Who Will be the Next Victim?
Background Information
As we think about the phrase ‘cancel culture,’ the first thing that pops into most people’s mind is social media. This mindset has been evolved for the past several decades and is associated to be aimed to punish those who behave outside of what is deemed appropriate societal norms. As technology advances and social media platforms become more and more popular, people have been associating this term with the growing movement to curb celebrities or companies that go against what is deemed politically correct in our society today. In recent cases such as with Mike Lindell, J.K. Rowling, and Ellen DeGeneres, there seems to be similar behaviors that lead to a larger problem that us as a human race face. While the phrase ‘cancel culture’ today can be based around social media, the phrase itself originated far before even the creation of the internet. The Washington Post that the term “cancel” is just one word taken from Black culture that has been brought into the white mainstream media. The term was used back in the early 1980s by legendary artist Nile Rogers to describe unaccepted behaviors, but obviously the term has ventured long and far from that point.
Past and Present Victims
Aside from just the term ‘cancel,’ to define the phrase ‘cancel culture,’ it’s the phenomenon of promoting the canceling of people, brands, shows, and movies, due to what some consider to be problematic remarks or ideologies (NY Post, 2021). Ethically, there are many questions that can be asked to question the logistics of the origin of the term and who decides who is ‘cancelled’ or not. To begin to evaluate those ethicalities, we look into real world examples where people fell victim to this phrase. Mike Lindell was ‘cancelled’ due to his support for President Trump and his reelection efforts, as well as driving the theory that Biden only won due to voter fraud. He was photographed with the former President days before he left office, drawing massive criticism due to Trump’s reputation. Here in this case, we see where the blame of this phrase is put upon not just social media itself but rather a certain group of people, the Democratic party. Republicans such as stated in the previous article, have put blame on the opposing political party for the reasons of “never being able to disagree with Democrats without them trying to ‘cancel’ you” (2021). Such political figures such as Eric Trump labeled the situation with Mike Lindell not an instance of cancel culture but rather “a good old-fashioned boycott” (2021). Other cases though point to a different conclusion around where to shift that blame.
The next case we evaluate has to do with the well-known author J.K. Rowling. She was criticized for a tweet she posted supporting a researcher who was fired from her job for posting transphobic tweets. Following this dilemma, she tweeted out a link to an open letter she wrote denouncing the ‘cancel culture’ climate that was backed by over one hundred and fifty public figures. Like seen in the last case with Mike Lindell, instead of placing blame on social media itself or generalized society, she argued about political commitments people have that weaken our norm of open debates around subjects of discussion. So far, the blame of introducing this term of ‘canceling’ someone isn’t so much society itself but rather around capitalism. People are given the choice of freedom of speech, allowing different people’s opinions to sway in the direction they feel is right. That is why such things as trends are so popular in our everyday world, because a majority of people back one object or understanding which makes it the popular or right way to go about things. The blame cannot be so much shifted on one political party or the other like stated in the last case, for J.K. Rowling has publicly stated her favor towards the Democratic party. The blame needs to be placed upon a broken system, where people feel the need to pick one side or the other instead of having open honest debates around subjects of controversy.
One of the final cases we look upon recently has to do with the famous talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. Her controversy came after allegations of her treating the staff of her show very poorly. Several former employees of her came out and spoke against her manipulation towards a number of staff members, despite her message of her show being to be kind to one another. Several celebrities since have come out speaking about their experiences on the show, stating that Ellen and her team have treated them with nothing but respect and kindness, but these statements seem to be contradictory. These feelings that current and past employees of the show have faced are being invalidated by more well-known figures because they hold greater power. That’s the big picture behind this whole concept of ‘cancel culture,’ power which can be gained through majority or status is what drives public opinion. In our democratic, capitalistic society in which we live in today here in the US, freedom is limited by power. Freedom of speech is acknowledged as a right but is infringed or criticized when someone deviates from that majority or where the power lies.
Ethical Evaluation
Ethically overlooking the subject, an important principle to keep in mind is Rawl’s Veil of Ignorance. This states to place yourself in the position of those your decisions may influence. This not saying that this is the overlying principle behind ‘cancel culture’ itself, as other ethical principles such as the Golden Rule, and Aristotle’s Mean also applies here. The Veil of Ignorance just is a beginning towards explaining and ruling where punishments may lie and creating a mindset within others to think before you act. This all brings to a final conclusion around whether or not ‘cancel culture’ is in fact true, and if so if these people that are ‘canceled’ stay that way. Celebrities such as the ones listed above like Mike Lindell, J.K. Rowling, and Ellen DeGeneres all victims to this culture aren’t actually in fact cancelled. Ellen is still hosting her talk show where she then goes back to her multi-million-dollar home, along with Mike Lindell and J.K. Rowling. It all questions whether or not this culture is even real or not, or whether is it just a name to put on privileged figures being called out to be held accountable for their actions. Where paths cross seems to be a similarity within political division that is played out in American society. Whether you are a supporter of the right or left side, there always seems to be division and finger pointing when it comes to subjects of controversy or disagreements. Social media and the general public aren’t to blame for creating this toxic society of ‘canceling’ one another, but rather it’s our inability to hash things out in an open debate. We are quick to point fingers and jump on the popular side of any discussion, when instead we should be encouraging freedom of speech through open conversations about subject areas. ‘Cancel culture’ is toxic and is a lingo that needs to be left in the past instead of being mixed together with our mainstream media.
