This trope often appears in comedy anime and manga. A character (usually main) takes part in an embarrassing or unconventional situation in public, often against his will. Then out of nowhere a Constantly Curious little kid shows up with his mom, and he points to the character and comments "Mom, that guy/girl is weird" or "Mom, that guy/girl is doing this or that". Then the mother diligently answers "Don't look at him/her!" in a lighter version of Cover Innocent Eyes and Ears. This adds extra embarrassment to the character, suggesting that he's being somewhat Harmful to Minors or at least setting a bad role model.
Can overlap with Not What It Looks Like (in fact, the character may exclaim it). If the child points and laughs at the main character, then they're part of The Freelance Shame Squad. Can also overlap with From the Mouths of Babes.
This has some degree of Truth in Television to it, as children tend to be very curious and often haven't figured out what is (and what isn't) appropriate social etiquette yet. This often means that when kids see someone doing something unusual, they may indeed ask what's going on, and usually won't be subtle about it.
Examples
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Anime and Manga
- In Chobits the main character grew up on a farm, and thus often talked to himself while working. After moving to the city, he continues to narrate to himself. On a few occasions, people in the background can be heard commenting on this.
- Hanayamata: In third episode, some woman hushes a kid who appears to ask what is going on, while pointing at Naru and Hana at their Yosakoi dance practice at a local shrine. Naru is a clumsy beginner, apparently conscious of such things, and Hana gets to lightly encourage her to keep going.
- In episode 7 of the animated adaptation of Haruhi-chan, Haruhi organizes her own quirky sports festival, and Kyon falls to this trope just for standing there, watching the event begin. Then he's used as a rope in an extreme tug-o-war contest and flung up naked, with the kid still watching.
- Inukami!. Keita frequently finds himself naked and frequently, the same little boy is there to point at Keita. It is a running gag throughout the series.
- In Black★Rock Shooter, Mato gets depressed when Yomi doesn't show up to the festival. She removes her geta so she can walk faster and sadly starts walking home. A little boy goes, "Mommy, that girl is walking barefoot."
- In Date A Live, Origami shocks everyone when she dresses up in a skimpy outfit and starts acting like a dog. A little boy asks if she is a dog and his mother tells him not to look.
- Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: During their duel, Aster Phoenix uses a combo to force Zane Truesdale's Cyber Twin Dragon to move to Defense Position, then Attack Position, then back to Defense Position in rapid succession. A kid goes, "Look Mommy! The dragon's doing tricks!" This causes everybody in the audience to laugh and mock Zane.
Comic Books
- In the Concrete story "Water God", Concrete is harassed by some local children who follow him around making jokes about his appearance and trying to interfere with his swimming. He spends some time submerged to avoid them, only for them to mockingly point out a starfish stuck to his butt when he finally emerges on the crowded beach. The beach-goers think it's funny. Concrete, not so much.
- One Titeuf gag has the family invited to dinner by a friend, with Titeuf attending for the first time. Titeuf is thrilled to try out the friend's "pig chow" dish that his parents so often mention; his parents are much less thrilled about the friend learning what they call her dish behind her back.
Fan Works
- In the Ranma ½ fanfic Crossed Wires, Ranma (in female form) indulges in some gleeful laughing at the cleverness of one of her plans. However she then is completely mortified when a child asks why she is laughing and the child's mother responds by saying that Ranma must be a Student of St. Hebereke's (the school where Ranma's completely insane fiance Kodachi goes to, the implication being Ranma is on the same mental plane as Kodachi).
Film - Animated
- In Chicken Little, a boy points at Little and says "Look, mommy, it's the crazy chicken!" His mom pulls him away, saying "Yes, that is the crazy chicken, we don't make eye contact."
Literature
- The Emperor's New Clothes. No one points out that the Emperor is in fact naked until a small child points it out (since the clothing is supposedly invisible to people incompetent at their job, and the child is obviously not educated yet, so how can he be considered incompetent?). However, it is more of an example of a Wise Fool than it is this trope.
- The above tale is subverted with a vengeance within an In-Universe version of it that appears in a Discworld story: the grown-ups beat the living hell out of the poor child to force him to shut up and thus they can don't have to embarrass themselves in front of the emperor (who has no clothes... but still has an army).
Radio
- John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme: The example of The Emperor's New Clothes is exaggerated, with the Emperor becoming a nervous wreck after his humiliation, and manages to fall into further and further embarrassment, with a child taunting him every time (well, except for when the Emperor becomes a scientologist, and on the advice of his lawyers is told not to finish his taunt). And the Emperor never seems to have any luck concealing his "winkie".
Webcomics
- A Running Gag in Sandra on the Rocks: whenever Sandra gets in an embarrassing situation (such as going out in the street in ridiculous clothing or no clothing at all), a little French-speaking girl and her mother show up, commenting on the situation.
- Played for surreal Black Comedy in one pictures for sad children comic. A child points out a man on the street who has a large, misshaped head and sharp teeth. The kid's mom just says not to stare at him. The man kills and eats a person, right there in public... and mom insists the child continue ignoring him.
Western Animation
- An episode of Batman: The Animated Series had Clayface disguise himself as an elderly lady and get on a bus. When his disguise starts to slip, a child says "Mommy, that lady has dirt all over her!"
- Family Guy: Peter has gained a lot of weight and has been forklifted to the dock in order to get him out of the house. A youngster asks his father what "that" (Peter) is. The father identifies Peter as the planet Mercury. "I'm a guy you jackass!"
- Johnny Bravo invokes this once as Johnny peruses a fitness magazine in a grocery store:
Little Girl: LOOK, MOMMY, THAT GUY'S LOOKING AT PICTURES OF ALMOST NAKED MEN!
Everyone in the store stares at Johnny in disgust
Johnny: This is a men's fitness magazine! I wanna look like this, not at this! I've got nothin' to be ashamed of! (Johnny then walks up to the counter, dropping off change in shame) TV Guide. - In SpongeBob SquarePants, in the episode where SpongeBob becomes a stand-up comedian and unknowingly irritates Sandy by using squirrel jokes, the next day, Sandy is treated like this when she's in a supermarket. A boy walks up to Sandy and his mom responds "Don't stand too close to a squirrel, Billy. You'll catch its stupid."
Sandy: Stupidity isn’t a virus. But it sure is spreading like one.
- Done in "The Sponge Who Could Fly" when SpongeBob gets mocked by the town for wanting to fly.
Boy: Look, Mom, it's the Bird Man of Bikini Bottom!
Boy's mom: Wow, I wonder why he's still using his legs.
Boy: Come on, Bird Man, flap your wings and fly!- Happens to Squidward twice in "Krusty Dogs".
Squidward: (wearing hot dog suit outside Krusty Krab)Billy: Look at that guy dressed like a hot dog, Mommy.Mom: Let that inspire you to stay in school, Billy.Squidward: (standing outside Krusty Krab in a Krabby Patty suit, waving a sign saying "THEY'RE BACK!")Billy: Mom, look! It's a guy dressed as a Krabby Patty!Mom: It's never too soon to start picking a good college, Billy. - In Hey Arnold!, after Harold notices how much weight he's gained, a nearby child points at him and says, "Look, Mommy, it's a fat man." the child's mother tells him not say that and corrects him, "He's not a fat man. He's a fat boy."
