The Embarrassment Squick

ETA: If you do not have this squick, PLEASE click "no"; otherwise it'll look like the entirety of fandom is constantly mortified by what they watch. *g*

I was talking with falzalot last night, and the topic of the embarrassment squick came up. This is a widespread squick in fandom--many of my friends have it--but I've never understood it. I can sympathize, of course; there are certainly things that make me uncomfortable while watching some movies or television shows, but the kind of discomfort I experience is more along the lines of overreaction rather than the reaction the show was going for (extreme anger over a minor injustice, for example). The embarrassment squick eludes me.

So it's information-gathering time, in the hopes that someone will give me more insight into this phenomenon.

[Poll #1009680]
Please--if you have more to say, or experiences that might illuminate this, or think you can put your finger on exactly what does it to you, and you are comfortable sharing, comment away. I am really curious about this. If you can give specific examples from specific shows or movies, that would be really helpful, I think.

EATA: Is there any other trigger than "feeling embarrassment for a character in an embarrassing situation"? There are lots of responses to "all over the map", so it can't be just that. I know of a few situations where a fan has said "that hits my embarrassment squick" when nobody in the show was doing anything embarrassing, or being embarrassed, so now I'm really confused.

Dear fanfiction writers (even several of the good ones):

Bemused ≠ amused. They are not interchangeable. Pinky-swear.