You know, the ones that make you cringe. Here are two of mine:
Jon Favreau calls a girl over and over in Swingers. It starts kind of desperate but not entirely unreasonable and turns to “Dude, stop, just stop.”
Ross “flirts” with the pizza delivery girl. I literally cannot watch this episode because this part is just awful.
What are yours?
Most of Meet the Parents.
American History X - can’t watch that one scene
I also can’t watch any scene that involves showing a hypodermic-type needle piercing the skin. I can watch knitting needles to sewing needles pierce the skin, just not medical-type needles; they freak me right the fuck out.
ETA: Hmmmm. I think I may have misinterpreted the OP’s intent. Perhaps a longer OP with an actual explanation of what “too awkward” actually refers to would have been helpful. Ah well.
Basil Fawlty tries so hard to get his 75 pounds that he won on “Dragonfly”, but he just can’t catch a break.
What I had in mind were scenes you can’t watch not because they are too gory or scary or disgusting but because they are awkward and uncomfortable.
Nobody does awkward like Tim and Eric, and this sketch about a group of friends having a secret party in one of their parents’ hotel room while they’re gone is probably the most painful piece they’ve ever done. Especially the very last line.
Two dudes making out always makes me wince.
I often wonder “Is this what gay people go through when they see hetero couples making out on the TV?” Because, if so, that must really suck for them.
My brain is not cooperating with specific examples. No doubt some will come to me at 2:00am. But I am more likely to fast forward through a painfully embarrassing scene than a brutally violent one. I think it’s because I am 175 times more likely to be involved in romantic humiliation than violent conflict.
nm, not what the op meant.
James Woods fucking up in The Boost
If I can nominate entire movies, not scenes, let’s go for Welcome to the Dollhouse (about being an unpopular junior high girl) and Happiness (about being a miserable suburbanite–which is probably the worst summary of the movie imaginable). Both are excellent movies that have virtually no gore, and you couldn’t pay me to watch either again.
The Charlize Theron movie Young Adult is an orgy of cringe, peaking with her drunken speech at her high school boyfriend’s wife’s baby shower. It was horrifying.
In Bulworth, Nina (Halle Berry) says to Bulworth (Warren Beatty), “you know you’re my nigger”. Also, Warren Beatty raps. This movie scarred me for life.
In Tess, Nastassja Kinski boards a train and announces, “I’ve come to tell you I killed him”. The line was so awkwardly delivered that the theater audience broke into laughter.
My kids just love The Office, so they’ll turn it on and my wife has to leave the room. One time it was with the comment, “If it’s not Michael being awkward, it’s Andy or that other guy. How can you watch this? Doesn’t this make you too uncomfortable?” To which my son replied, “Uhh, Mom. One piece of advice. Never ever ever watch Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
I don’t get it.
Much of Nathan Barley, but especially Dan Ashcroft’s job interview.
In the British version, there’s a scene that involves David Brent dancing…
Even writing that sentence made me cringe.
Absolutely any scene in which the character is saying or doing something that I as the viewer know is embarrassing, but the character doesn’t(yet). Basically, I become embarrassed for them. I’m trying to think of an actual example, and drawing a blank, of course. Lots of “mistaken identity” scenes fit this scenario, like this hypothetical: Our hero very loudly and publicly proclaims his love to a woman he’s, until this moment, only communicated with via letters. But, actually, he’s made a mistake, and this isn’t “his girl”, -the woman he’s showering with affection has no idea who he is at all- he’s making an ass out of himself in front of complete strangers! If I have never seen the girl, either, it’s not awkward. But if I know he’s got the wrong girl and is about to humiliate himself, I have a hard time with it.
Off-topic, but for me this extends to other things besides movies. Ever watch the news and they’re interviewing some local who’s just making himself look/sound like an idiot, and he’s such an idiot that he doesn’t even realize he’s coming off like an imbecile? Unwatchable. I can’t bear it. I can’t even listen when people call into radio stations to request a song- I’m just absolutely sure they’re gonna get the title or the artist wrong, or god forbid, start singing. Too much embarrassment-by-proxy potential for me.
They are yelling their son’s name during sex.
The scene in the Steve Martin movie Roxanne, where his character is feeding romantic lines to the handsome Rick Rossovich via radio. Funny, but just too cringe-inducing.