IS FORGIVENESS
AN OPTION?
Why celebrities and fans alike should learn from the Astroworld Festival tragedy NORMAN CHOW writer
W
ith the recent tragedy at Travis Scott’s concert in Houston, Texas, where eight lives were lost, a swarm of online discussion blamed the artist for the incident. Because of this, debates over the idea of forgiveness have spread throughout social media. Scott has made his brand around inciting crazy behavior in his fans during his performances, which was the cause of the casualties. Nearly 40 minutes after the Houston police identified the concert as unsafe, Scott continued performing despite ambulances attempting to navigate through the enormous crowds at the show. After the tragedy, Scott took his apology to social media and has offered to pay the funeral costs of those who died during the event. H e has also refunded all pay ments for the c o ncert tickets and partnered w i t h
a therapy program for those concert attendees. Although Scott has apologized and taken measures to show his remorse, the public still finds it hard to forgive him. In recent years, the idea of “cancel culture” has been highly prevalent. When celebrities are exposed for some wrongdoing, the public often attempts to boycott their work so the celebrity cannot benefit financially and socially from their elevated status. Howe v e r, this mentality is unproductive and, in the end, amounts to very little in correcting what the person has done. Rarely does society use these incidents as a means of learning and correcting mistakes, and more often, we forget what happens, and we are bound to repeat the same mistakes in the future. The best way forward is to hold artists to a higher standard. B y having supporters who expect celebrities to behave in a certain way and prioritize their fans’ wellbeing, artists like Tr a v i s Scott can e n sure the safety of those who a t tend. And what if they still mess up? Instead of boycotting their work to forget about the incident af-
ter some time, fans should teach their idols to learn from their mistakes. People are prone to errors, even the famous. When celebrities, like Scott, do terrible things, there is always a way forward: they should be taught that they have done wrong. Only when someone learns from their mistakes and shows that they have genuinely changed can we forgive them. Boycotting their work does nothing to fix past wrongdoings and doesn’t teach them to improve from their mistakes. The easiest way to move forward from a catastrophic event such as the Astroworld concert is to begin holding the artist to a higher standard. When artists commit wrongdoings, we should teach them never to repeat the same mistakes and move forward. Forgiving someone in a situation where people have lost their lives is always difficult, and it isn’t always possible. But we can always move forward and set future standards so that the same mistakes never happen again
