(Senior School student exploring their interests/ Michelle F.)
By Red B. and Nadija T.
“Someone’s music taste or interest[s] aren’t cringe, like it’s just what they like,. So, therefore, a person cannot be cringe,” Shannon F., Grade 8, said.
‘Cringe Culture’ has gained its characteristic name online, but Cringe Culture is something that has always existed under many pseudonyms. The most common one is plain and simple: bullying. Cringe content is defined as any content someone deems embarrassing or mock-worthy, and Cringe Culture is the act of mocking the content. Urban Dictionary says, “The culture started on the Internet of making fun of people and/or insulting them by calling them “cringy” or “cringe” for doing something which doesn’t harm or somehow insult anyone or anything.”
“People are [losing their minds] the moment they see one TikTok about someone dressing up in a like what is essentially a Halloween costume around when it’s not Halloween and they’re freaking the [heck] out about it,” Jo B., Grade 9 said. “And they’re like ‘this is what this is what we’ve come to as a society.’ They say one thing like that and they’re like ‘society is being ruined.’”
People are looking at anything and everything that is seen as unusual or different to them and immediately labeling it as ‘cringe’ and spreading hate. This insult isn’t any different from calling someone ‘embarrassing’, yet it is widely used and seen as comedic. There are accounts on social media that monetize people laughing and poking fun at others who are just trying to enjoy themselves and share that with others. This is being taken advantage of and, in most circumstances, the original creator isn’t even mentioned, meaning that they get no actual publicity from this literal bullying.
“I think it’s stupid and you should let people live their lives,” Jackie O., Grade 9, said.
Many students say that all of this hate is completely uncalled for and that it’s weird to see people seeking out this sort of content for comedy.
“I don’t want to follow you because your content makes me hurt,” Dora F. Grade 9, said.
Another issue with all of the so-called ‘cringe’ out on the Internet is the fact that someone who is stereotypically attractive and not part of a marginalized group doing the exact same thing, won’t be labeled as ‘cringe’ most of the time. Of course this isn’t true all the time but proves that ‘cringe’ is just a euphemism for bullying people for the way they look and their mannerisms.
“Fandom is a very specific kind of–y’know–connection that you can have with somebody else,.” Ms. Krachman, an English teacher, said.
The positive aspects that come from liking things that are ‘cringe’, often end up overlooked or even downright ignored. People gain all sorts of friendships and connections from these ‘cringe’ interests.
“They really are a way for people to find belonging and to find, their people and their crowd…it should never be something that anyone else tries to tear down,” Ms Tousignant, an 8th Grade EAL teacher, said.
In fact, Ms Tousignant said “The Lord of the Rings” brought her friend group together in high school.
“All the girls in our friend group, we each assigned each other a character from the movie and that was like our identity character,.” Ms. Tousignant said.
This is pretty common in many groups of friends, and is something many people do.
There are many varied interests as well. While Ms Tousignant. is a fan of the fantasy genre, Ms. Krachman is a fan of some slightly different types of music.
“[I] love a lot of different kinds of music from…liking opera to like, alternative rock,” Ms. Krachman said.
She also told us a little bit about the kind of media she watches.
“I really love Miyazaki films…but I don’t really like other kinds of anime,” Ms. Krachmann said.
And not everyone likes everything relating to the fandom that they are in. This is completely fine, but not everyone thinks that way.
“I found a subreddit on Legends of Avantris and was like ‘oh lol Leboosh is my favorite’ and someone was like ‘you’re a boot-licking [freak] who doesn’t understand morally deep characters,” Jackie O. said. “What do you mean Pyke is obviously the best?”
Gatekeeping is a term used when referring to the activity of controlling or limiting access to something. The word is often used in social media to refer to people not sharing ‘tips’ or, in this case, not accepting someone as part of a fandom because they only like certain parts of it.
For example, take Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit for example. People will only consider someone as a fan of Tolkien’s work if they have read all books and actually enjoyed all the books. This theme of gatekeeping exists in all sorts of fandoms, from games to movies.
Even if people aren’t controlling what you need to like to be part of ‘the cool kids club’,. they still police the parts you like about the fandom. People want to find people like them, the issue is when they start forcing other fans to be exactly like them instead of being excited about the connection formed.
“Sometimes when I watch something, like during break or lunchtime, people are like ‘oh you’re watching that again’ ‘you’re obsessed’,” Dylan V., Grade 10, said.
With all this negativity surrounding cringe culture, it’s hard to imagine people could be true to themselves. That’s why it is so important we don’t judge others for the music they like or the media they consume. Be kind.
“Generally, you shouldn’t be making fun of people for liking things that they like,” Franzi Z., Grade 10, said.