People keep calling 'The Room' a 'so bad it's good' comedy, but I think that's missing the point

I've watched it maybe six times, and I'm convinced it's a genuine, if deeply flawed, drama about a man's trust being broken. The line 'you are tearing me apart, Lisa!' is delivered with real pain. I think we laugh because it's awkward, not because Wiseau intended a joke. Has anyone else found a sincere moment in a movie that gets written off as just a joke?

3 comments

3 Comments

dylan6041mo ago

Honestly, the sincerity is what makes it so hard to watch. That raw, unfiltered feeling is cringe because it's real, not fake. We're just not used to seeing that on screen without a layer of cool.

grace_knight7013d ago

@dylan604 I get what you're saying but you're kind of mixing up two different things. Real emotion isn't cringe by itself. The cringe comes when someone's acting or writing feels forced or fake, not when it's genuinely raw. That Lady Bird scene works because the emotions land right. What makes something hard to watch is when the writer didn't earn the moment so it feels manipulative or embarrassing. Real sincerity done well doesn't make people look away, it makes them lean in.

kim7271mo ago

Spot the problem with calling all real emotion cringe. Remember that scene in Lady Bird where she fights with her mom in the thrift store? That's raw and real, but it hits deep, it doesn't make you look away. The cringe comes from bad writing that tries too hard, not from honest feeling done well. We can handle real stuff when it's actually good.