October 30th, 2007

Filed under:
Mixed Bag, Movies, Television
15 Comments »

Have You Ever Vomited Upon Hearing Bad News?

“Your sister is dead.” Blarrrggghhh!

“That’s not really your dog.” Eggarrrhhh!

“I know you’re a drug dealer.” Glarrrppp!

It’s a common convention in television and movies. Someone learns some awful news, and promptly pukes. I most recently saw an example of this technique while watching season two of Weeds (an excellent show, incidentally, and justification enough to include a picture of the lovely and talented Mary-Louise Parker).

I’ve never done it myself, or seen anybody do it, so I’ve always thought of it as lazy writing. It’s a quick and dirty way to dramatize the impact of exposition.

Have you ever vomited upon hearing bad news, or known somebody who has?

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Comments: 15 Responses so far

Jack
October 30th, 2007
5:07 am

Yes.

Yes, I have.

But no… I’m not sharing any details!

Suffice to say, when you get hit by something bad enough out of the blue, it’s a natural reaction to, uhm, regurgitate.

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darren
October 30th, 2007
5:16 am

Jack: Interesting. I don’t really want to hear the details–I’m just curious whether people do it.

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Mike
October 30th, 2007
5:31 am

No, but I have lost control of my limbs and fallen to the floor. I felt like such a drama queen.

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alexis
October 30th, 2007
5:38 am

Yes, a few times. It usually has something to do with dudes and breaking my heart.

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isabella mori
October 30th, 2007
6:21 am

i came close to it once, when i lived in south america and this guy, having learned that i was german, thought it would be cool to surprise me by unfurling his prize possession: a huge swastika flag.

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alexis
October 30th, 2007
6:29 am

I actually generally get the flu after I get dumped. My body goes into shock, I throw up spontaneously and I get a fever. I have a very strong mind/body connection.

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julien
October 30th, 2007
6:49 am

isabella: oh my god.

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Raul
October 30th, 2007
8:06 am

I am a guy and yes I have vomited upon hearing bad news. In my case, it was after having heard that my ex had cheated on me.

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Jeremy Latham
October 30th, 2007
9:01 am

I’ve never vomited upon hearing bad news - but I’ll second the motion that Weeds is an excellent show!

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jack ruttan
October 30th, 2007
9:43 am

Not the same Jack as above. I got badly threatened by a wannabe writer at a public event, and that made me almost sick on the curb outside.

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Meg
October 30th, 2007
1:37 pm

It seems like relationship stuff has nailed a few of my friends that way — being dumped, cheated on, etc… like Raul says.

I got a surfboard in the gut and did it, but I think that made sense. :-)

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donna
October 30th, 2007
3:09 pm

Like everyone else… yeah, I had some relationship news once that caused me to vomit. Or at least, it would have if I’d been able to eat anything for the prior 3 days. Instead, I got to dry heave for about fifteen minutes.

Distress basically makes my digestive system go bonkers. :)

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Airdrie
October 30th, 2007
4:49 pm

When I got dumped after a 5 year relationship, the details are complicated. I needed Gravol to stop puking.

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Raul
October 30th, 2007
7:59 pm

Interesting. Would anyone care to offer their insights on whether this is a gender-specific phenomenon or not? I am a guy, and I took the news just as bad as I think any woman would have (hence, my hypothesis is that bad news -> puking, regardless of gender of person cheating/dumping and regardless of gender of person being cheated on/dumped).

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Lisa
October 31st, 2007
2:05 pm

No.
But I often need to go to the bathroom when looking for things, like on library shelves, or snooping through my brother’s stuff as a kid.

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