PSA On Clumsiness - It's Not Cute. It's Annoying. Why Do People Think It's Cute?

[The Rogue Wolf]

I forgot who said it. "It is a tragedy if you tripped and fall. It is a comedy when you see someone else do it."

I wonder if you're mis-referencing the classic Mel Brooks quote: "Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die."

Generally we find other people doing stupid/embarassing things to be funny because we're glad it isn't us.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Explanations and counter-arguments are welcome. For discussion value, of course.

I am clumsy, I am also 6ft 5 and 200lbs, people don't think it's funny when it's me hurtling towards them clumsily.

I think it's a sort of schadenfreude thing, people need to feel superior about themselves, other people's clumsiness is a guilt free way of doing it. Except when it's me and my falling on you is likely to end in a dislocated limb...

 

[Twintix]

O.t., out of curiosity, Twintix, would you rather people find you cute or annoying for your clumsiness, because it seems like you think it's one or the other.

Well, I can't think of a single reason why anybody would find somebody like me cute, so there might be something in that.

And considering how annoying I find it, I tend to think that others will find it just as annoying, if not more. But if this is a personal response thing, I tend to react to my clumsiness with annoyed grunts and sighs. So I hardly think people would find my type cute.

Dropping a porcelain plate or a glass and shattering it, shards all over the floor? Urgh, now everybody has to avoid that spot until we're absolutely sure that the shards are gone. What a pain!

 

[Kae]

Yeah like Eclipse Dragon said it has to do with the fact that it makes you look non-threatening, I personally don't mind people thinking it's cute, I'm rather tall, I have a scar on my face and I look angry most of the time so I'm a bit threatening for most people to approach but I'm also somewhat clumsy and people act a lot nicer and less scared towards me after I trip or hit my head with something and react by saying something like "I'm fine that didn't hurt at all" while looking fairly embarrassed makes me much more approachable than I would be if I wasn't clumsy, plus if I wasn't scarred and almost permanently angry looking I would be considered a fairly cute guy which probably helps, along with the story that I got the scar by falling out of my bed because I rolled like a taco on my sheets and fell face first.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

Yeah like Eclipse Dragon said it has to do with the fact that it makes you look non-threatening, I personally don't mind people thinking it's cute, I'm rather tall, I have a scar on my face and I look angry most of the time so I'm a bit threatening for most people to approach but I'm also somewhat clumsy and people act a lot nicer and less scared towards me after I trip or hit my head with something and react by saying something like "I'm fine that didn't hurt at all" while looking fairly embarrassed makes me much more approachable than I would be if I wasn't clumsy, plus if I wasn't scarred and almost permanently angry looking I would be considered a fairly cute guy which probably helps, along with the story that I got the scar by falling out of my bed because I rolled like a taco on my sheets and fell face first.

I imagine it might help the initial impression you might give of being angry. Which I assume you give since you say you look angry

 

[Nazulu]

The trampoline thing is definitely funny.

Anyway, no, I just find it sad to be honest. Like it's a disability (I really don't know) that we all have to keep in mind and hope nothing ever bad happens because of it.

I have a friend like that and it always makes me concerned. I do my best never to bring it up, but there are times where I need him to really focus so nothing goes wrong.

 

[JohnZ117]

O.t., out of curiosity, Twintix, would you rather people find you cute or annoying for your clumsiness, because it seems like you think it's one or the other.

Well, I can't think of a single reason why anybody would find somebody like me cute, so there might be something in that.

Your avatar next to the line "We will, we will quote you!" could be considered cute and hilarious.

 

[balladbird]

I know anime/manga loves the trope, but outside of those circles, I haven't seen much in the way of regarding clumsiness as cute. In anime, it's part of how making women somewhat infantile makes them more appealing to the hardcore otaku audience. It's the same reason you occasionally see an adult woman in anime who stands pigeon-toed.

I know clumsiness is slightly more popular in manga than the other mainstay "lol, she's so bad at cooking!" cliche, mainly because a clumsy female lead can always crash into the male lead! allowing his face and or hands to end up in pervy places through no fault of his own! Then she can retaliate by going all sudden tsundere and punching him in the face... because leave it to anime to somehow manage to make BOTH genders come away feeling like crap.

But yeah, I agree, The appeal of it is lost on me. Inner-ear infections should be treated, not fetishized.

 

[CrystalShadow]

People find the srrangest things cute in my experience.

But yeah, clumsiness can be cute in certain contexts, but really terrifying in others.
I am a tiny bit clumsy at times.
Trip over nothing. Drop things for no reason.
But it's not that frequent, and I don't think it would come across as cute.

Me forgetting things (which is more frequent) definitely isn't amusinb

On the other hand, you'll notice extreme shyness is also often presented as cute.
(sometimes the shy character is also the clumsy one)

In reality though, anyone as shy as these characters are presented, probably has social anxiety.
And while I have found people do indeed find that somewhat cute at times, (and indeed at times it also evokes the kind of protective instincts associated with cuteness -after all, as an instinct, finding something cute is supposed to make you more inclined to look after it. That's the purpose of it in the end), as the person experiencing it, it is actually scary, and exhausting.
After all, that nervous confused reaction that some find cute is a direct result of basically operating on fear and adrenaline.
Which is, scary by definition, and stressful.

So... Some people think it's cute. Well, great. But it's little fun for the person going through it.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

I'm above average in height, I'm a black guy, and I work out a lot.

My normal face is also a scowl.

I'm not being hyperbolic when I say people recoil when they see me most of the time, and look around to make sure that there will be others to help them if I prove to me one of those 'violent minorities'.

My personality is of a goofball who likes cute things and believes in fairness.

I can not tell you the scores of people who love me because of this. To them, it's like "Look at this rare creature! Something so threatening in appearance but so gentle in nature. It's lovable"

It's been said, but when you put people at ease, they like you more. If you make them feel better about themselves, they'll think you're fantastic. If you do something that's humorous... they'll love you forever.

That trifecta sums up most people's ideals about clumsiness.

 

[KissingSunlight]

I forgot who said it. "It is a tragedy if you tripped and fall. It is a comedy when you see someone else do it."

I wonder if you're mis-referencing the classic Mel Brooks quote: "Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die."

Generally we find other people doing stupid/embarassing things to be funny because we're glad it isn't us.

I am pretty sure that is the quote I was trying to think of. I was tired when I made that post. You can tell, because of the grammatical error in the post.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

I was really clumsy as a kid. Really belated spatiotemporal awareness, utterly unco, took me ages to learn how to walk. I don't think anybody I have run into ever found it 'cute'... they found it funny/frightening (family). I beat back my clumsiness with sheer willpower... and tennis. Playing tennis every second day ages 5 through 12. If your body is unco, break it in with blood, pain and sweat until it obeys.

Not to sound callous but rigourous physical training will help improve movement... you should try it if you're really worried. I suggest sports that require disciplined focus, mental agility, requiring a lot of movement. Doctor suggested tennis given that it helps narrow one's cognitive focus into a finely tuned laser of perfect technique, strength and quick reflexes. That and it's an enjoyable game that doesn't have a high entry cost barrier, and requires few players. Also doesn't end with you losing a tooth.

 

[FPLOON]

If clumsiness is cute, then I must be the cutest black guy on the block who's more undatable than Danny Burton...

Anyway, I think anything that can seem cute will be cute somehow... It's all about the movements, the positions, and the sounds that come together to create "the cute" right before someone's eyes...

Or one can just come off as cute in general, thus translating one's own clumsiness as coming off as cute...

Spoiler: I don't know...

http://www.gifwave.com/media/76057_shrugging-black-and-white-cute-full-house-shrug.gif

 

[Kae]

I imagine it might help the initial impression you might give of being angry. Which I assume you give since you say you look angry

Yeah it helps a lot, and yeah I'm generally quite terrible at first impressions, some co-workers saw me threatening some junkie that used to be my friend outside of work once and due to my serious demeanour they were pretty genuinely afraid of me, I mean they didn't question anything, they just agreed with anything I asked and nervously walked away, it was pretty terrible and since I'm very direct and cynical I wasn't doing much to lessen the punch, fortunately people stopped being so scared after I continued to accidentally hurt myself in an almost daily basis and they started inquiring about my interests, which since they are fairly nerdy removed a lot of the threat factor and now they like hanging out with me for who knows what strange reason, since I actually get pretty aggressive when I go out with them and mostly just cause trouble.