>>9802I agree that cringe culture is bullshit, and I cringe at having used the term cringe above, though the concept itself is real
That's not really why I'm interested in him, nor do I think its why I was interested in Chris Chan back in their hayday
For me, the primary draw is getting a glimpse into the life of someone with a completely different, disfunctional worldview and seeing the various kinds of human scum that congregate around him, its like watching a human car crash, the feeling is similar to the effect you might get watching a documentary about hard core alcoholics that for some reason has been edited to draw out the black comedy but the experience is extended out in fits and starts over years instead of one solid 90-120 minute programme
Cobra has gone from a somewhat weird but fairly grounded early 20's goth kid that had a basic job, a girlfriend and interests he was passionate about (though terrible at) to a weirdo goth wizard gross food enthusiast that on some level believed he had dark magical powers to the circling the drain completely delusional ball of grease and infected tissue 30+ a day cigarette smoker spice fiend asshole incel alcoholic he is now
The slow transformation is incredibly to watch, and at points he's very relatable, I think everyone that watches Josh sees at least some shadow of themselves in him at some stage, I can relate to the Asperger's (though I personally think Josh has at least Level 2 Autism and a learning disability or possibly Asperger's/Level 1 and a severe learning disability) as I'm on the spectrum myself, and I can relate to the smoking and the general sorry state of his surrondings, as I was a 20 a day man for about 4 years and when I was depressed you couldn't move in my flat for beer bottles and piles of rubbish and unwashed clothing, but like I said in the OP, Josh's antagonistic personality, refusal to change, and the disgusting things he says and does on a regular basis make it hard sometimes to feel that empathy that initially hooks you into him, even though the less awful parts of his personality and things he does are ever present reminders that he has very real problems that at least contributed to the path he went down
I would never tap the glass so to speak, do something to antagonise Josh or worsen his situation like many of his newer followers often do, for example donating money to him that goes straight to booze or fast food, or the thankfully much rarer directly malicious action like the assholes that got him fired from a past job, but watching him rot is intoxicating