If there is one thing I love in my life, it’s drama. I have a lot of guilty pleasure in watching conflict unfold before my eyes. And what place is better to watch this drama unfold than the hellscape that is social media? Whether it’s #_____isoverparty trending on Twitter or Trisha Paytas uploading the billionth video of her complaining about someone on her kitchen floor, I am there to witness someone about to get canceled.
However, it seems like a lot of people don’t understand what cancel culture is. Recently, there was a series of columns that discussed whether Sen. Richard Burr should be canceled for his actions. After reading their articles, it seemed to me both writers were arguing if Sen. Burr should receive massive condemnation for his actions as a senator. Of course, who can forget the recent Dr. Seuss cancellation after Dr. Seuss Enterprises decided to stop publishing six books for racially insensitive content: A decision they made that wasn’t influenced by public outcry.
The thing is, cancel culture isn’t just expressing condemnation over someone’s actions. Cancel culture is a form of online vigilante justice. Not only does someone lose any social prestige they have, but it could have physical, monetary or legal consequences. Famous celebrities who have been canceled include R. Kelly, Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby and Kevin Spacey. These celebrities have lost all respect in the public eye, lost their jobs and some of them are in jail.
Cancel culture is supposed to hold people who have repeatedly abused their power accountable for their actions. However, it has been abused when people criticize others for something they did once in the past or go after unsubstantiated allegations. Here, we are going to discuss when it is appropriate to consider whether a person should be canceled.
The first thing to consider is whether the person in question has repeatedly done something offensive and refuses to apologize and correct their behavior. We have seen on social media where people have said something offensive five years ago. An example would be the James Gunn controversy, where he was fired from Disney over a series of inappropriate jokes he made on Twitter years ago.
While these jokes are horrible and disgusting, Gunn should not have been canceled over this. Gunn has apologized in the past for them and hasn’t been super problematic ever since. A problem with cancel culture is it doesn’t allow people to learn from their mistakes.
We have all said some horrible things in the past, intentionally or not. However, someone has taken us aside and discussed how what we did or said was harmful. If a person has apologized for their actions and learned from their mistakes, they shouldn’t be canceled.
Another thing we have to keep in mind is if the allegations are true. Oftentimes, when we hear someone has done something terrible, we like to bandwagon and shame that person to oblivion. However, sometimes there is new evidence brought to light that shows that person turned out to be innocent.
A famous example that will forever be in the Gen Z history books is the James Charles cancellation. For a recap, beauty YouTuber Tati Westbrook accused Charles for “tricking straight men into thinking they’re gay.” This caused the internet to label Charles as a sexual predator, and he lost over 3 million subscribers over one weekend. However, Charles uploaded a video explaining the interaction he had was consensual, clearing his name. It doesn’t help that, a year later, Westbrook released a video where she claims Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson manipulated her into making those claims.
One thing we have learned from that debacle is the beauty community is a mess. But the important thing is we have to hear both sides of the story. While I do think we should believe victims, we should question the accuracy of their claims. Although extremely rare, sometimes a person may have a deceptive ulterior motive to making those claims. We saw it when people questioned Westbrook’s vitamins in relation to her video, and we’ve seen it with the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard situation.
A problem with cancel culture is people easily jump onto allegations without hearing the full story first. This can sometimes lead to people canceling innocent people, which can cause lots of monetary, physical and emotional damage in the long run. If you are going to cancel someone, you need to hear both sides of the story and make a decision only if the allegations are proven to be legitimate.
Despite how cancel culture can be easily misused, it does have a place in society. It’s frustrating to see people misusing their power and going unpunished. Cancel culture is a reminder that people need to be held accountable for their actions. Keep in mind the best person to be canceled is one who has verifiably and repeatedly harmed others, not someone who said something offensive in the past or something you disagree with.
