Cancel ‘Cancel Culture’

Cancel culture has become some prevalent in modern society that it’s even in the dictionary now. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the act of canceling, also referred to as cancel culture, as the removal “of support for public figures in response to their objectionable behavior or opinions”. This can include boycotts or refusal to promote their work. Basically, cancel culture is a bunch of soy boys on twitter claiming an artist, celebrity or person of interest in the public eye is ‘canceled’. Here’s everything wrong with cancel culture and why I believe we need to cancel ‘cancel culture’ itself.

You would be living under a rock if you didn’t hear about the murder of George Floyd at the hand of American police officers, as well as the Black Lives Matter movement that has gripped not just America, but much of the western world in amidst of a global pandemic. However, a concerning factor has come out of this. ‘Cops are cancelled’ and ‘All cops are bad’ has paraded social media, mostly posted by Millenials who don’t actually contribute to helping the cause itself but instead abuse police officers on the internet…

Now don’t get me wrong, the police force in America and in various other countries are in need of a complete overhaul from the top to bottom. However, cancel culture has become so powerful that they are mass calls to cancel the kids show ‘Paw Patrol’ — what’s Paw Patrol? a kids show depicting cartoon dogs who are good cops. Apparently according to the people calling the show to be cancelled, the claims are that ‘all cops are bad’ and claims have been made such as “euthanize the police dog”, “Defund the paw patrol.” and“All dogs go to heaven, except the class traitors in the Paw Patrol.” Whilst some of these comments have been made online as a joke, there is a genuine interest to cancel any shows that depict cops as good.

Sure, this is an extreme example —and some artists and celebrities being ‘canceled’ such as R Kelly due to sexual assault allegations are fair and called for, but some examples are a lot far fetched — let’s have a look at a few.

• After being announced as the host of the Oscars for 2019, internet sleuths dredged up homophobic comments Kevin Hart made between 2009 and 2011. Refusing to apologise for comments he made in the past because it was in the past, due to pressure Hart decided to step down from the role of host.
• Public campaigns to cancel Kanye West have been very prelevant, from everything from his support for Trump, likening slavery to “a choice” (which was actually speaking about mental enslavement), and expressing a desire to abolish the 13th Amendment, Kanye is often a ‘cancel’ figure.
• Scarlett Johansson supported infamous director Woody Allen and called the allegations against him “guesswork”, as well as made insensitive comments towards race and gender after she was cast as a transgender character.

Some of you may believe some of these people ‘deserve’ to be cancelled. The problem with this is that humans aren’t perfect, and actions and words can often be taken out of context. Whilst a lot of celebrities can handle the hatred of being ‘cancelled’, those less famous can struggle with it and it’s led to a lot of sad suicides due to it.

The Netflix docuseries, Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer is based on a man who tortured and killed two cats on Youtube. However, before the real killer was charged and found, another man was falsely accused, hated on by the internet and ultimately killed himself before they found the real killer.

Just recently we’ve seen how in Australia, cancel culture can affect anyone. Shockwaves were felt across Australia in the case of Wilson Gavin, a 21-year-old student and Young Liberal who led a protest against a drag queen reading for children at the Brisbane City Library. After a video surfaced online, depicting Gavin opposing the drag performers, people were quick to voice their disgust towards the demonstration and Gavin’s role in it. Tragically, it later emerged that Gavin took his own life shortly after.

The news of Gavin’s death, just like the suicide of the wrongfully accused identity from the Don’t F**k With Cats documentary, has left many shocked. Certainly, there is pause for introspection when it comes to call out/cancel culture and the role we each play in this curious, yet deeply fraught ecosystem.

As someone who has been ridiculed and hated online for my own controversial comments, it hurts to see lives lost over comments that sometimes are either not thought about before saying, or comments take out of context.

This is what happens when the focus turns on an individual and not the larger issue. Does this change the collective fight for a greater good and turn it into a mere mob mentality, one that largely echoes the same principles of bullying? Or are we still all just trying to speak our truth, regardless of who happens to be in the way?

The line between the personal and the political is growing ever more blurry. Mainstream internet activism now seems to involve calling out, blaming and shaming, but what room do we leave for people to be forgiven? And what if we leave it too late?…