Two unrelated projects from separate comedians have highlighted a societal appreciation for ‘cringe’ humor. Nathan Fielder’s HBO Max show “The Rehearsal”, and Tim Robinson’s A24 dark comedy “Friendship” take place in this tragic space of social imbalance, giving us main characters who can do anything but fit in.

While Fielder and Robinson are vastly different comedic minds, both have imbued the world with true gems of awkward humor this summer. Each comedian has individually taken great care in giving us the cringe that we might actually need. Spaces that submerge themselves in awkward situations are referred to as ‘cringey’, and our generation of cringe artists are astronauts in deep space – a void of social approval.

Season 2 of “The Rehearsal” kicks off with a dramatization of a real conversation between two co-pilots just before a crash. The inaugural episode reveals multiple examples of these conversations pre-disaster, each time the captain, who is in command, either makes a decision to disregard the first officer’s safety concern, or the first officer neglects to make said safety concern for fear of alienating themselves in front of a superior.

Fielder shows us in the first episode that his aim is to improve airplane safety by ushering in a new age of communication between pilots, both acknowledging the stress of correcting your superiors, and subjecting those pilots to constant awkward situations and social failures. 

The many twists and turns of “The Rehearsal” have pilots engaging in ‘acting scenarios’ written by Fielder in order to push them to have uncomfortable conversations, and even having select pilots become judges on a singing competition of Fielder’s own making, ‘Wings of Voice.’ The cap off to this recent season has Fielder contemplating the dangers we encounter when we avoid social embarrassment, using the calamities of air travel as an urgent example.

“I believe it’s happening in some form on every airline flight. We’ve all been in a transportation situation where we wanted to say something but didn’t. We convince ourselves nothing bad will happen and it’s not worth upsetting the person at the controls… so we never stop to consider the risk,” said Fielder.

Fielder democratizes the experience of social anxiety by attaining his own commercial flying certification and stepping into the cockpit, then perhaps most importantly, turns back to us to say it’s the same up there, too. He nearly says as much in the last episode: “We are no different from you. We are all just people at the back of an Uber, trying to avoid an awkward conversation.”

The deeply choreographed and inspiring comedy in “The Rehearsal” drags us through socially awkward cringe moments, while also revealing that sometimes these conversations need to happen. Perhaps that last sentiment is where it becomes starkly different from Robinson’s A24 flick, “Friendship”.

Robinson plays Craig, an anti-charismatic husband, father, and friend to a small community who all seem to passively tolerate him. A barely-veiled tension follows him through every interaction, as the audience must sit patiently and watch some of the most painful personal interactions you’ve ever seen, all of which go unnoticed by our phenomenally naive protagonist. 

The first bout of genuine interest in Craig comes from a popular new neighbor, Austin, played by Paul Rudd. As the two get closer and Craig begins to flourish under the warm umbrella of another man’s approval, his own compass for emotional regulation becomes affixed to Austin. 

Once Craig’s energy becomes too much for his new companion, Austin creates some distance and we see Craig become disturbingly co-dependent, culminating in a wonderfully uncomfortable climax that alienates the main character from everyone, including the moviegoer.

It’s not just that Robinson’s character makes every conceivable ‘wrong move’ in front of his friends and family, but he seemingly acts out our worst fears as if he’s living the audience’s nightmare. 

Craig desperately tries to impress his wife in the face of her obvious infidelity by exploring a dangerous sewer with her, where she gets lost and has to be rescued by the authorities. He breaks into homes, punches his friends, and ignores every single display of disinterest in a panicked attempt to belong somewhere, all the while refusing to consider any fault in himself. 

While the feelings evoked from “Friendship” and “The Rehearsal” vary greatly, their own exploration of the human capacity of cringe still has us watching through our fingers, delighted at the joys of schadenfreude that let us feel pain from a safe distance. 

If “The Rehearsal” is an exploration of how we can navigate social fears, “Friendship” is a front row seat to a vibrant plane crash. 

*Liv Lyons has been an editor for the Thunderword since 2023. Their short story blog, “Loser Pulp“, is released twice a month.