How cancel culture has shifted and impacted the way we shame one another.
"The world is messy. There are ambiguities. People who do really good stuff have flaws."
- Barack Obama
One thing is for certain: we are all human. And being human implies that you are also going to make your fair share of mistakes. But please note the word mistake.
Mistakes, in my definition that I will be using throughout this article, are issues that may cause unintentional harm, confusion, or offensiveness to others.
These are issues where the speaker or author's intention is good, but the way they phrased their words unintentionally hurt someone else.
Twitter is a breeding ground for toxicity. Every mistake, or simply action, that a celebrity, musician, comedian, or politician commit, there will be an equally prominent selection of the population chastising them.
It is wise to question the morals of people who conduct repeated, intentional cruelty. People who are held accountable to the intentional disregard for humanity or the wellbeing of others may start to realize the depth of their choices.
Accountability is, without a doubt, an important thing when it comes to talking about some of the ignorant or morally-questionable decisions that a lot of celebrities seem to make on a day to day basis. But does holding someone accountable mean attempting to end their entire career, regardless of the scale of their mistake?
There is no excuse for racial, homophobic or sexist talk in today's society, and that is as it should be. However, if cancel culture only targeted this sort of behaviour, that wouldn't be an issue.
Instead, cancel culture often focuses on smaller instances of either unintentional mistakes, or simply a differing perspective they deem as offensive or "wrong".
These people are dictating, and prescribing, what is "wrong" and what is "right".
The equally dangerous thing about Twitter and other social media platforms is the psychological phenomenon of groupthink.
Groupthink occurs when a group of people, usually with good intentions, are compelled to make certain decisions based off the behaviour of those around them. It is similar to peer pressure, in that it prompts people to conform to those around them. Another factor of groupthink is that it may not just affect people's actions - it may also affect people's thoughts.
Twitter creates groupthink as we see majority opinions over-dominating different perspectives or worldview. As individuals call out a celebrity for a decade old racist tweet that cannot be altered and has little to do with the person they have become, other people will rush to chastise them as they notice more and more people doing the same. Whereas an issue like that, which is unchangeable and was made by someone who has not made the same mistake since, is often better forgotten--just as an instance of careless behaviour when you were 16 shouldn't be burnt onto your back for the rest of your life--the instance the issue becomes public, people begin communicating their opinions. And the more opinions that fit the majority perspective on the issue, usually, the more people will contribute to that perspective, therefore creating an intense circle of shame.
People with a widespread platform typically are less likely to tweet something that lies against that majority perspective. Why? Mostly because they know it's better to be conformed to the general public's opinion, than to be publicly shamed.
This act of public shaming can be career ending for some, and that is where we get the term "cancelling". To "cancel" someone is to promptly attempt to end their career, their reputation, or their influence due to a mistake, or a series of mistakes, they have committed. They essentially want to strip the individual of any power or significance.
Prominent figures in social media often must maintain either a polarized view, or a mainstream view, in order to avoid being cancelled. By this I mean, most people on social media attempt to either speak out on an issue that has relatively equal amount of people on either side of the problem (e.g. abortion) as long as it fits into their target audience's perspectives, and also mainstream views, which are the views that most people dictate and deem acceptable in society.
To speak outside of these strict views can be detrimental to some.
So not only does cancelling affect the people doing the cancelling, making them more afraid of defending the accused in question, those who are accused of doing something questionable or problematic can often be good people who had zero intention to harm anyone.
Yet the minds of those with the need to shame these mistakes bind together and resist the need to understand the issue from the accused's perspective. We see many celebrities or mainstream influencers attempting to defend their actions but these people doing the cancelling aren't going to listen. If you do listen, often you would be in the minority, because groupthink prescribes conformity to the main argument, which is "you have made a mistake, and you should suffer accordingly for it, and there aren't any excuses." This merciless and often cruel way of treating others is, in my opinion, often worse than the accuser's actions. It spreads widespread shame, makes people afraid to speak their opinions freely, and results in a largely dominant worldview overcoming any smaller perspectives on the same issue.
My opinion on cancel culture, overall, is there are instances that it may be beneficial. For instance, sex offenders, blatant racists, or domestic abusers, along with other people who harm intentionally, deserve all the shame they can get, as they should be held accountable-- there's no defending these people.
But where does this shame end? Who should we shame and attempt to cancel, and when should we accept that people make mistakes?
Former president Barack Obama once spoke out in regards to cancel culture in a speech in Chicago.
"The idea of purity, and you're never compromised, and you're politically woke, and all that stuff--you should get over that quickly. The world is messy. There are ambiguities. People who do really good stuff have flaws," he stated.
I think Barack Obama stated it better than anyone else could have. Our obsession with being "woke" lays no area for compromise. Older generations who were not raised with these rules of political correctness often state unintentionally ignorant or offensive things, even if their hearts lie in the right place. People who were raised in households with different beliefs than the mainstream may state things that others may deem not okay in today's "woke" society. But is it right to want to completely strip these people of their reputations and careers, or spread shame in regards to these people ?
Not only that, but many experts believe that cancel culture doesn't even work. The problem isn't only the problematic behaviour itself, but what it reveals about society as a whole. You cannot just cut out everyone that says something that is mildly problematic. That's like putting a bunch of bandaids on a broken leg. It may look helpful at first glance, but it's obviously not going to fix the deeper problem.
Before you have the urge to instantly cancel someone, think deeper. Did the person intend to harm people with this mistake? And if they did, are they genuinely apologetic?
In 2018, Kevin Hart's old tweets which used homophobic language surfaced on Twitter, and many people attempted to cancel him for this. Kevin Hart, who was supposed to host the Oscars that year, stepped down from that position knowing of the fury in response to these tweets. Fellow comedian Billy Eichner came to Hart's defence, arguing about how he doesn't like cancel culture.
"I'm not into people being permanently 'cancelled' over something like this," he said on Twitter. "To me, 'cancellation' is childish. I'm into conversation, not cancellation. I'm into owning up to past mistakes, acknowledging blindspots and hurtful remarks, talking through it, discussing it, learning, moving past it and making progress together."
By cancelling someone immediately is to deny them opportunity to learn and grow from their mistakes.
Before cancelling someone, think less about the person's actions, and more about what they reflect on society and its problems. Look at the deeper issue. There are over 7 billion people on this Earth. If we try to eradicate or shame every single one who makes an ignorant mistake, we will get nowhere.
We as a society would do better to address the issue on a bigger scale and find ways to counteract it. This means fighting for the issues that matter to you, whether it is by donating, raising awareness, signing petitions, or joining protests.
And rather than shame or attempt to cancel someone for their action, whether on social media or in real life, take the time to politely educate them or help them gain understanding and awareness of the deeper issue.
Let's stop cancelling human beings. Instead, let's cancel the deeper issues and toxicity behind both their actions, and our own.
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