The X (Twitter) page Cringe Photos falls into the family of cringe content that thousands of people either enjoy or feel extremely uncomfortable interacting with. As there is never a shortage of awkward and cringe-inducing content here on Bored Panda, we’re bringing you a selection of the best pictures from said X (Twitter) account. We reached out to an expert in all forms of comedy, Dr. Steven S. Kapica, assistant professor of English at Keuka College and writing program director. He kindly agreed to tell us more about what constitutes cringe comedy, what cringe is not, why we sometimes fear and loathe cringe, and why our sense of humor is inevitably declining. Read his opinions below! “Cringe is not shock, and it’s not anti-woke. It is a unique, abjectly beautiful, absurd beast,” Kapica concludes. But it’s still best to explain it by comparing it to ‘shock comedy.’ The latter, according to Kapica, is about “saying the quiet part out loud.” It’s about braveness and the audacity to cross lines, and shock comics often pride themselves on being contrarians. “But shock is not cringe,” Kapica clarifies. “Cringe does not emerge from a reversal or distortion of a premise, nor does it emerge from oppositional stances. Cringe does not point out incongruity. It breaks incongruity.” Let’s look at this from the perspective of constructing a joke. It starts with a premise that is not funny, and then it’s the comedian’s job to deliver the punchline by breaking the audience’s expectations. Cringe starts with a funny situation or premise and pushes it to a breaking point until it becomes unfunny – or awkward. “Cringe starts with laughter and then turns that laughter against the one who is laughing,” Kapica explains. He gives the film Borat (2006) as the most famous example of cringe in movies. It works and is so successful because the film directs its comedic ire and cringe at Americans, not the Kazakhs. “Borat’s premise is inherently funny (from a subject position of superiority); however, the cringe ultimately reveals the lunacy of American exceptionalism.” “But systemic prejudices can easily be traded on in ways that not only perpetuate negative comedic tropes but reinforce underlying, supremacist worldviews. Cringe is arguably the riskiest form of humor, so its merchants must be hypervigilant with regard to intent in order to avoid such reinforcement.” “If the intent is to elicit laughter at the expense of someone else’s being, then it’s hack comedy. If the intent is to complicate, transform, defend, speak truth to power, or even self-immolate, then the source of the cringe and laughter is freed of ethical transgression.” Kapica quotes Carlin’s 1990 HBO Special, Doin’ it Again: “It’s the context that counts. It’s the user. It’s the intention behind the words that makes them good or bad. The words are completely neutral. The words are innocent… It’s the context that makes them good or bad.” He says that the same is true when it comes to cringe: intent and context matter. “While we might be inclined to [brush off comedic pandering] as harmless fun – to roll our eyes at the ignorance fueling the post-truth era – doing so would make us complicit.” “Social media and digital culture bypass important culture work – editing, contemplation, temperance, review, practice, reception. The speed of the digital is such that we get everything now now now! So when we combine [the] speed of access and distribution with blatant disregard for editing and filtering – and then pour in a big scoop of cringe? Goodbye intent. Goodbye context. Hello outrage.” “A quick Google search for ‘Borat,’ for instance, reveals that enough viewers of the film have asked questions about him to merit a ‘People Also Ask’ box containing questions like ‘Is Borat really from Kazakhstan?’ and ‘Is Borat based on a real person?’ A consumer culture that asks these questions about incisive, daring, shocking, boundary-pushing, cringe comedy is not a culture served by wildly unfiltered digital content.” Follow Bored Panda on Google News! Follow us on Flipboard.com/@boredpanda! Please use high-res photos without watermarks Ooops! Your image is too large, maximum file size is 8 MB.
