# Scenes that are too awkward to watch **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191 "2013-04-09T00:28:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/41 "2013-04-09T15:45:15Z")
> [@Ms.Pumpkin](#): > > 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, One I thought of was in _2 and a Half Men_ after Judith leaves Allen because she’s realized she is a lesbian. Charlie and Allen go to the movies and bump into Judith and another lady happens to be standing there and Allen introduces himself thinking she’s Judith’s new lover, which she’s not of course. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/42 "2013-04-09T16:34:14Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > I have issues with this myself. I think it’s becoming more common in American TV & mainstream movies, which doesn’t do man a bit of good. I just CRINGE, and don’t enjoy it at all. It’s humor at someone’s expense, and I guess I just empathize too much. If they’re gonna do that, at least make the person a nasty hateful kitten-kicker or something. I have the same problem. I often get up in the middle of a show and need to go find something else to do because I’m feeling so profoundly embarrassed for the characters that it’s uncomfortable. My husband thinks it’s ridiculous, but I can’t control it. As others have said, Frasier did that to me a lot. I also don’t like much of Steve Carrell’s stuff, because most of it is along the same lines. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/43 "2013-04-09T16:53:17Z")
The scene in **Say Anything** where John Mahoney starts flirting with the cashier, then leaves embarrassed b/c his card was declined. The scene in **Lucas** where the bullies bring Lucas up on stage - first he makes do of it by making people laugh, but by the end he’s asked to leave the stage and walks out in total silence. The scene in **Leaving Las Vegas** where Nicolas Cage is too wasted to write his name on his bank check. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/44 "2013-04-09T17:13:01Z")
Star Trek V At the end. When they sing. Actually most of that movie was awkward. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/45 "2013-04-09T17:25:57Z")
I think maybe the “You’re my density” scene in Back to the Future. I think it’s the extreme awkwardness that Crispin Glover conveys that makes it so damn funny, and hard to watch at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/46 "2013-04-09T17:35:45Z")
Halle Berry- “Make me feel good! Make me feel good!” Ugh. Just stop. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/47 "2013-04-09T17:44:22Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > The scene in **Leaving Las Vegas** where Nicolas Cage is too wasted to write his name on his bank check. No. He can’t write his name on the check because he’s got the shakes; he hasn’t had anything to drink yet (or not enough, or what he did have wore off). Cut to a scene in a bar where he proceeds to get drunk, back to the bank, signs perfectly and says “solid as a fucking rock!” (or something similar). Cashier is embarrassed. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/48 "2013-04-09T17:48:06Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > No. He can’t write his name on the check because he’s got the shakes; he hasn’t had anything to drink yet (or not enough, or what he did have wore off). Cut to a scene in a bar where he proceeds to get drunk, back to the bank, signs perfectly and says “solid as a fucking rock!” (or something similar). Cashier is embarrassed. That’s right. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/49 "2013-04-09T18:36:06Z")
maybe not what the OP was asking for but I found Animal room with neil Patrick Harris extremely disturbing. Not what I was expecting at all. If it came on I would have to leave the room if I couldn’t change the channel. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/50 "2013-04-09T18:38:38Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > You know, the ones that make you cringe. Here are two of mine: > > 1. 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.” Seconded. When I saw it, I had just been through a breakup. Really made me squirm. The pageant scene in ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ repulsed me, too. I’m the only person I know who feels that way, though. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/51 "2013-04-09T18:55:10Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Martin Scorsese himself seemed to feel that the scene in _Taxi Driver_ where Travis was on the phone trying to get another date with Betsy was too awkward to watch. That reminds me of the scene near the begninning of _Marty_ where he is on the phone trying to get a date with a girl he recently met and it’s becoming more and more clear that she’s not interested. You can see Ernest Borgnine getting more and more downhearted as he starts to get the message. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/52 "2013-04-09T19:04:21Z")
**Blood Simple** had plenty of awkward scenes. And I’m not talking about the knife scene, though that did make me squeam. It was the awkward silences in conversation. That movie was not a great endorsement for Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/53 "2013-04-09T19:05:26Z")
Pretty much any old Woody Allen comedy, especially the inevitable part where he breaks into a neurotic monologue while trying to woo a girl. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/54 "2013-04-09T19:52:58Z")
Pretty much any scene with Eugene Levy in “American Pie”. [It’s like banging a tennis ball against a brick wall…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sClW0qW9LA) ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/55 "2013-04-09T20:30:06Z")
> [@digs](#): > > 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_.” Oh hooray! I’m not the only one. I can’t stand this sort of comedy, to me it’s not funny it’s just awful - _The Office_,\* Curb\*,anything of that ilk, they don’t just leave me cold, they make me leave the room. Which is a pity as Mrs Marcus and the junior Marcus’s just love them… ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/56 "2013-04-09T20:38:08Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Star Trek V > > At the end. > > When they sing. > > Actually most of that movie was awkward. There was no. such. movie. They just figured the even movies were the good ones and jumped from 4 to 6. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/57 "2013-04-10T06:30:56Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > Pretty much any old Woody Allen comedy, especially the inevitable part where he breaks into a neurotic monologue while trying to woo a girl. The oldest films are actually the funniest…the scene in Bananas in the magazine store was creepy but really funny. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/58 "2013-04-10T15:31:21Z")
**North by Northwest** , where Cary Grant is trying to get himself arrested at an auction, by acting inappropriately. I think it’s because I find that behavior so uncomfortable in real life, I hate watching that scene. On the other hand, the Ross & The Pizza Girl scene in Friends is one of the funniest in the series. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/59 "2013-04-10T16:13:53Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > I have issues with this myself. I think it’s becoming more common in American TV & mainstream movies, which doesn’t do man a bit of good. I just CRINGE, and don’t enjoy it at all. It’s humor at someone’s expense, and I guess I just empathize too much. If they’re gonna do that, at least make the person a nasty hateful kitten-kicker or something. Same here. I can’t watch embarrassment-by-proxy stuff - either the kind where the character doesn’t realise he’s making an eejit of himself, or the kind where he realises and can’t stop. And yeah, I’m kind of disturbed by the whole idea of humour that only works in the absence of empathy. I barely made it through the Borat movie. Every five minutes or so I had to get my husband to hit Pause so I could uncurl myself from a knot of pure cringe, and I only found a few bits actively funny. Weirdly, I loved Sasha Baron-Cohen’s TV sketches - they were cringey, yeah, but I found them way funnier than they were cringey. I think it was because in the sketches, specially the early ones, he let the victims do all the work of making eejits of themselves. He dangled the bait, but it was up to them whether they took it - and some of them didn’t, and didn’t come across looking like eejits at all. By the movie, though, he was knocking people on the head and jamming the bait down their throats. There was no way for the situations to be anything other than cringeingly awkward. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191/60 "2013-04-10T16:17:56Z")
**Breaking Bad** is replete with awkward moments. The two most cringe inducing to me has got to be: 1. When Walt & Jessie try to escape Tuco’s clutches. Tuco’s paralyzed father ringing that bell with his one working finger. Aaaaahhh!!! 2. the conciliatory breakfast Walt makes for his wife Schuyler, which goes great until he goes into an extended “explanation” as to why she “thinks” he has two phones (it’s a long story, but for those who don’t follow the show suffice to say, he’s trying to cover a lie - badly. Very, very badly.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-are-too-awkward-to-watch/655191.md?page=4)