Where do we draw the line on Cancel Culture?
It is true that we have been coming across a lot of celebrities and known faces to have been getting cancelled because they said something on social media that they shouldn’t have or because their past has come to the foreground in the present.
However, where exactly do we draw the line on cancel culture? I remember idolizing some people who used to make such great content on social media, like podcasts and YouTube videos. Most of us have grown up seeing these people garnering content for people like us so that we are able to relate to them as a community.
Cancel Culture as rhetoric is applied to celebrities as a form of backlash for saying something morally or politically incorrect. They are then cancelled, meaning that their art is no longer recognised.
A good example of this is AIB. It was a Mumbai-based comedy association that started out very well. However, with the cancel culture that took place, many of these comedians faced enormous backlash and lost most of their careers. I am not here to justify whether what they did was right or wrong. I am sure they have made enormous mistakes in the past. However, is it right to snatch away the entire art from them?
Another example includes Ellen DeGeneres, who was supposedly “cancelled” following reports of the mistreatment of her workers.
The question comes into effect in reality when this same concept must be applied in smaller circles, such as our friendships, families, or any other relationships we deem valuable to us.
Cancel culture is almost like taking someone out because they have a different taste in music. So how should we react when differences go beyond preferences when they have to do with real-life issues?
Yes, there are people who are problematic, like alpha propagandists who abuse and speak ill of marginalized communities. They are extremes that are instantly reported if and when people come across them.
But then there are famous actors and public figures who do not usually intentionally say something incorrect out of spite. What if these opinions have to do with someone’s take on mass incarceration or misogyny? This is where I believe compassion comes into play, at least to a measured extent.
Some people may argue that just because the information is easily accessible, all of us should be well-informed and hold a similar threshold of opinion. However, it is necessary to understand that some people take time to learn and acknowledge new changes.
Now imagine having an argument with your own parents. Is it possible in your wildest dreams to have them in the same boat as you? Is it possible to make them learn certain things that they are probably incapable of learning as of now? But if we do try planting a few seeds, maybe they will adapt gradually.
Would you be able to cancel your own parents though? No.
Because this only exists in the digital world.
Replace Cancel Culture with Compassion
I remember indulging myself in a discussion of sorts with a right-winger. He was very adamant about his views and opinions. He was unable to grasp what I was trying to say, not because he didn’t understand my point of view but because there was a whole bunch of people attacking his views and opinions. No one likes to be put in that situation; no one likes to feel disregarded.
I had a conversation with him later, spoke to him with compassion, and listened to his side too. This is called “middle ground”.
If our generation can master the art of finding the middle ground and helping people with resources, it would be a much better place to live.
That doesn’t always imply that we should be overly kind. I believe in being stern and at the same time finding my way out when I see that the other person is not ready to listen.
The only solution to this is that we must be able to comprehend whether an individual deserves the compassion that they are receiving and whether we, as a society, should give them another chance. We should stand together as a community and help these individuals through kindness, not animosity.
Otherwise, this will only lead to a worse kind of vicious cycle.
