Uncomfortable Elevator Moment: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

== Anime & Manga ==

* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' had several of these, the most famous of which [[Leave the Camera Running|was stretched out just about as far as it could be]] (about a ''minute''). Then to show it wasn't just [[Stock Footage]] they re-animated a shortened-but-equally-awkward version scene in [[The Movie]] (or rather the second movie... it's complicated). Wanna bet it's in the Third of the [[Rebuild of Evangelion|new movies]]?

* ''[[Futari Ecchi]]'' features an Uncomfortable Elevator Moment that is crossing the limit with [[Elevator Going Down]]. It happens when Makoto is sharing a ride with the Kubotas, a young couple of [[Insatiable Newlyweds]] whom recently moved in the building. As they start getting fresh right in the elevator, not minding their neighbor at all, Makoto is nearly dying of embarrasment.

 

* ''[[Spider-Man]] 2'', where Peter Parker is forced to use an elevator whilst in full costume when another individual is present. Small talk follows, culminating in some observations about the way the suit tends to ride up, since it's assumed he's just [[Your Costume Needs Work|a guy in a Spider-Man costume]].

** An alternate take occurs in the extended cut, where the individual does think that he is the real thing, and starts suggesting ways he could improve his public image.

** Averted awesomely in ''Die Hard: With a Vengeance''. McLane gets into an elevator with three security officers, and just as the uncomfortable silence begins, he figures out that the officers are actually bad guys in disguise. John makes some petty small talk, [[Elevator Action Sequence|and then....]]

* ''[[The Blues Brothers]]'', where Jake and Elwood stand silently in the lift whilst outside SWAT team and National Guard members are swarming the building.

* From ''[[Dogma]]'', as Bartleby and Loki enter an elevator:

** "Otis" is the brand of a rather prominent present-day elevator manufacturer. Look around the lift next time you're having an Uncomfortable Elevator Moment. Even more than that, [[wikipedia:Elisha Otis|Elisha Otis]] made lifts carrying people possible.

* In the movie version of ''[[Being There]]'', a [[Running Gag]] takes place in the elevator at the Rand mansion. Chance, wheelchair-bound at the time due to a minor leg injury, has never been in an elevator, and his attendant is at first confused by his comments/questions about it ("Does it have a television?"). Following the [[Rule of Three]], the third time around the attendant just breaks out laughing during the ride, explaining that he expected Chance to make another joke about the elevator. Beyond the gag, later in the film, Chance and Eve are going to their respective rooms after a party and Eve tries to explain how she feels about him, while both face the door; as he responds, they turn to each other.

* ''X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' has this at the very beginning. [[Deadpan Snarker]] [[Deadpool|Wade Wilson]] makes a comment about it, of course.

* The Australian crime drama ''Phoenix'' has so many of these. People wrote in asking if the Major Crime Squad was doing an add for Otis elevators.

* In ''[[Dead or Alive]]'' [[The Movie]], [[In Name Only|Christie]] gets into an elevator wearing nothing except a bra, panties, and high heels, unsettling the poor old guy already in the elevator. Then the moment is interrupted when she ties him up, ''stuffs him into his own briefcase'', and steals his trenchcoat.

* ''[[The Departed]]'' has a [[Mood Whiplash|hilariously]] awkward elevator ride with Costigan and Sullivan as the former is bringing the latter in at the end of the movie. Of course, {{spoiler|massive [[Mood Whiplash]] ensues}}.

* The elevator scene in ''[[New Moon]]''.

* In ''[[Killers]]'', Jen is flustered because Spencer is shirtless.

{{quote| "[[Crowning Moment of Funny|You gentlemen aren't]] ''[[Crowning Moment of Funny|really]]'' [[Crowning Moment of Funny|trying to kill my son, are you]]?"}}

* ''[[Mercury Rising]]'' takes the trope [[Up to Eleven]] with an [[Uncomfortable Elevator Moment|Uncomfortable Elevator]] [[Mexican Standoff]].

* Played for serious [[Nightmare Fuel]] in ''[[Blade]]''. Karen Jensen gets into a lift with two sinister-looking types. When she averts the protocol, turning to look directly at one of the two, his response is a chilling but polite "How ya doin'."

{{quote| '''C.J.''': Hey, i like this song.}}

* A threefer in ''[[True Lies]]''. Tasker (on a horse) chases a terrorist (on a dirtbike) into the lobby of a hotel. The terrorist rides right into a glass-walled elevator and takes a hostage. Tasker rides into the next elevator, with a well-to-do couple who wind up pressed against the glass with the horse's butt in their face. And the whole ride up, Tasker and the bad guy are glaring daggers at each other.

* In the book version of ''[[American Psycho]]'', [[Complete Monster|Patrick Bateman]] makes small talk with [[Tom Cruise]] in an elevator. It even ''reads'' awkwardly in the novel.

* There's a whole chapter in [[The Pale King]] devoted to three IRS employees that are stuck in an elevator. Their resulting debates include the future of American society, presidential politics, democracy, tax law, psychology, film, and existential dread.

 

 

== Live-Action TV ==

** Sylar is riding in a lift with another individual. Sylar is utterly casual and generally following the elevator protocol; his fellow passenger also does so, but is doing so out of fear more than anything else -- Sylar's clothes are drenched in blood. Sylar asks the other man if there's something wrong, and when he stammers out "No, of course not," his newly obtained [[Living Lie Detector]] ability goes off. "Heh, it really ''does'' tingle..."

** There's also the scene near the end of the first season where Matt, Bennet, Jessica, and D.L. are riding the elevator together. After some awkward silence, [[Psycho for Hire|Jessica]] says, casually, "Hey, didn't I throw you out a window one time?"

* A gag in ''[[Trigger Happy TV]]'' is to fill an elevator with people in animal suits, taking up all of the room except for the unsuspecting person either already in the elevator, or trying to enter.

* ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'': Ted meets one of his dates this way. They have several awkward elevator rides due to working in the same building unti he finally breaks the ice - by spilling his guts about how horrible he still feels after having been left at the altar several months ago.

* Referenced in an episode of ''[[Roseanne]]'', in which Roseanne is [[Sweet Polly Oliver|disguised as a man]] to get into Dan's lodge. She starts chatting with the guy next to her in the urinals, and when he doesn't respond says, "Oh ''I'' get it! It's like when you're in an elevator!"

* Lampshaded in ''[[Kyle XY]]'' by the protagonist, when he enters an elevator for the first time and notes that all the people face forward in silence and evade his gaze when he looks at them. It promptly becomes even ''more'' awkward when Stephen tells a colleague to lie to a client over the phone, causing Kyle to question him over it and prompting looks from the other elevator patrons.

** Slight variation in one episode: Londo and G'Kar, ambassadors of two warring alien powers, find themselves waiting for the same lift and begin trading insults in the meantime, to the great discomfort of the small, human extra caught in between them.

** In "Convictions", Londo and G'Kar decide not to share an elevator... untill a nearby explosion forces Londo to jump in. The elevator becomes disabled. G'Kar is firmly opposed to acting in any way that would get them rescued, as he wants to watch Londo die. Awkward.

{{quote| '''Lennier:'''Woo hoo?}}

*** The moments with Talia and Garibaldi get more ridiculous when halfway through the season Talia realizes that ''every single time'' she takes the elevator, Garibaldi is already in it. Sinclair thinks that this is just coincidence, until the elevator arrives and Garibaldi is inside. Talia takes the stairs.

** After an [[Aliens Made Them Do It]] episode (which [[Above the Influence|fortunately was not consummated]]), the officers concerned ([[Half-Human Hybrid]] B'Elanna Torres and [[Handsome Lech]] Tom Paris) run into each other in the turbolift. Awkward small talk ensues, until an annoyed Tom stops the lift to give a heartfelt speech on how they have to face up to what happened... plus he wasn't that scared by seeing her [[Destructo-Nookie|aggressive Klingon side]], and wouldn't mind seeing more of it some day. They go the rest of the way in silence, but as B'Elanna exits at her floor, she says, "Be careful what you wish for, Lieutenant."

** In "Waking Moments", all of the crew have had strange nightmares which end with a strange alien watching them. After waking up they all share their dreams, but Tuvok is notably reluctant to share as his dream, shown at the beginning of the episode, was that he went to the bridge, only to realize when the entire crew begin to laugh hysterically that he had neglected to put on any form of clothing. Janeway takes a turbolift with Tuvok and takes the opportunity to enquire further. Clearly uncomfortable, Tuvok admits he dreamt he was in the turbolift and the alien seemed to be "scrutinising his appearance" before following him back to his quarters. His short, evasive answers seem to pique Janeway's interest further.

'''Tuvok:''' I would prefer that you didn't.<br />

''(there follows a very awkward silence and when they leave the turbolift, Janeway sneaks a glance at Tuvok with a barely smothered grin)'' }}

* ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'' episode "The Tower Is Tall But The Fall Is Short" has an [[Elevator Action Sequence]] between Cameron and an unnamed female Terminator that turns ''into'' an Uncomfortable Elevator Moment when a family steps onto the elevator in the middle of their duel. As soon as the family steps off, they resume beating the crap out of each other.

* An episode of ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]'' has Del and Rodney stuck in a lift for several hours.

''(uncomfortable waiting)''<br />

'''Wesley:''' Come on, come on, come on... }}

* In the pilot of ''[[The Mentalist]]'', Patrick Jane takes the liberty of creating one between Van Pelt and Rigsby by mercilessly lampshading their [[Unresolved Sexual Tension]] beforehand.

* ''[[Leverage]]'' manages to combine several elevator tropes into one incident, in which Nate, Nate's ex-wife Maggie, and her boyfriend are handcuffed to one wall of an elevator going down while a ticking bomb is just beyond their reach. While Maggie's boyfriend breaks down crying, Maggie and Nate have a [[Now or Never Kiss]] as he watches. Then, out of nowhere, Parker drops down from the ceiling, says hi, grabs the bomb, and climbs back up out of the elevator. Cue an Incredibly [[Uncomfortable Elevator Moment]].

** In one of them, Don is on the elevator with a couple of younger guys who start talking in fairly graphic detail about a sexual conquest. The elevator stops and an older woman, presumably a secretary, gets on... and the guys don't stop. Don, ever the [[Chivalrous Pervert]], gives them a few sideways glares and finally intervenes by telling the one guy to take his hat off, before reaching over and physically removing it for him, with the obvious overtone of "pay attention to your surroundings, you little prick."

** Bizarrely subverted by the scene in which Pete Campbell goes about expressing what he (in his upper-crust WASPy ignorance) thinks are more or less enlightened views on race to the elevator operator (who is of course black in this [[Politically-Correct History|Politically Incorrect History]]) while actually having rather condescending [[Unfortunate Implications]]. Neither he nor most white people--including a lot of white supporters of civil rights--would have recognized it at the time, but the viewers at home were certainly meant to be wincing at least as much as the operator.

* A truly uncomfortable elevator scene took place in a later episode of ''[[Moonlighting]]''. Maddie had just suffered a miscarriage and chose to bury her emotions and get back to work, until she and Dave end up stuck in an elevator together. After several minutes of elevator music, Dave rips out the elevator's speaker while Maddie finally breaks down crying. Dave ends up comforting Maddie and by the time the elevator door opens again, they exit singing, "Oh What a Friend We Have in Jesus".

* ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'': The elevator's been broken for the entire series. This causes an uncomfortably long silence between Penny (who previously dated Leonard, and still lives across the hall from him) and Raj's sister Priya (who is currently dating Leonard, and on her way to see him) once in Season 4.

 

== Web Comics ==

* ''[[Boy Meets Boy]]'' features a moment where Harley and Mik are about to get intimate, only for the frame to pan out, revealing they're in the middle of an elevator with a group of uncomfortable passengers.

* ''[[Everyday Heroes]]'' has a couple of superheroes [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=80198 riding the elevator] up to the office, while the Muzak is playing {{spoiler|"Did I ever tell you you're my hero?" from the song "Wind Beneath My Wings".}}

 

 

== Web Original ==

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* In ''[[Code Lyoko]]'', since reaching the lab room and scanners by elevator is at least an [[Once Per Episode]] event, a few Uncomfortable Elevator Moments are unavoidable. Usually, when two of the heroes are having a dissension and are pointedly ignoring each other. (That is, when it doesn't turn into an [[Elevator Action Sequence]] sequence because of XANA's attack.)

** Such a tense moment happens in episode "Image Problem", when Ulrich and Odd ride with a Yumi impostor, the first clone created by XANA.

* A gag on an early episode of ''[[Family Guy]]'' has Peter step into an elevator with one other occupant. The other guy starts sniffing with a disgusted look on his face. Peter stammers, "Ummm... you did it."

* The page quote is from an episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' where Homer is stuck in an elevator with Mindy Simmons, a co-worker he finds himself attracted to. He ends the awkwardness by stopping the elevator between floors and getting out... into thin air, sliding down one of the power plant's smokestacks.

{{quote| '''Homer:''' ''See you tomorrow!''}}