Re: the embarrassment phenomenon
 

All,

I'm pretty surprised so many people have this awkwardness/uncomfortable feeling. To me, this type of stuff is at the core of a lot of the stuff I find incredibly entertaining. I like to think I have a lot of empathy, but maybe not!

Re: the embarrassment phenomenon
 

haha, i was daydremaing earlier and realised that the litmus test for this was the miss teen usa, good post gator

Re: the embarrassment phenomenon
 

[ QUOTE ]
All,

I'm pretty surprised so many people have this awkwardness/uncomfortable feeling. To me, this type of stuff is at the core of a lot of the stuff I find incredibly entertaining. I like to think I have a lot of empathy, but maybe not!

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmmm... you may have a lot of empathy... would you consider yourself a very secure person? It may just be empathy mixed with one's own insecurities that promote this response. Some things don't bother me, but watching someone stumble at public speaking horrifies me... probably because I'm imagining myself in that position.

Re: the embarrassment phenomenon
 

Count me among the hordes who get this in a bad way. As for a few others, Borat was the most recent and intense example that I recall. I literally could not stay in the room.

It's good to know I am far from alone in this.

This phenomenon seems to be specifically intense empathy to people in embarrassing situations. I'm not especially empathetic to people being robbed, shot, maimed, dismembered, disemboweled or any number of other unpleasant things.

Re: the embarrassment phenomenon
 

[ QUOTE ]
This phenomenon seems to be specifically intense empathy to people in embarrassing situations.

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe it's easier to empathize with embarassment because it's a fairly common social feeling, and it can happen to any of us at pretty much anytime. Not like, say, disembowelment. At least not on the same probability scale!

Re: the embarrassment phenomenon
 

I had this with kenan and kell and I think a couple of times with malcom in the middle, but overall these shows are the onces I love watching the most. However I had a time where I was omg noway and I put it on a other channel coz I coudnt bare the embarressment.

Re: the embarrassment phenomenon
 

I got this pretty hardcore in the movie Dan in Real Life today (not really a good movie, not necessarily bad, but not good). My date looked at me weird when I was smiling and covered my face. I kind of explained it to her, she said she gets it too, but not that hardcore. I feel like the empathy with the main character was stronger with me, since I'm male obviously. If the main character would have been female, it could have been worse in her.

I pretty much get it anytime I see someone making a poor decision on film.

Re: the embarrassment phenomenon
 

my eyes have started watering when ive been very embarrassed watching something... is that normal?

Re: the embarrassment phenomenon
 

Ship Ship,

Yeah, that movie was just painfull... not bad, not good, just painfull.