I love watching the Inbetweeners because I can relate to their characters and the shit they get into. I definitely cringe at some of their shenanigans!
Actors are playing to the emotional truth of whatever it is they’re performing. If they’re good at it, we believe them, and it’s hard watching people do things we know is going to end badly
I usually feel it more when I’ve been watching the show for a while and really feel like I “know” the characters. It’s almost like cringing for a friend. Once you’re invested, it’s hard to watch them do something awkward, even if they’re fictional
I don’t know if it’s empathy, because some cringe scenes I would never find myself in those situations. So it’s more like a study of bizarre human behavior. Like a trainwreck.
I binge through friends about once a year. I still cringe during 2 episodes: prom video and Barry’s wedding. I think the acting so good you really feel the embarrassment
I didn’t believe this was real until I watched my four year old physically cringe and stress every time a character in a show did anything embarrassing.
I figured it was just Redditors being poetic or exaggerating or like sensitizing themselves to it. But apparently it can just be baked in to the child.
Fremdschäme is a German word that means “embarrassment on behalf of strangers” roughly translated. I suffer from this to a miserable degree so there’s entire genres off limits to me.
My Partner loves Nathan Fielder, i just can’t when it seems like real people get caught up in the sketch/prank/scenario. I get his particluar style of comedy and I wish i could tolerate the cringe but i just can’t get through it
There’s a decent part of your brain that doesn’t understand that it isn’t real. If your whole brain got it, you’d not have any reason for any emotional reaction to fictitious content.
Social acceptance is important to pur survival as an individual in a communal species. So learning form embarrassment became an evolutionary benefit. Second-hand embarrassment even more so, as it let’s you learn the lesson without risking you being ostracized and dead
They’re called mirror neurons & they fire in response ti what is seen happening to someone else (like when we feel stressed or embarrassed watching something on tv).
Comments
i think because we immersed ourselves in the show
Empathy.
it’s like when you’re watching and your whole body just freezes because you can’t handle the awkwardness… even though you know they can’t see you.
Why do we feel anything when watching tv shows/films when we know it’s not real?
I love watching the Inbetweeners because I can relate to their characters and the shit they get into. I definitely cringe at some of their shenanigans!
Emotional investment and empathy
Effective storytelling!
I’m extremely sensitive. I cannot watch the US version of the Office.
It’s just TOO painful. It hurts. Seriously. I just cannot with that show
(sorry, fans, but it causes me physical pain)
Because even though it’s staged, those poor humans did, in fact, have to say those embarrassing words out loud and for that…I feel sorry for them.
For me at least, it’s imagining how I’d react if the situation happening onscreen was happening to me
I dunno but I saw Jurassic Park when I was 10 in the cinema and I’m still afraid of dinosaurs 30 years later.
Actors are playing to the emotional truth of whatever it is they’re performing. If they’re good at it, we believe them, and it’s hard watching people do things we know is going to end badly
I usually feel it more when I’ve been watching the show for a while and really feel like I “know” the characters. It’s almost like cringing for a friend. Once you’re invested, it’s hard to watch them do something awkward, even if they’re fictional
Most people forget tv and movies are an art form. Art extracts emotions, simple as.
A good story invokes all kind of emotions, from laughter to embarrassment.
I don’t know if it’s empathy, because some cringe scenes I would never find myself in those situations. So it’s more like a study of bizarre human behavior. Like a trainwreck.
I binge through friends about once a year. I still cringe during 2 episodes: prom video and Barry’s wedding. I think the acting so good you really feel the embarrassment
Watamote
I didn’t believe this was real until I watched my four year old physically cringe and stress every time a character in a show did anything embarrassing.
I figured it was just Redditors being poetic or exaggerating or like sensitizing themselves to it. But apparently it can just be baked in to the child.
Fremdschäme is a German word that means “embarrassment on behalf of strangers” roughly translated. I suffer from this to a miserable degree so there’s entire genres off limits to me.
My Partner loves Nathan Fielder, i just can’t when it seems like real people get caught up in the sketch/prank/scenario. I get his particluar style of comedy and I wish i could tolerate the cringe but i just can’t get through it
There’s a decent part of your brain that doesn’t understand that it isn’t real. If your whole brain got it, you’d not have any reason for any emotional reaction to fictitious content.
Social acceptance is important to pur survival as an individual in a communal species. So learning form embarrassment became an evolutionary benefit. Second-hand embarrassment even more so, as it let’s you learn the lesson without risking you being ostracized and dead
They’re called mirror neurons & they fire in response ti what is seen happening to someone else (like when we feel stressed or embarrassed watching something on tv).
Give ‘em a google, it’s a very interesting topic!