Anastasia Norenko – Awkwardness in Play It Again, Sam

While I was reading the chapter by Adam Kotsko, I found his notion of awkwardness having a “fundamentally social character” to be quite interesting in relation to the presentation of awkwardness in television and cinema. [1] We constantly feel awkward in real life, but, as Kotsko argues, “awkwardness can spread even by means of television.” [2] This is the case, according to the scholar, because “You can’t observe an awkward situation without being drawn in: you are made to feel awkward as well, even if it is probably to a lesser degree than the people directly involved.” [3]

Since awkwardness is a social phenomenon which involves both participants and observers, it quickly became a common tool in comedy films. However, we do not always laugh at awkwardness of others. On the contrary, we often feel bad for the character in films that get into this kind of situations. Nevertheless, since awkwardness is such a strong and universal feeling, by mixing it with traditional comedy the filmmakers can make a lasting impression on the viewers, as well as use it to establish their characters. I believe that this is the case in Woody Allen’s film Play It Again, Sam (Woody Allen, US, 1972) where the main character is immediately presented as a clumsy and socially awkward individual, especially when he meets women (which is a common trope in Allen’s films, however in this one, he, perhaps, took it to the extremes). When we watch the scene of the hero preparing to meet a woman for a date for the first time in years, since he has just divorced his wife, we feel awkwardness not only because of the Allen’s exaggerated, neurotic acting, but also by looking at the reaction shot of other people in the room. We can feel their awkwardness through the screen which adds to our own perception of this episode.

1. Adam Kotsko, “A Brief Introduction to the Study of Awkwardness,” in Awkwardness: an essay (Winchester: O Books, 2010), p. 8.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.