Kapica used Borat (2006) as one of the most famous examples of cringe comedy. "While we certainly can (and probably should) take offense at Cohen's appropriation of Kazakh culture, the comedic ire and cringe of Borat is directed at Americans (not Kazakhi). Borat's premise is inherently funny (from a subject position of superiority); however, the cringe ultimately reveals the lunacy of American exceptionalism."
As with all forms of comedy, it's all about intent with cringe. "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," George Carlin said in his 1990 HBO Special, Doin' it Again. "The same is true with cringe," Kapica told us. "Intent and context matter."
Kapica also warned us that social media might be the culprit in people misconstruing cringe and our sense of humor in general. "Social media and digital culture by-pass 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 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."
"I would argue that the vast majority of social media-based comedy consumers lack the critical acumen to determine if a bit of cringe is punching up or punching down," Kapica also told us back then. If people are Googling things like "Is Borat really from Kazakhstan?" or "Is Borat based on a real person?", that's a clear sign they're misunderstanding it."
"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," the comedy expert cautioned.
