The contemptuous and the empathetic

Cringe tell us that there might be more than one thing going on. Sometimes, we empathise with the events, such as watching a mild social faux pas - someone wearing the wrong clothes to a party.

However, cringe comedy should be separated from contemptuous cringe, which involves an emotional distancing from the person you're cringing at. You perceive the person as embarrassing themselves, but instead of feeling embarrassment on their behalf, you feel annoyance and disgust at them.