I’m American, and I feel that sense of embarrassment-by-proxy strongly enough to actively avoid a lot of the situational comedy that the US film and television industries produce. But that seems fairly unusual in this culture, if my social group and my perceptions of the American mainstream are anything to go by.
One explanation—that actually seems a bit too obvious to me—is the uniquely strong individualism of American culture. In a more collective or family/group-based culture, feeling ashamed over somebody else embarrassing themselves is an entirely reasonable reaction. If someone belonged to your group, it would be your responsibility to look after them and make sure they don’t embarrass themselves or otherwise fare badly. By embarrassing themselves, they would also be shaming you.
Of course, the characters in television shows don’t belong to our family, but adaptation-executers not fitness maximizers.
I’m American, and I feel that sense of embarrassment-by-proxy strongly enough to actively avoid a lot of the situational comedy that the US film and television industries produce. But that seems fairly unusual in this culture, if my social group and my perceptions of the American mainstream are anything to go by.
One explanation—that actually seems a bit too obvious to me—is the uniquely strong individualism of American culture. In a more collective or family/group-based culture, feeling ashamed over somebody else embarrassing themselves is an entirely reasonable reaction. If someone belonged to your group, it would be your responsibility to look after them and make sure they don’t embarrass themselves or otherwise fare badly. By embarrassing themselves, they would also be shaming you.
Of course, the characters in television shows don’t belong to our family, but adaptation-executers not fitness maximizers.
I strangely find peep show watchable but curb your enthusiasm not watchable. Maybe the accents help me delineate.