Tv Shows or films that make you visibly uncomfortable

[Soviet Heavy]

I love Band of Brothers. To me, it along with Rome are HBO's best series, and I count it among one of the best television programs of all time. I was impressed with how much character and depth was provided to the characters, some of whom might only have a few minutes screentime in the entire series. So when I heard that the same production team was going to be making a follow up series called The Pacific, I was pumped for another World War 2 drama with the same level of care applied.

Well, I certainly got all that. Unfortunately, I also got a show that made me really uncomfortable to watch.

Band of Brothers was no stranger to graphic violence. An entire episode focused on Doc Roe and his mentally taxing job patching up wounded soldiers. But I don't think any of that could have prepared me for the pure carnage and horrifying scenes in The Pacific. I've seen Saving Private Ryan, and I understand how heavy the losses can be when taking a beachhead. But the scenes in this series are just a fucking meatgrinder. It makes me all the more uncomfortable knowing that this is what actually happened, too. It's not played up for exciting action, it's just slaughter.

I actually got turned off the series for quite a while because I didn't want to watch hundreds of men die every week. It really bothered me for a long time.

So as the title says, because it seems no thread can be made just posting a statement or opinion without asking other people to do the same.

 

[Casual Shinji]

You know that one episode of Community, 'The Art of Discourse'?

I can barely sit through it. And that's because it perfectly demonstrates why it's impossible to deal with bullies in any logical fashion, if at all.

Violence I generally got no problem with, it's well made bully scenarios that make me extremely uncomfortable. See also Carrie and Welcome to the Dollhouse.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I have trouble sitting through comedies where the premise of the jokes is "look at this awkward situation and laugh at it."

There are certain shows, like Inbetweeners, which I found hilarious, but which I couldn't watch for more than 10 minutes at a time because the awkwardness of it just made me feel too awkward.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I wasn't fussed on The Pacific, but that was because I thought it was much less well down than Band of Brothers.

OTOH...that ep in Band of Brothers where they liberate the concentration camp[footnote]Little known fact, at least some of the people put in concentration camps for being gay weren't released, they were sent to civilian prisons instead after the war[/footnote]? Yeah, I skip that one.

Actually, it was rather disturbing in The Pacific, not when the American soldiers die, but when the Japanese do. In that you're "supposed" to want to see the Japanese die, except they don't just fall over cleanly like in most movies.

 

[Queen Michael]

I just can't stand any series where there's bullying. I actually didn't finish a manga book I'd bought because the bullying was just too much. (It was A Devil's Love Song book 1, in case you were wondering.)
Skull and Bean from Power Rangers are the most I can handle.

 

[Drummodino]

I... can't say I've ever felt so uncomfortable watching anything that I had to turn it off. Some games or movies have made me so incredibly sad that I felt depressed, and others have made me rage with righteous fury. These were the intended responses however and every time I had to appreciate the masterful storytelling at work.

I'd say the closest I've felt was Spec Ops: The Line. Everything about that game reinforced just how brutal and horrible you were - for example, you finished off a lot of downed enemies with visually brutal execution moves. These weren't a simple twist of the neck, sometimes you'd stomp on their throat or bash their head in.

 

[Daniel Janhagen]

I have trouble sitting through comedies where the premise of the jokes is "look at this awkward situation and laugh at it."

There are certain shows, like Inbetweeners, which I found hilarious, but which I couldn't watch for more than 10 minutes at a time because the awkwardness of it just made me feel too awkward.

I reccomend what in Sweden is known as a "shame pillow" (skämskudde). Make sure you have a pillow next to you in the sofa or wherever you're sitting, and when it becomes too much, you cover your face with it. You can still hear what's going on, but the awkwardness is significantly reduced (for you). If you find yourself just "needing to" peek out, then your curiosity overpowers your feelings of awkwardness. Or something. Whatever, it works!

The above post should be taken with less than 100% seriousness.

 

[captainballsack]

The last two episodes of Evangelion left me in tears.

To an 18 year old philosophy student with social anxiety and depression? Not to mention, I was still recovering from a nasty time involving anti-depressants and what I thought was LSD (a bad trip that I still haven't entirely gotten over).

It was unexpected and holy shit it was not okay.

Genius though.

 

[Victim of Progress]

The new Sponge Bob. I remember tuning it for a bit while I was waiting for something, just to discover this scene



I actually cringed and cried a little...How could this show do something so cruel and graphically violent? What the hell is wrong with the writers who thought this was good chlidren's television. I remember a few similar scenes from the newer episodes as well

 

[The]

The new Sponge Bob. I remember tuning it for a bit while I was waiting for something, just to discover this scene



I actually cringed and cried a little...How could this show do something so cruel and graphically violent? What the hell is wrong with the writers who thought this was good chlidren's television. I remember a few similar scenes from the newer episodes as well

A few years ago, I watched the Two Faces of Squidward episode, and was traumatized for about a year. I'm okay with it now, but I don't think I ever want to watch any new Spongebob episodes ever again.

 

[William Dickbringer]

I can't deal with heavy amount of awkward in a series I remember trying to read It's not my fault I'm not pretty which is just 99% awkward and I just had problems with it good series just Too much awkwardness to handle

also turned off from gravity from cause it gave me motion sickness from just the trailer alone just too much spinning and speed

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Any series or movie that takes comedy from awkward situations. I know some people can find that funny, but I just can't watch it. I feel so embarassed for the people in the scene.

Also, the Sex and the City movies. Not only do they make me visibly uncomfortable, they actually make me feel physical pain just watching them. The idea that a) the movies were made at all b) the philosophy and lifestyle those movies promote c) there are people like the women in those movies and d) millions of women find them entertaining and relatable is just too much for my guts to bear.

 

[ninjaRiv]

Violence has never really made me uncomfortable. I watched the scene from The Pacific you posted and was waiting for it to actually get interesting. That's not to say it's a bad show or anything. I just don't like WWII dramas and when I'm promised uncomfortable viewing my gore expectations get set pretty fucking high. certain gore scenes obviously make me cringe a bit, especially if it involves the nuts, but never to the point where I've had to turn it off or anything.

But I do have pretty bad OCD, which means there's a lot of stuff I can't watch that doesn't even make sense. Breaking Bad's one.

 

[ExtraDebit]

You guys probably never watched "The human centipede".

 

[Legion]

I have trouble sitting through comedies where the premise of the jokes is "look at this awkward situation and laugh at it."

There are certain shows, like Inbetweeners, which I found hilarious, but which I couldn't watch for more than 10 minutes at a time because the awkwardness of it just made me feel too awkward.

This kind of thing is why my example is so painful to watch.

Spoiler: The anime Watamote

The premise is a girl called Tomoko who has entered high school with the intention of becoming popular. The problem with that is that she has no social skills whatsoever and has learnt most of them from dating sims. It basically follows her putting herself into increasingly embarrassing situations.

It is just painful to watch.

The most recent episode I saw had her pretend to her younger cousin that a guy she was talking to is her boyfriend (the reality is they had only met briefly beforehand). The next day they both see the guy with another girl (presumably his actual girlfriend). The cousin decides to confront this guy and say it's wrong for him to be two timing Tomoko like that.

At that point I just had to stop watching, it was getting too awkward. A lot of people seem to feel that way apparently because they can relate to the character, but for me it is just not the kind of humour I can tolerate for too long. For similar reasons I have avoided The Inbetweeners, as I know it is that kind of humour.

I just can't stand any series where there's bullying. I actually didn't finish a manga book I'd bought because the bullying was just too much. (It was A Devil's Love Song book 1, in case you were wondering.)
Skull and Bean from Power Rangers are the most I can handle.

I do hate bullying and torture in fiction. Not in the sense that they shouldn't include it, but it makes me see red towards the people doing it. I wouldn't say I find it uncomfortable so much as it makes me feel angry. If an artist wishes me to hate a character, making them that kind of person is probably the most ideal way to do it.

 

[Vault Citizen]

Slum dog millionaire

Spoiler

the scene with the spoon

It made me physically in a way that I have since been told sounds very similar to a minor panic attack.

 

[Trunkage]

8MM and Requiem for a Dream