Uncomfortable Elevator Moment: Difference between revisions

''(the elevator arrives and Homer gets in; the door closes and he notices he's crammed in with [[Unresolved Sexual Tension|Mindy]])''<br />

'''Homer:''' HAAAAAH! [[Verbal Backspace|I mean, HAllo]]!<br />

'''Mindy:''' Heh... I guess we'll be going down together -- I mean getting off togeth-- I mean--<br />

'''Homer:''' That's OK. I'll just push the button for the stimulator -- I mean elevator!|''[[The Simpsons]]'', [[wikipedia:The Last Temptation of Homer|"The Last Temptation of Homer"]] }}

Not at all, because you can always resort to an [['''Uncomfortable Elevator Moment]]'''! This trope relates to how transit in an elevator is often used in films as a break in tension or for outright humor.

[[Truth in Television|In many western cultures there is an unspoken code of behavior that applies inside elevators:]] when someone enters an elevator, the custom is to face the front and stand in silence whilst absently watching the floor numbers change. If there ''is'' any conversation, it amounts only to small talk. An individual who breaks with this custom, for example facing the other passengers, is often a source of considerable unease to the other individuals in the lift. The protocol does vary a lot between cultures, even between neighbouring countries; for example, England has the elevator protocol, while almost none of Europe does. Depending on where you are, you might be expected to greet the other people in the elevator and/or make light conversation, or to completely ignore them. [[Justified Trope|This is apparently a part of basic animal behaviour, too]]: primates in small enclosed spaces instinctively avoid drawing attention to themselves. The cultural differences in elevator protocol reflect differences in what behaviour is inconspicuous. And yes, primates -- monkeysprimates—monkeys go quiet too, but rats tend to [[Elevator Action Sequence|fight]].

Particularly in visual fiction, the Western "protocol" is often milked to generate ironic, uncomfortable silences from characters inside the elevator, when some other reaction might well be expected or justified. In short: an [['''Uncomfortable Elevator Moment]]'''.

* Never get on an elevator with ''[[The Tick (animation)]]''. For one, he takes half the elevator due to sheer size. He also hums along with the elevator music.

* In ''[[Megamind]]'', Roxanne and Megamind (disguised as Bernard) share an elevator in the [[Added Alliterative AppealAlliteration|Metro Man Museum]]... just before it's going to blow up, thanks to actions by the latter of the pair.

{{quote|'''Loki:''' Last four days on Earth. [[Our Angels Are Different|If I had a dick I'd go get laid]].<br />

''(no response from other elevator passengers, bar a silent, irritated look from a woman holding a coffee)''<br />

'''Loki:''' We can do the next best thing.<br />

'''Bartleby:''' What's that?<br />

'''Loki:''' ''(as doors of elevator close)'' Let's kill people.<br />

''(the woman [[Spit Take|sprays her coffee everywhere]])''<br />

* ''[[Borat]]'' plays this trope to a tee when Borat [[Berserk Button|discovers Azamat masturbating to his picture of Pamela Anderson]] and chases Azamat around the hotel naked -- whilenaked—while threatening him with an enormous dildo and shouting in <s>[[As Long as It Sounds Foreign|foreign-sounding gibberish]]</s> [[Bilingual Bonus|Hebrew]]. Both men, still naked, one of whom is still holding a large rubber penis, enter an elevator. Cue the [[The Elevator From Ipanema|elevator music]] as Borat and Azamat stare directly ahead in perfect silence, until the elevator stops -- thenstops—then it's back to running and screaming.

* ''Ghostbusters''; although their dialogue was completely ordinary. Their Proton Packs -- backpackPacks—backpack-mounted nuclear accelerators -- didaccelerators—did the job for them.

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

* {{spoiler|After the zombies get into the mall}} in the 2004 remake of ''[[Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)|Dawn of the Dead]]'', the survivors are stuck in one of these on the way to the garage. Not helped by C.J.

* In ''[[The Hunger Games (novel)|Catching Fire]]'', the uninhibited Johanna Mason complains of the heat, strips naked, and gets on an elevator with Peeta and Katniss. It turns out later that she was deliberately [[Invoked Trope|invoking]] this trope to make Katniss uncomfortable.

** 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 -- Sylarelse—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..."

** ''Babylon 5'' loves this trope. Throughout the first season there were several between Talia and Garibaldi, and later one where Sheridan gets on the lift with Lennier after the latter had observed the pleasure ritual between the Captain and Delenn, in a purely religious capacity, of course.

* ''[[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]].

** 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--includingpeople—including a lot of white supporters of civil rights--wouldrights—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.

* ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' usually has at least [[Once Per Episode|one per episode]]. The standard is: House having conversation/catfight with person; *ding* lift arrives; doors open; House finishes with a witty/cutting/[[Politically Incorrect Hero|entirely innapropriate]] remark and steps into lift -- doorslift—doors close, with last glimpse of the other passengers eyeing him in alarm. (Because they are now ''trapped with a raving lunatic.'')

* In one episode of ''[[Boy Meets World]]'', [[Adult Child]] Eric makes his former mentor Mr. Feeny his [[Imaginary Friend]] to help him with his college work. At one point in the episode he gets in an elevator with a stranger and starts talking to the imaginary Feeny. The other guy is, understandibly, very creeped out.

* The 2010 ''[[Hawaii Five-O]]'' has an example when a couple of tourists with a little boy find themselves in the same elevator as the 5-0 police officers, fully geared in bulletproof vests and guns out, as they are pursuing a wounded suspect hiddinghiding in a grand hotel. Complete with Hawaiian elevator music.

* ''[[LAL.A. Noire]]'' has one in "The Naked City" DLC, where you and your partner are riding up with a woman who's fiancee you just accused of burglary. Your partner [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] it:

* ''[[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.

* In mid 2011 Rebecca Watson, known for writing on the popular science blog Skepchick, had one at an atheist conference in Dublin. A man asked her if she'd like to have coffee with her... in his bedroom. It was four in the morning and they'd never met before.

** She made [http://skepchick.org/2011/06/about-mythbusters-robot-eyes-feminism-and-jokes/ a video] about it, and how uncomfortable she felt. Various people suggested that she was overreacting, and she responded to one of these responders (arguably putting her on the spot). When the outcry about ''that'' got [https://web.archive.org/web/20120504035039/http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/07/always_name_names.php attention from] the very widely read blog Pharyngula, the whole thing grew into a fracas dubbed "[[Scandalgate|elevatorgate]]" and "Rebeccapocalypse". Arguments were had over whether or not the moment in question was completely acceptable (given modern norms of flirting), or awkward, or creepy, or outright threatening (given that an elevator is a place lacking opportunity for immediate escape). Things got aggravated when famous atheist [[Richard Dawkins]], in deep [[Sarcasm Mode]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20120504035039/http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/07/always_name_names.php#comment-4295492 said] -- oppressed—oppressed muslim women shouldn't complain, western women are asked out in elevators! The shitstorm lasted several months, and raised questions over whether the "new atheist" community would experience a schism (which might be perceived as ironic in the same spirit as the [[Rebellious Rebel]]).

[[Category:Uncomfortable Elevator Moment{{PAGENAME}}]]