I cannot stand watching embarrassing scenes in movies. Hate them. Will cover my eyes. Will walk out of the theatre. And yet, last night, I found myself watching not one, but two, cringe inducing scenes. I was planning on a nice quiet night at home with the complete Freaks and Geeks. But, I can't stay away from the blogs, so, when Ta-Nehisi posted this clip of the "Bush Doctrine" question from the Charlie Gibson ABC interview with Sarah Palin, I watched:
And promptly walked away from my computer, moaning, covering my eyes. Whatever other objections I have to Palin (and there are many), it's just painful to see a candidate for the vice presidency flub a question so blatantly. Sure, you're cringing when she attempted to sidestep the initial question, "In what respect, Charlie?" But when Gibson interjects to define the doctrine for her ... I had to pause the video. Too much embarrassment. Returning to my recreational viewing, I landed in the middle of episode six, "I'm With the Band." One of the main characters, Nick, decides to audition to be the new drummer for a local, much older, band. The director's notes for this episode read, "I'm proud to say that a critic once told me that when the scene in which Nick auditions to join a band called Dimension came on the screen, he had to leave the room, knowing that something really bad was going to happen." Yeah. Well, you're going to want to start this clip at 2:00. And watch him flub it, Palin-style.
--Phoebe Connelly
