The Weaponization Of The Term “Cancel Culture”
“Cancel Culture” does not exist. I don’t think that this would be a controversial statement, but in 2020 it apparently is. People love to grasp on to the nebulous concept that people who are “cancelled” have their lives ruined. The term specifically refers to a false trend of people who do nothing but tear down well known people for clout. The supposed victims of said “cancelling” are almost always successful and privileged people who are rightfully held accountable for things they said. They whine about how they have been personally attacked while often villainizing those that may have brought the mildest form of dissention and criticism forward. This isn’t a one-sided perspective either. People of all political backgrounds love to use this general term to describe anything where they faced any form of consequences in any situation. I have seen this term run rampant and dominate so much of the conversation that it has become an obvious method used to silence people who don’t appreciate their ignorance. It’s easy to shout “Cancel Culture” at marginalized individuals who are just expressing their concerns. The term has been weaponized and deserves to be analyzed for what it actually is.
Celebrity
The most common usage of ‘Cancel Culture” is describing when people criticize a comedian or a celebrity for making insensitive comments or doing something incredibly ignorant. Famous faces in the entertainment industry have an incredible amount of power, but still rely on this phrase to attempt to steer the conversation away from their own mistakes
Thin-Skinned comedians love to play up their victim status while accusing everyone else of being “too sensitive”. It has at this point become a joke as to see which comedian after “cancelling” will have a hit Netflix special called “Triggered”. They often don’t care to listen to any genuine criticism of their humor. If they don’t end up incorporating it into their next comedy set they have their millions of followers harass any sort of dissenter online. It’s a common tactic among those comedians that have an army of young fans that will do anything for those that they love even if it means crossing multiple ethical lines and losing oneself to a toxic fandom. There is no end to their harmful approach and bigoted comedians are often virulently defended by Alt-Right Adjacent individuals who have a great disdain for supposed “SJWs” who “ruin everything”. “Cancel Culture” on the right is more often than not someone complaining about not being able to use slurs without repercussions.
One of the most insidious methods of this type of reaction is the way some famous people play up that they were censored. They love framing criticism as censorship, which is certainly not the same thing. Censorship is something that only a Government that has more power can successfully pull off. If you happen to make dumb, bigoted comments the repercussions of those actions is not because of those that call it out. It is the responsibility of the person making the comments to own up to their hateful language or actions. Marginalized people don’t have the pull to actually change things or damage one’s career. There isn’t some secret evil organization of people ready to strike at a moment’s notice to tear down someone for saying something controversial. That is not the reality of this. Framing it as one is inherently deceitful.
On The Left
While I have mentioned that this is a tactic taken on by the Alt-Right they aren’t alone in doing so. It is a tactic used just as forcefully by leftist public figures that have found themselves in hot water because of their irresponsible moments or incredibly ignorant takes.
Whenever you are in the public eye and you have a leftist platform to speak from it is very important to remember how much influence you truly have. I find that sometimes being defensive is a normal reaction to any form of criticism, but what I believe is also crucial is listening to voices of those that have been harmed or mistreated by a World that steps over them at every opportunity. When you as a leftist start sounding like those people that harmed this particular community it can be incredibly frustrating. I would argue that being a good example of leftist ideals includes avoiding harmful generalizations, slurs, or supporting others that have actively harmed the community. The “Cancel Culture” narrative most often comes from an individual who has some form of privilege and does not have the same difficulties as those that are calling out the problematic aspect even if their political ideologies would normally lineup. It does not help when the defensive nature of some of these big leftist personalities have a following that is massive. That can be a dangerous powder keg of emotion and influence.
In a sense some recent moments of “Cancelling” of leftists seems to be framed in a way that simultaneously shows no actual sense of remorse, while playing up how they were harassed. I do agree that sometimes people can take things too far and individuals can be abusive in their condemnation, but the vast majority of people often are venting their frustrations on their own personal accounts or specifically mentioning the questionable things. It is difficult to trust those that are so willing to throw a particular subset of the community under the bus in favor of protecting one’s own ego and internal biases even if you should be on the same page theoretically. Privilege is not an isolated right wing state of being. It is apparent on all sides at all times. While I’d argue that Right Wing Privilege is far more dangerous and deadly, it is still a potentially toxic place to take your perspective from.
Weaponization
The Celebrities, Comedians, and influential personalities that have a following have been using and abusing the “Cancel Culture” narrative for their own gain to harm those that they feel deserve it. They don’t care who they will hurt because they want to hurt others. They only care about protecting themselves. I understand that it is human nature to want to protect what you feel you know to be true, but often times that leaves one blind to the truth. The truth being that marginalized people are expected to be those that are harmed the most and that no one should question that.
I have seen this time and time again that “Cancelling” “victims” go on about being “cancelled” for months and even years on end. They have no real remorse about what they did even if they do give a halfhearted apology. They care about villainizing those that just want to be treated fairly by public figures and they also want to use the status of being “cancelled” to gain even more sympathy. Even when dealing with repercussions of the incident it is very rarely career ending and they often get much more publicity for having that happen. This inherently disingenuous tactic unfortunately works. Without getting into any sort of specific example I have seen time and time again the Non-Binary community being treated horribly for daring to speak out against outright bigotry. Right Wing people are constantly treating them as less than human and even other Binary Trans people will be more than willing to harm them via gatekeeping. Those type of people are fueled by the voices of prominent individuals with public platforms. Some of them even claim to be advocates, but that all stops when they are told to stop saying and doing harmful things.
It may seem difficult to work on being the best version of yourself, but you have to admit fault to do so. It also doesn’t strip you of your freedoms when you are called out for saying slurs or bigoted things. In fact you gain so much good will when you do actively work towards change and those that once criticized you will more than likely be willing to accept you if you do put in the time and effort.
Final Thoughts
Sometimes the ways in which individuals can harp on past mistakes that have been made up for is a legitimate form of harassment. It can sometimes be taken to extreme levels, but the constant use of “Cancel Culture” is just as harmful. The point in which I’m getting at here is that from my experiences and perspective I have seen too much disingenuous victim blaming from those who are not willing to properly atone for mistakes they make. No one is expected to be perfect, but when you have people who will listen to you it is in part your responsibility to make sure that you are not sending dangerous messages to your following. If you have a following of millions and you direct your vitriol towards people with significantly fewer followers on social media you set a dangerous precedent of bullying people. Sometimes your fans are waiting for an opportunity to harass people on your behalf. Please stop enabling that by refusing to self-reflect. The shit that marginalized groups receive is far worse than anything that you have to deal with. Playing up the falseness of “Cancel Culture” or whatever alternative term you use is inherently an ego driven perspective.
When all this is said and done I would like to see a reduction of the term being thrown around constantly. I would like for people with large platforms to be careful of what they say. Your loud presence can be such a force for positivity if you put in the work. Don’t let your ego allow you to focus on attacking those that you deem a threat and don’t use “cancel culture” to justify your harassment campaign. Be the force for good that you want to see in the world and I promise you that your life will be infinitely better for doing so.
Thank you so much for your continued support of my work. Please feel free to react and share if you like the things that I have to say.
