This was the first movie I thought of, although what really makes me cringe are the manicure scenes. I have this weird hang-up about seeing people’s cuticles get cut during manicures, and there were several of those scenes in Young Adult. I actually started getting queasy at one point.
Really, any movie in which an old, unhip person raps does it for me. Hollywood screenwriters seem to think these scenes are absolutely hilarious, but they just make me want to crawl under my seat. I got a particularly bad case of secondhand embarrassment during Chris Cooper’s rapping in The Muppets.
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.
Humor plots or scenes where a hapless character appears to be insane—they’re talking to/possessed by a ghost, or a psychic, or something; or they’re Quantum Leap-style time travelers; or they’re having to follow a hidden radio’s instructions…stuff like that.
I know the intent is to be all “tee-hee, look at this guy make an idiot out of himself,” or “oooh, those idiots can’t see the hologhost causing all the ruckus!” But all I can see is people watching as their friend apparently has a psychotic breakdown before their eyes.
To say nothing of the poor sap, who’s often just trying to do the right thing, just getting tormented and humiliated. Gah.
Any comedy where the mechanics of the plot revolve around mistaken identity, and the protagonist trying to keep from having his/her true identity discovered. I generally leave the room when this occurs.
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.
There were a lot of those in Leave It To Beaver, where he knew not to do something & Larry Mondello would dare him, Beaver would get stuck or caught, & Larry would “hear my mother calling” (fat bastard couldn’t get punched in the stomach enough if I had anything to do with it) & ditch him… as a kid, I actually had to change the channel on episodes I’d seen before & then switch back right before the show ended so I could be reassured that all ended well.
I can’t think of any movies at the moment, but TV shows like Candid Camera, and the new Betty White one where hapless people are made to look like fools is definitely cringe-inducing. I quit listening to this local radio show where they do the “birthday scam” on people and make them all pissed off about something, just for a laugh.
I used to have a problem with reruns of I Love Lucy as a kid. The whole leaving the room thing, getting embarrassed for her, all of it. I thought Happiness was more painful to watch than awkward. The British version of The Office was harder for me to watch than the American one, for whatever reason. Didn’t have a problem with Curb Your Enthusiasm (or George’s antics on Seinfeld) but didn’t find the show funny enough to watch, either.
Any movie/tv plot about people switching bodies. Makes me highly uncomfortable and I just can’t watch them. Especially when there’s an especially large age difference or gender difference. All I can think about is ‘omg what happens when they have to pee??’
The whole scene in Deliverance with the mountain men, but in particular when Ned Beatty is being “porked.” Even though I had heard about this before seeing the movie, I literally had to change the channel during this scene. :eek::eek::eek:
For me, it’s worse when the character knows how embarrassing it all is and can’t make themselves stop. Not the worst scene like this, but I recently tried to watch “Dan in Real Life” and couldn’t make it past the family talent show.
