CRINGE COMEDY AS SOCIAL HORROR

Why do we enjoy comedy that makes us cringe in embarrassment? This paper makes the case that cringe comedy is a form of social horror, and many of the theoretical approaches that have been developed to analyze the appeal of horror fictions can be transposed to cringe comedy. These approaches do not tell us what makes such comedy funny, however, nor do they explain what separates comedic social horror from dramatic social horror. To answer these questions, we turn to the theory of humor proposed by Tom Cochrane as well as the distancing-embracing model of the role of negative emotions in art appreciation proposed by Winfried Menninghaus et al. In order for social horror to be funny, this paper argues, it must insulate the norm violations it portrays from relevant cognitive and practical demands and enable the audience to achieve the right kind of distance from their negative emotions.