When it comes to esports, we've learned to expect that sometimes things can get a bit awkward.
"For the thousands of attendants and millions watching around
the world are you ready?"
"Well thanks a lot Krimz, I appreciate you coming out here, it is a pleasure..."
[D1 singing]
With Twitch there are emotes for basically
everything and since we're talking about a medium where anyone with a PC internet
connection and webcam can participate things, sometimes get a little out of hand
"IBoy, how is it that you're able to play with so much confidence on the World stage?"
When that happens, when something is so uncomfortable that it's funny, we call it
cringe humor and the solitary icon has emerged to become quite literally the
face of that humorous discomfort.
The haHAA emote was added to Better Twitch
TV, a browser extension that enables additional emos on Twitch in 2015.
That means that while anyone can type haHAA you only see the emote if you have BTTV
installed. With haHAA you're not laughing with someone you're laughing at someone.
"For about three months I thought it was an actual laughing emote and I'm like
'Wow they're putting it again I'm gonna keep telling these jokes.' That felt Pretty bad it's
like you know whenever you're like barely started middle school and like you
think all the cool kids are your friends but they're actually secretly making fun
of you? I was the fat kid that day okay."
But who is this uncomfortable looking
guy in the image? It's actually actor and comedian Andy Samberg playing a
character called Shy Ronnie. The haHAA image originates from the second of two
skits he did as the character, both of which featured Rihanna.
The gag is that Ronnie is so shy around Rihanna that he's just hella awkward, unable to
complete a rap verse or really do anything besides mumble.
[Ronnie mumbles]
"Speak up."
Or laugh awkwardly.
"Ha HAA!" "Ha HAA!" "Ha HAA!"
"Oh boy."
Also, for some reason a lot of
people oddly think that the picture is of League of Legends Pro Bjergsen.
[Laughter.]
A bizarre theory that can perhaps be traced back to this copypasta.
So the basic theory behind cringe humor is that the discomfort caused by the subject and
often their lack of awareness of it is funny.
"Michael?"
"Ah." "Are you Michael Scott?"
"...Michael what?"
"I'm sorry I'm, I'm supposed to be meeting someone named Michael." "Oh that's not, yeah."
"Michael? Michael. Large hot chocolate with caramel and a shot of peppermint."
Over the past two decades this brand of humor has really
taken off with popular shows like The Office, Arrested Development and Parks
and Recreation embracing it to varying degrees. During the same period the
Internet has become inundated with some of the cringiest content mankind has ever produced.
"Hi baby girl."
"I just wanted to wish you happy seven-month anniversary babe."
"The Nutella challenge. That's right. Okay guys. Are you ready?
"There was my little pony."
"My little pony."
"My little pony. Woah."
"Why? I don't know maybe it's the church talk to the Pope he knows everything. I
had it I'm gonna die how can you die when you're dead?"
"Just look out for that blazing inferno in the hallway."
Whoa hold on. Our 1g
video wasn't that cringe, was it?
Anyway haHAA is not without controversy. Some
Twitch channels began to ban the emote arguing that it was used to describe
everything a streamer did, even when it wasn't cringy.
"You guys stop cringing
at everything. Please. I mean a lot of people are just gonna have to stop
watching the stream because they gotta spam cringe face somewhere. Disable
cringe face? Yes. No. Everybody vote. Oh the votes are coming in and it looks like
disabled cringe face is winning? Oh everyone's trying to spam haHAA and
getting timed out. Oh my god so many people are getting time out. Jesus Christ."
In other words they felt the emote was just being spammed to insult and
disrespect the streamer. One high profile case of this was on the stream for
Awesome Games Done Quick in 2016. After the channel banned the use of the word
cringe viewers instead used haHAA to criticize the speedrunners taking part
in the event. The emote was eventually banned from the Games Done Quick
channel in 2017 with the justification being that the emote was really only being
used negatively. Of course this just meant the viewers came up with their own
variations. Some community members have even petitioned to have the emote
removed from Better Twitch TV. What's definitely true is that if everything is
cringe then nothing is. Cringe can be funny, cringe can be painful,
or cringe can be both at the same time. But it's defined by its deviation from
what we consider normal.
"Because I'm going to go back to the Ministry and
allow them to perceive me as I am. A f***-up. Goodbye."
And if cringe is the new normal then haHAA doesn't mean that much. What I'm
trying to say is...
[haHAA sound]
I think I ad-libbed a sh*tton of that.
Miles: That's fine though, because you hit all the points.
I didn't say basically. We say basically everything a lot in this script.
I need to stop using the word basically. I don't think it's your fault.
I want to blame you...
Miles: I cut out a couple basicallys...
..but I left a couple too.
You have to pick your basically battles, basically.
[laughter]
Oh my god...
The emote was eventually banned from the
Games Done Quick channel in 2017 with the justification that it was basically
only being used negatively, basically.
[laughter]
I said basically, then I'm like f***...
Oh, there was a basically!
THERE WAS A BASICALLY!
I thought I added the basically...