As if all the embarrassing moments in my own life aren't enough, I'm often tortured by the memories of cringeworthy movie scenes that I can't seem to shake from my brain.
I recently came across a Reddit thread that showed me I'm not alone in this painful rumination. Reddit user u/Konorona asked people to share movie scenes that are "so cringeworthy and embarrassing," they find them hard to watch. Here are some of the top-rated responses:
1. "The A Star Is Born Grammy scene where Jackson Maine drunkenly pees himself onstage. I know it’s supposed to be cringey, but jeez, I could barely watch."
2. "In The Perks of Being a Wallflower when Charlie kissed Sam in front of his girlfriend after he was dared to kiss the girl he found the prettiest. I cringe just thinking about it. Like, how badly can you fuck up."
3. "It's not exactly high-quality cinema anyway, but in Bring It On: All or Nothing there is a scene where Hayden Panettiere learns 'krumping.' It's unbearably uncool and cringe-inducing."
4. "The scene at the start of Zoolander when he goes to accept Hansel's award after he loses."
5. "In Love, Simon when Martin asks Abby to the dance in front of the entire school and she says no — I wanted to crawl in a hole from secondhand embarrassment."
6. "In The Edge of Seventeen, Nadine texts her crush (who she's spoken only a few words to the whole film) a very graphic message about how long she’s been into him and how she can’t wait to have sex with him...and then accidentally hits send. It’s a mortifying scene."
7. "I feel like I’m the only person who can’t bear the reuniting scene in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. There's nothing wrong with the premise, but the scene itself carries with it enough emotional resonance without it being forced down our throats. Excessive bloom lighting, pointless slow motion with prolonged stares and exclamations — none of this melodrama was needed and really felt jarring."
8. "'I’m from Michigan.' Every time I watch Mean Girls, I can’t help but cringe during that part. So. Damn. Awkward."
9. "In Chasing Amy when Ben Affleck’s character suggested to do a threesome with Alyssa and Banky. Huge WTF scene. Kinda ruined an otherwise brilliant movie."
10. "The first thing that popped into my mind was the stand-up comedy scene in Joker (2019). I remember watching it in the cinema, and holy crap, it was so hard to watch."
11. "Emo Tobey Maguire walking down the street in Spider-Man 3."
12. "Harry and Ginny's super-awkward kiss in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."
13. "I love Rizzo in Grease, but I cringe every time when she throws her milkshake at Kenickie and yells, 'To you from me, Pinky Lee!' It’s such a weird cornball line."
14. "The scene in Swingers where Mike keeps calling that girl he likes and ends up leaving like five messages."
15. And finally, "The basketball scene in Catwoman."
Is there a cringeworthy movie moment that still haunts you to this day? Tell us in the comments for a chance to be featured in a BuzzFeed Community post or video!
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.