Hi all!

Today I want to discuss why cancel culture should be cancelled. I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while now. As a millenial (36), I’ve witnessed a massive decline in media literacy, nuance and objectivity over the years. It’s actually quite alarming. To put it simply, cancel culture is the modern practice of collectively boycotting, shunning, or withdrawing support from public figures, brands, or individuals over actions/words deemed unacceptable. In some cases, it’s understandable. There are certain political figures that deserve to be more than cancelled. In other instances, it crosses over into extreme behaviour. I’m going to illustrate my point by providing three distinct examples below. Without further ado, let’s get into it! 

1.) ‘If You Do/Say BLANK, You’re Automatically Supporting BLANK.’ 

A couple of months ago, I stumbled upon an extremely black and white post declaring that if you watch/read Harry Potter, you are transphobic. I was immediately taken aback by this statement. Author, J.K. Rowling, is a publicly known TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist). To put it simply, she is a frightful person, with shockingly backwards views. I do not support her current/future endeavours. However, I grew up with the books and movies. I know people who were on the brink of ending their lives and the only thing that saved them was this franchise. I know of children and adults with special needs/disabilties that still find the series extremely comforting. Are they all transphobic? We need to be so careful about these harmful declarations. In my opinion, you are only considered transphobic if you have openly expressed that you are. As a Drag Race/Dragula influencer, I have multiple trans friends. Guess what? I enjoy rewatching the old films on occasion. Some of my trans friends do too. That does not make any of us transphobic. And this is just one isolated incident of many. I saw people online proclaiming that watching Scream 7 is a vote for mass genocide. No it is not. Some just love the franchise and wish to see the latest instalment. Cancel culture is so extreme, brutal and unforgiving. It is devoid of all nuance. You like an old Kanye West song? You hate Jewish people. You enjoy Michael Jackson’s music? Clearly, you support child molestation. We need to stop this. The world is already so full of hate. Redirect that anger toward the people that are actually killing, assaulting and starting wars. Countries are being bombed and you’re upset because an autistic person has Harry Potter as their special interest? Come on! 

2.) The Rise and Fall of Media Literacy.

About a month ago, there was an incident involving Chappell Roan that sent the Internet into chaos. To make it brief, a soccer player, his wife and daughter were staying at the same expensive hotel in Brazil as Chappell. One morning, at breakfast, the little girl recognised the popstar and wanted to get a closer look. A security guard approached them quite aggressively, telling the family they were not to harass Chappell. This interaction brought the child to tears. The soccer player shared his story online and immediately, Chappell was dog-piled on by hate comments, death threats and disgusting allegations involving violence towards children. Every single man and his dog automatically assumed she ordered the security guard to behave in this way. It blew up so dramatically, the Mayor of Brazil banned Chappell from playing at a festival in Rio. Keep in mind, all of this occurred before Chappell herself had had a chance to respond. She eventually spoke out, saying she wasn’t aware of the family to begin with. Additionally, the security guard in question came forward, stating he acted that way of his own volition; the singer unaware of his actions. Furthermore, it was revealed that her hate campaign was widely targeted by bots. As of just last week, the soccer player came forward and admitted his wrong-doing; saying he never intended for Chappell to be crucified. Why are people like this? Why don’t they a.) wait for all parties to say their piece before laying blame and b.) take it to such an extreme place? I’m asking anyone reading this to please be intelligent when you go online. Check the facts. Wait for all evidence to present itself. Learn the difference between fake posts/bot-driven hate. Do your due-diligence. It’s not difficult. Also, it must be said: don’t send online hate to anyone – regardless of fact/fiction. 

3.) All Aboard The Hate Train!

Similar to my point above, I am astounded at how quickly people will board the hate train. You could say or do one innocuous thing and all of a sudden, you’re cast out by the masses. Recently, Taylor Swift released a music video for her newest single: Elizabeth Taylor. Instead of featuring Taylor, it was comprised of clips of the late starlet’s iconic movie roles. The way it was put together and edited to suit the lyrics, took my breath away. I thought it was the most beautiful tribute one could make of someone they admired. However, when I took to X, I saw a completely different response. Multiple people were calling Taylor a ‘lazy b#*ch’ for making a ‘fan reel.’ Not only that, they proceeded to insult Elizabeth Taylor herself, saying ‘who cares about that dead celebrity?’ It was disgusting. Taylor has starred in over 60 music videos. If you are so starved of seeing her, go watch them. Secondly, this was not an apathetic project. It cost an exorbitant amount of money to comb the family’s archives/obtain licensing fees to create. Furthermore, all of the proceeds went to Elizabeth Taylor’s AIDS foundation. It was released at the end of Women’s History Month and yet, the public were mad at Taylor for not centering herself in someone else’s name. Let’s be real. If she had portrayed the late Hollywood actress, ‘fans’ would’ve called her narcissistic. She can’t win! The whole point of this paragraph is to highlight just how little it takes to be on the receiving end of awful, harmful language. You are allowed to be disappointed that the music video wasn’t what you thought it would be. That is a normal, healthy response. What isn’t normal is the vitriol spewed online because a woman who is already so generous with her fans, didn’t give you an extra cherry on top of your enormous slice of cake. Once again, the world is falling apart. This is not what we should be focused on. 

In Summation

I could relay a thousand more examples. Sadly, this is something I am witnessing on a daily basis. I ask that we as a human race do better. Things are not always so black and white. Find the nuance. If we cancel people for everything, we are not giving them a chance to learn from their mistakes. And sometimes, as mentioned above, they’ve done absolutely nothing to warrant cancelling to begin with. Even I have been on the receiving end of said backlash. If I critique a garment a drag queen is wearing, I automatically ‘hate’ her. Why do we have to jump to hate? That is a really strong, hyperbolic word. What happened to critical thinking and objectivity? With anything, there are extremes. It’s important to find the balance and remain there. Treat everything as a case-by-case basis, don’t throw blanket statements around, focus on the bigger picture and keep any nasty/harmful opinions to yourself. 

Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know your thoughts (respectfully) in the comments section.

Peace & Love xoxo