Screenwriting : Have you found a scene too painful to watch? by Jim Boston

Jim Boston

Have you found a scene too painful to watch?

John Day's recent post ("Which one gets you every time?") got me to thinking about a scene that, while it didn't bring me to tears, DID get me to the point where I had to close my eyes.

Here's the scene:

In 1957's "Jailhouse Rock," Mickey Shaughnessy punched Elvis Presley in the throat toward the end of the movie.

I didn't get to see the movie when it came out (it was released three days before I turned two years old)...but I first saw it on TV in my teens. And I cringed the first time I saw that scene.

Every subsequent time I've watched "Jailhouse Rock," I'd close my eyes every time That Scene came around. (No telling how many religious leaders and other social arbiters back then might have wanted somebody in Real Life to cold-cock The Man from Tupelo, Memphis' most famous citizen, in the ol' Adam's apple.)

How about you? Have you ever come across a scene in a movie or on a TV show where it was so painful that you had to look away from the big screen in a theater or look away from your TV screen?

Krista Crawford

In the original Pet Semetary I can't stand to watch the scene where Jud gets his Achilles Tendon cut. I literally cringe just writing about it. I just can't handle it.

Stephen Floyd

Misery.

Imo Wimana Chadband

I can remember this one Karate, old school. I can't recall the name. My dad loved to watch those movies so I used to watch them on VHS. I remember being a kid and there was a scene where one of the martial artists found themselves in a stampede of bulls, and they trampled over his kneecaps. Man he was in pain. He came out the stampede crawling with his arms. To this day I think of that scene and cringe.

Louis Tété

Jeff Goldblum in "The Fly" when in the end he vomits acid on the poor guy's leg, his hand too actually.

Teresa Barber

EYE CLOSERS - ANY scene involving an over-sized syringe, long needle, and dramatic insertion!

Anthony Lucas

Bone Tomahawk, those that have seen it will know!!!!!!!

Tony S.

THE EXORCIST. Regan's head spin and "Do you know what your <nasty expletive> daughter did?"

Steven Michael

Can't remember the title (maybe Sybill?) with Sally Fields. Her mother doing awful things to her when she was a child. Still raises the hair on the back of my neck.

Bill Costantini

There are a lot of scenes I could close my eyes on - especially from films based on real life - but I don't.

But the most memorable to me is the Adrenaline Scene from Pulp Fiction. I saw that great film about a dozen times on the big screen when it first came out, and at least two people got up from their seats and fainted in the aisles each time. "One.....two.....THREE!" Some people just don't like needles. Heh-heh.

Another memorable one occurred when the great Sir Laurence Olivier was explaining the difference between healthy teeth and unhealthy teeth....and then seeing and hearing that drill coming. Ouch. Fortunately they didn't show anything, but we sure heard a lot. I think a lot of people would have fainted there, too if the visuals would have been more graphic. "Oh....please don't worry...I'm not going into that cavity...." Ouch again. .

Best fortunes in your creative endeavors, Jim!

“Film is the most important art and it has the power to change the universe.”— Milos Stehlik

REST IN PEACE, MILOS STEHLIK (February 6, 1949 - July 6, 2019)

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