Common Sense Media Review
User-submitted clip show about people falling lacks empathy.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 12+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
What's the Story?
IT ONLY HURTS WHEN I LAUGH is a collection of viewer-contributed video clips featuring accidents, tumbles, and \ stunts gone wrong, all edited to highlight the pain and humiliation of the subjects/victims involved. The narrator eggs on the laughs with comments like, "There's \ nothing funnier than pain, humiliation, and looking stupid, just as \ long as it's happening to someone else." Clips range from the mildly gross -- like a baby spitting up into an adult's mouth -- to the dangerous, like a motorcyclist thrown from a fast-moving bike.
Is It Any Good?
Sure, sometimes it's fun to laugh at others' mishaps, especially when they're laughing along, too. But there's a mean-spiritedness to the narration in this show that isn't amusing. Some of the clips are funny -- a roller blader skates into a pond with two dogs diving in after him, for example. But others are downright disturbing, like when an elderly person trips in a hole and falls flat, with no movement shown afterward.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about whether shows like this contribute to a lack of empathy for others. Kids: Why do we sometimes laugh when people fall?
All of the video clips are contributed by viewers. Why do you think people would submit videos of themselves or others getting hurt?
TV Details
- Premiere date : October 22, 2009
- Network : truTV
- Genre : Reality TV
- TV rating :
- Last updated : October 5, 2022
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