Will this be the year you go to a Shrek-themed rave? You might be surprised how high the possibility is, because 2023 is the year of cringe. Unashamed cringe. Meta Cringe. The kind where you can’t tell if the person is being sincere or ironic. It keeps you guessing. And Shrek raves (I’ll explain later) are not the cause, but the result of living in a society that celebrates cynicism while demanding social and cultural conformity. In moments when the pressure of upholding those standards gets too great, breakaway movements form to say fuck it!
We are in one of those moments right now. How did we get here, and why is Meta Cringe the inevitable, beautiful reaction?
What is Meta cringe?
We typically think of cringe as a combination of regret, awkwardness and embarrassment. We feel cringe for events that don’t warrant an emotion as strong as remorse, but still justify some sort of ‘icky feeling’ in the eyes of the arbiter. Cringe is a reaction to failure – specifically, the failure to uphold standards for what is ‘good’ or ‘cool’.
But in true Gen-Z-overanalysis fashion… it’s more complex than just a feeling. There are actually layers to cringe:
Layer 0: Sincere Cringe
This is the sincerity or ‘pre-irony’ layer. According to trend analyst Agus Panzoni, it comes from sincerely failing to perform according to societal expectations. You can see it in earnest TikTok trends, like the ‘Catchphrases’ trend or lip sync videos. A lack of self-awareness determines this layer – Sincere Cringe occurs when people genuinely do not realise that they are behaving in an uncool way. There is no intentional subversion – they’re just doing it because they like it.
Layer 1: Ironic Cringe
This is classic irony. It is when people with an understanding of the cultural standards intentionally subvert those expectations. During 2021 and going into 2022, cringe comedy took the internet by storm with creators making fun of themselves and the trends that they participate in. A lot of online comedy content falls into this category, but it does run the risk of being coated with misogyny – for example, male creators making fun of things that women enjoy.
Layer 2: Post-Ironic Cringe
This is when someone recognises something is cringey and embraces it. At this layer, we see cringe actually become what is cool. There is an important distinction between Layer 0 and Layer 2 – while Sincere Cringe sees people enjoying things with no awareness about its cringiness, in Post-Irony we participate in behaviours precisely because they are cringe. It’s deliberate and self-aware. In 2022, creators and celebrities were able to commercially exploit this type of cringe – a prime example being Kendall Jenner leveraging her out-of-touch cucumber chopping technique into a whole UberEats ad.
Layer 3: Meta Cringe
We’re now entering Meta Cringe. This is defined by knowing something is cringey, but genuinely enjoying it without caring about the external perception. It combines the self-awareness of layers 1 and 2, with the sincerity of layer 0 – a truly beautiful thing.
With Meta Cringe, there is no semblance of playing into what other people value. You are not trying to gain clout or cash. You simply… like what you like. Meta Cringe blurs the lines between sincerity and irony, making it difficult for others to tell whether it’s a joke or not. But ultimately, when you reach Meta Cringe, it doesn’t matter either way.
@hemlockesprings i will release this in 6 days #hemlockesprings #fyp #funky #newmusic #lyrics ♬ stranger danger verse 1 – Hemlocke Springs
Signs we are in a Meta Cringe era
Like many trends and societal behaviours, the layers of cringe are cyclical. And mainstream pop culture has worked its way through them in the recent past.
We enjoyed a sense of innocence in the early 2000s Sincere Cringe era, with people earnestly picking Team Edward or Team Jacob and screaming (with choreography) to ‘The Ketchup Song’. Next came Ironic Cringe, with Crazy Frog going from ringtone to #1 hit single. YouTube launched us into the Post-Ironic era, giving us creators like MirandaSings, who leveraged embarrassing antics into a comedy career and eventually her own Netflix show.
Which brings us to the last time we entered Meta Cringe, circa 2010. This was the breakthrough moment for LMFAO and Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry’s campy Teenage Dream era. Were these over-the-top personas a gag, or were they legit? Who cares! They were unapologetically chaotic and we loved them.
This time around, we’re seeing that same Meta Cringe energy in the success of creatives like Nathan Fielder and his unnerving series The Rehearsal. The shamelessness of everyone having Taylor Swift on their Spotify Wrapped, Doja Cat’s weird TikTok behaviour, and delusional White Lotus fan theories all fall into this category. Jennifer Coolidge’s confusing-but-iconic humour. To see Meta Cringe energy with your own eyes, check out musician Hemlock Spring on TikTok – she is subverting how society expects an artist to conduct themselves on digital platforms, and she’s having fun.
But arguably the most Meta Cringe of them all are the Shrek raves. Yes, Gen Z has become obsessed with raving in metaphorical swamps and bringing memes to life in sweaty rooms. DJ Ka5sh organised the first Shrek-themed rave in L.A. as a fundraiser for his sister, who was the victim of an armed robbery. The concept was so popular that Shrek raves are taking place across the U.S. and the world, including an Australian tour. Ka5sh told Mashable he wants to “destroy” the idea of coolness altogether. “There’s no point in trying to impress people and trying to maintain this facade of perfectness, because you’re not, and it’s just destroying your brain,” he says. At the Shrek rave, “no one is trying to impress each other.”
Bikini Bottom-themed raves (you know, from Spongebob Squarepants) are happening too.
The un-hijackable trend
Honestly, Meta Cringe is good for us and you should lean right into it. Cringe is a symptom of anticipated rejection; it’s an insecurity. Meta Cringe is the act of rejecting the insecurity itself, allowing you to be at peace with whatever you choose, no matter how other people may perceive it.
Seeing people adopt this attitude looks weird at first, as their carefree perspective is in stark contrast to this not-so-carefree world. But it’s really an inevitable by-product of where we find ourselves: daily barrage of bad news, global recession about to hit, constant judgement for failing to keep up with trends that change before you can grasp them.
There is also something to be said for how difficult it is for corporations to hijack Meta Cringe for profit. Australian Gen Zs are coming of age at a time where they’ve been priced out of adulthood and fun has become expensive. Meta Cringe is a rejection of the commercialisation of our entire existence – it’s a joyful, ruthless way of saying “no thanks” to being offered the losing end of a deal.
Most people cannot afford to be cool in this economy. You may as well just be cringe and happy and, until the cycle starts again, free. You may as well go to the Spongebob rave.
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