think how I’ve always assumed the old ‘catching someone doing they’re ashamed of’ scene and them crying out “Don’t look at me!” was a parody of some classic film, but I have no idea if it is or not. I’ve only ever seen parodies of it. Is there one original version of this scene? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/2 "2009-10-04T18:50:45Z")
_Blue Velvet_? Close? ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/3 "2009-10-04T19:13:38Z")
Kramer: “Look away. I’m hideous!” ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/4 "2009-10-04T19:17:19Z")
Naw, _Blue Velvet_ originated “Don’t you [FUCKING](http://www.gunbloggerconspiracy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/blue-velvet.jpg) look at me!” Entirely different. ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/5 "2009-10-04T20:04:39Z")
Isn’t it from \*The Devils? \* Awesome Ken Russell movie starring Oliver Reed? It’s been many years since I saw it to confirm for sure, though. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/6 "2009-10-04T20:15:11Z")
My WAG, a classic horror movie, most likely The Hunchback of Notre Dame. ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/7 "2009-10-04T20:18:16Z")
Hmnn. I checked with _The Devils_. Without getting too spoilery, although the “DON’T LOOK AT ME!” is indeed there (and bellowed with impressive passion), the context is not the yeller being caught doing shameful but rather them trying to get the crowd to look to a broader problem instead. The yeller IS at the centre of a large crowd pointing and laughing though and it IS an emotional highpoint in the film, so maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/8 "2009-10-04T20:58:57Z")
Or maybe The Elephant Man? ---
**Author:** ![arjee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@arjee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arjee)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/9 "2009-10-05T03:12:11Z")
I haven’t seen this movie in ages, but could it be _ **Ben Hur** _, when he finds his mother and sister and they are disfigured because of leprosy? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/10 "2009-10-05T14:39:49Z")
“Cat People?” ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/11 "2009-10-05T14:40:12Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > Or maybe The Elephant Man? That’s what I first thought of. ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/12 "2009-10-05T16:47:29Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > “Cat People?” No idea if this is it, but it was the first I thought of. Film released in 1982. Matter of fact, whenever I hear the phrase, I think of Nastassja Kinski. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/13 "2009-10-05T17:50:21Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > Or maybe The Elephant Man? That’s certainly “I am not an animal!” but I would have though that it was in one of the early _Phantom of the Opera_ movies when he is unmasked, or an early version of _Beauty and the Beast_. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/14 "2009-10-05T17:56:29Z")
RE: **Cat People** > [@cantara](#): > > No idea if this is it, but it was the first I thought of. Film released in 1982. > > Matter of fact, whenever I hear the phrase, I think of Nastassja Kinski. FTR, this is what I immediately thought of. ---
**Author:** ![jimmycolorado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@jimmycolorado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmycolorado)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/15 "2009-10-06T08:38:21Z")
While it isn’t necessarily a movie, nor is the line quoted, the first thing I thought of was Oedipus Rex. King Oedipus cut out his own eyes so he couldn’t see the people of Thebes look upon him in disgust. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/16 "2009-10-06T10:49:44Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > That’s certainly “I am not an animal!” but I would have though that it was in one of the early _Phantom of the Opera_ movies when he is unmasked, or an early version of _Beauty and the Beast_. _Phantom of the Opera_ was what immediately leapt to mind for me – and in the Simpsons scene, if memory serves, Marge’s father actually pulls his apron in front of his face to form a sort of half-mask. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/17 "2009-10-06T11:07:38Z")
Probably not what you’re looking for, but here’s another variation on [‘Don’t look at me’](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkiqVsW5ayY) featuring comedian Lucy Montgomery. This is from a TV sketch show where this mad Italian ‘maid’ would constantly try and grab attention while reciting the catch phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/18 "2009-10-06T11:10:55Z")
Does the idea have to “be” from anywhere? I mean, I could imagine a lot of people in embarrassing or undesirable situations not wanting to have people looking at them. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/19 "2009-10-06T15:11:54Z")
My first thought was Blue Velvet. That’s also my first thought when someone mentions Heineken, Pabst Blue Ribbon, or finding an ear on the ground. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570/20 "2009-10-06T15:38:11Z")
Billy Madison? From IMDB quotes: > [@](#): > > Billy Madison: Shampoo is better. I go on first and clean the hair. Conditioner is better. I leave the hair silky and smooth. Oh, really, fool? Really. > [Notices gold swan on edge of tub] > Billy Madison: Stop looking at me, swan. Movie is from 1995, but I’m not sure if that predates the Simpson’s episode. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-someone-yelling-dont-look-at-me/512570.md?page=2)