Has Cancel Culture gone too far?

Written by Anvitha Mattapalli, Ashmita Aannamalai and Grace Yoon. Edited by Harvi Karatha, Aarav Navani and Cindy Zhang. Layout by Leesha Pilla. Art by Evelyn Chen. Blogged by Asic.

While cancel culture bloomed from good roots, it has grown into something toxic and harmful. Cancel culture is a new version of ostracism where a member of society is banned from social and professional groups due to their views. On one side, cancel culture holds people accountable for their actions and ensures that they receive the necessary punishments. This becomes essential when these people are celebrities that have an incredible impact on society and future generations. Cancel culture originally began to strictly condone negative behavior and encourage equality and justice.

However, the consequences given as a result of cancel culture can get out of hand. Cancel culture prevents people from learning from their mistakes. It expects people to already be “woke” simply because a part of society is.

It fails to recognize that people aren’t “woke” by nature; it’s a lifelong journey that everybody is at different stages. Cancel culture holds the power to damage one’s life, relationships, and social status, and when this affects people who are trying to learn how to be “woke” , cancel culture goes from an attempt at justice to a high expectation.

As our current society surrounds itself with various discriminatory issues, being aware of what we think, say and do has become more important than ever before. However, an individual can only be so cautious when a certain level of ignorance rests in their mind. The cultural expectation is to be woke.

If you are not 100% 'woke' which is not possible for any human being) or if one thing you say or do is misinterpreted, you could get ‘canceled’ or ostracized. This can cause people to suppress their voice when dealing with major social and political pressures, which could lead to mental deterioration and dangerous thoughts.

Although cancel culture has been effective in calling out discrimination in regards to race, sex, age, religion and other demographic features, it has evolved into something much worse than a simple reprimand.

‘Cancelers’ do not take the extra time to understand the individual’s perspective and immediately begin bashing them while simultaneously encouraging the rest of society to do the same. Before violently expressing moral outrage, it’s important to read between the lines and consider to what extent the individual deserves to be held accountable for their misconduct.

No human being is born perfect. We all make mistakes, and when we realize them, we make an active effort to improve ourselves. As opposed to expressing hatred, helping the individual understand their mistake and providing them with accurate information will help nurture a “justice culture”: a better alternative to society’s burdensome “cancel culture. ”

Cancel culture refers to the practice of denouncing someone or something for being offensive by society’s standards. Most people would agree that people should be responsible for their actionsespecially if they are celebrity role models for younger generations. Cancel culture has gone from enforcing responsibility to a modernday witch hunt. For better or for the worse, cancel culture holds great power in society. The strength of cancel culture can destroy someone’s career, social life and more. Lately, people have been trying to “cancel” everyday people as well. Through the chilling powers of the internet, strangers could find someone’s school, job, age and address in a matter of hours.

However, some “canceled” people did deserve the public backlash for their irresponsible and offensive actions. A surprisingly high number of celebrities are getting no more than a slap on the wrist for a crime that would sentence others to jail.

For instance, David Dobrick got accused of raping a minor with his friends after purposely intoxicating her to the point of being unconscious. Although he denied all allegations, there was evidence brought to attention by his former fans. Unfortunately, they were all ignored in the investigation. Because of the public outrage, David Dobrick lost multiple brand deals and his plans for the co-founded app Dispo went into turmoil. Many more celebrities were rightfully punished by cancel culture in some way. For example, James Charles was ‘cancelled’ after " sexting " multiple minors.

The debate of whether or not cancel culture has gone too “toxic” is very tricky. On one side, many people were rightfully punished by the public when the law did not or could not: for example, black-face or any other discriminating acts. Cancel culture also holds great power. Especially with the lockdown, people have more free time, which can influence people to look for a reason to cancel people. Cancel culture should be a way of holding people responsible, and allowing them to learn and grow from their mistakes: not a way to punish anyone with a different opinion.

There are also limits to what cancel culture can do. Most times, celebrities are not really " canceled" ; they are just temporarily set back. It ranges from losing deals, opportunities, or receiving hate comments. For instance, J.K. Rowling could not be " canceled, " because she does not have a job where she can be fired from.

In contrast, cancel culture should not be " canceled" even with all its toxicity and restrictions. Without cancel culture, celebrities could get away with anything they want to do or say, even if it is incredibly offensive. Because " canceling " a celebrity can not be done alone, there isn 't a real threat to someone getting wrongfully punished. Also, the good that can come out of cancel culture is another reason why cancel culture can be a positive thing for our society. Cancel culture is an effective tool for combating sexism, racism and other types of discrimination that we often see on the internet. Whether or not cancel culture is good or bad cannot be answered because there are many pros and cons to weigh.

References:

D’amour, A. (2020, April 2). Cancel Culture: The Good, The Bad, & Its Impact on Social Change.

On Our Moon- https://onourmoon.com/cancel-culture-the-good-the-bad-its-impact-on-socialchange/#:~:text=Cancel%20culture%20has%20been%20incredibly%20effective%20at%20combating,getting%20away%20with%20doing%20or%20saying%20shitty% 20things.

Brown, D., & USA TODAY. (2020, July 17). Twitter ' s cancel culture: A force for good or a digital witchhunt? The answer is complicated. USA TODAY. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/07/17/has-twitters-cancel-culturegone-too-far/5445804002/