Mkay, time for an "has anybody ever?"

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Happens to me enough that I generally avoid movies and TV altogether, except for non-fiction. Though that also has to do with an extreme preference for literature.

Speaking only for myself, I'd say my empathy is strongly dependent on both my ability to imagine myself in a particular situation and a circumstance that allows me to do so. In the case of TV or movies it's actually quite easy, as they provide both a visualization of the experience and a "suspension of disbelief" that allows me to be a vicarious participant. If I'm watching a horror or action film involving violence I feel pain; if I watch a "chick flick" I get emotional, if I'm watching someone embarass themselves I feel embarassed. On the other hand, I get absolutely no empathetic feelings when a situation is described in a way that I can't visualize or if an event happens in such a way that I can't relate to it personally. I've watched shuttles be destroyed (twice), the WTC towers fall and a tsunami roll ashore in Indonesia, all without anything more than a detached interest in the sequence of events. Onthe other hand, I visited the memorial in Oklahoma City several years ago and saw the glass chairs lined up in front of the reflecting pool, and even now I still can't recall that scene without crying quietly. Visiting the memorial made it "real" in a way that television never could.

Nomaken wrote:

That was the first movie I ever went to with “friends” for a birthday party. Had a melt down after I was so upset not fun *shudder*

Yep.

I feel that way about some scenes in the t.v. show, "The Office" (the original British version). I think the show is hilarious, but I have to fast-forward through some of the awkward scenes with the boss.