Cringe = Sublime

Some More Insight Into The Gen Z Coolness Crisis

There are four sort of low-level generational discourses circulating the web right now that I want to try and synthesize into a larger idea. There’s the weird backlash around the word “demure” going viral after a trans TikToker popularized it. There are millennials panicking that Gen Z thinks we all ... See more

While I was thinking through the cringe matrix, I thought a lot about celebrities. Given one of their main purposes as public figures is to both establish and violate social norms, thus providing us with both guidance and gossip, they’re always operating with a high cringe risk.

the predominant driver in pop culture humor morphed in the early 2000’s from irony to awkwardness. The switch is best explained as the difference between the mid 90’s, Larry-David-written Seinfeldian humor and later-career Larry in Curb Your Enthusiasm .

They’re not the same.

You know this because of how each makes you feel.

Awkwardness gives you a... See more