Cancel Culture’s History in America: How it started vs. How it’s going
The Beginning of Cancel Culture
Being “canceled” seems to be the hottest trend in media. Actors and actresses, musicians, writers, books, movies and TV shows, characters, brands, organizations, and much more are being canceled due to offensive or problematic remarks and/or behaviors. When someone or something is canceled, they become culturally blocked from the public. In extreme cases, careers have been ended and reputations ruined. In lighter cases, people boycott the work of a person or business, or a person or business loses some of their credibility. But cancel culture isn’t a new phenomenon, it has roots throughout human history.
Dr. Jill McCorkel, a professor of sociology and criminology at Villanova University, shared with the New York Post that “Societies have punished people for behaving outside of perceived social norms for centuries…cancel culture is an extension of or a contemporary evolution of a much bolder set of social processes that we can see in the form of banishment. They are designed to reinforce the set of norms.” Someone or something becomes canceled when their words or actions seem to not fit with what society says is right or ethical. By acting outside the set of social norms, many celebrities and businesses have reaped the consequences of their remarks or actions by being canceled.
Cancel culture has changed so much since its beginning. At first, it looked like banishing or removing a person or thing from society. It then morphed into people boycotting a business or organization, like in the 1950s and ’60s during the Civil Rights movement. Online the term “canceled” was first used as a reaction to someone doing something you disapproved of, but has now turned into a way of responding to not just friends and family but also celebrities and businesses whose behavior has offended you. Cancel culture is an extension of “call-out culture.” Call-out culture happens when people only point out problems, whereas cancel culture points out the problem and tries to punish the person or business who caused and/or escalated an issue.
An issue has arrived since cancel culture took on its current form of blocking someone or something from a society based on what they’ve said or done. It’s unclear whether it has become a tool of social justice or a form of intimidation. Is society trying to fix issues and hold people accountable for their actions or cause fear in celebrities and businesses by using their power to take away their status? It appears that an apology is no longer enough to atone for actions, forgiveness has become unattainable. Accountability seems to be the underlying theme of the recent cancellations in pop culture. Powerful and popular people seem to lack real consequences for their actions, now people are trying to hold them accountable. Many current examples of a celebrity being canceled are due to past actions or remarks being brought up. Eminem, Dr. Seuss, Morgan Wallen, and Jimmy Fallon have all gone through or are going through the process of being canceled. Each of these cases are similar but have all ended very differently.
What Cancel Culture Looks Like Today
Eminem has been receiving backlash from his 2010 song, “Love the Way You Lie.” The song features a lyric: “If she ever tries to f***ing leave again, I’ma tie her/to the bed and set this house on fire.” This line has imagery promoting assault in a relationship and Gen Z is not happy about it. Someone posted a video on Tik Tok that featured the song and text that said, “Yesssss lets cancel him.” Eminem has released other controversial songs in the past, it has now become a staple of his career. The original video calling for Eminem to be canceled has been deleted, but this video created a conversation among millennials and Gen Z. The people supporting Eminem (millennials) far outweigh the people calling to cancel him (Gen Z).
Why were these controversial lyrics brought up now and not back in 2010? Why cancel Eminem now, way after his career has taken off? The main argument from the side supporting Eminem is that there are way worse songs now than this. Back in 2010, people were way laxer about lyrics like these, content like this wasn’t as sensitive as it is now. Accountability is the main goal behind cancel culture, but what are people trying to hold Eminem accountable for? If he can’t use offensive language or imagery in his songs, does that mean no one can?
Six Dr. Seuss books will stop being published due to “racist or insensitive imagery”. The six books include Mulberry Street, If I Ran the Zoo, McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat’s Quizzer. Dr. Seuss had even been accused of white supremacy for a “preponderant influence or authority demonstrated by White characters over others…portraying [Middle Eastern, Southeast Asians, South Asians, and East Asians] cultures as exotic, backward, uncivilized.”
Social media became a battleground over the decision to cancel the six books. Why is now the time to remove these books? They have been around for years with over 600 million copies of Dr. Seuss’s books sold. This recent cancelation is humorous because Dr. Seuss was a man on the Left. He has devoted books to educating kids about the “budding environmental movement of the early 1970s,” he put aside writing children’s books to work as an editorial cartoonist during World War II, and he pursued other progressive causes. Why are these books okay to read 20 years ago, but not now? By taking Dr. Seuss's books off the shelf, are other books with the same imagery going to be held accountable as well?
Country music star, Morgan Wallen, has received heat after being caught on video say the n-word to one of his friends. Wallen recently released his new album “Dangerous: The Double Album” in early January and went out to celebrate the success of the album with his friends. He has apologized for his behavior and took a step back from the media. His label suspended his contract, iHeartMedia is pulling his music from their radio stations, he was deemed ineligible by the Academy of Country Music for the ACM Awards, and CMT is pulling his appearances from all its platforms. Many other country music stars and celebrities began condemning his behavior on Twitter. On the surface, it looks as if he was canceled, but his album is still #1 on the charts and sales are still increasing.
The idea that people can change after making a huge mistake has seemed foreign to those backing cancel culture. But Wallen has done numerous things since releasing his apology video to show that he is sorry and trying to better himself. He has taken time away from music, social media, and is trying to have conversations with Black Americans to understand more about the history of the n-word and why it is so hateful and traumatic. Has Morgan Wallen been held accountable for his actions? Should he have to lose his career in order to understand why his words and actions matter?
Jimmy Fallon was trying to be canceled after an old video of him on “Saturday Night Live” resurfaced. The 2000 “Saturday Night Live” sketch featured Fallon in blackface imitating Chris Rock. Fallon ended up only receiving backlash and wasn’t fully canceled, but this is another example, like Eminem’s case, where something was brought up from the past. Fallon has since apologized for his actions and fans backed him up by saying, “Jimmy Fallon did this 20 years ago when he was young and had to listen to his boss in order to put food on his table.”
After the initial threat of being canceled, supporters of Fallon went to Twitter to point out all the other celebrities who have worn blackface or engaged in racial skits. Fallon isn’t the only one who has done this, so why is he the only one being called out for it? This was also over 20 years ago, he has already apologized for his actions, why continue to punish him when he has had a pretty clear slate?
The Issue with Today’s Form of Cancel Culture
Cancel culture doesn’t have clear-cut rules on what is right or ethical, it’s based on society’s opinions and the nature of the society at the time of the cancelation. In order for accountability to actually work, there needs to be set standards for certain remarks and actions and how to ethically respond to them. It appears that cancel culture is just a form of intimidation with the intention of being a tool of social justice. Society is trying to fix issues and hold people accountable but it comes off as mean and unforgiving.
Is it worth digging up people’s past in order to hold them accountable? The Eminem and Jimmy Fallon cases are just a few where someone’s past has resurfaced. When does accountability start and how should we as a society go about treating a person or business that has done something upsetting? We don’t need to erase the past but should use it as a conversation on how we as a society want to deal with ethical issues. Forgiveness is the middle ground where we can meet people who have made mistakes. As a society, we should be able to forgive people for their past and move forward while also holding people accountable.
