Calling Out Cancel Culture

I posted last week on Facebook regarding Cancel Culture, i.e. Sick. Of. It. I finally did this because Disney fired Mandalorian actress Gina Carano for her political opinion and began cancelling her out with defamatory statements. I then pulled my subscription to Disney+ in response, not for Gina Carano (about whom I know little) but AGAINST Cancel Culture itself, which seeks to destroy people for nonconforming thoughts. To paraphrase, in my post I said I was cancelling a canceller. So much for dramatic flourish! Like one of those tedious Captain Obvious commercials of yesteryear, someone essentially commented, “You used the word cancel twice in the same sentence, haw, haw.” Um, yes. Instead of using the word “boycott,” I made the stylistic choice for a little ironic wordplay. But, as the gotcha comments persisted in seriousness, as if I had been caught red-handed inside a faulty syllogism, I realized there might be an honest misunderstanding of terms among those of us in the conversation. We might simply mean different things when using the same word, Cancel. For some, the term “Cancel Culture” apparently carries no more weight than simply canceling a subscription service one might have. For me and for others who are against the phenomenon, the term “Cancel Culture” is loaded with enough weight to crush the soul of a nation—because it has many times throughout history. So, assuming anyone who disagrees and who has read this far is doing so in a good faith attempt at understanding my perspective, thanks and feel free to read on. We may never agree, but if we agreed all the time that wouldn’t be any fun!

(Alternatively, also feel free to join in by posting petty, mean-spirited memes about Gina Carano that precisely illustrate Cancel Culture itself with a “she should have known better” line of victim-blaming, which shows precisely what can be expected to happen these days if your thoughts deviate from the acceptable script by even one letter. So true! Preach it, meme gods.)

When I talk about Cancel Culture, I’m referring to the practice of de-platforming, defaming, financially ruining, erasing, shaming, slandering, and branding an individual for not sharing every single one of a very specific list of currently acceptable cultural beliefs, whatever they may be Right Now. (It’s hard to keep track of, even for proponents. Like the hypocritical Pharisees heaping new “sins” upon the people in Biblical times, more and more opinions are deemed beyond the pale and sinful as the days go by.) It’s the belief that anyone with a different political opinion should not be allowed to speak, they should not be heard, they should be shouted down and made outcasts never again to find meaningful work; we should go after their families; send death threats and harassment at all turns; dig up uncharitable quotes from high school and baselessly call them misogynists, racists, fascists. It is a ghoulish movement based on unforgiveness, sin, and division. There are many other branches to this, and I’m oversimplifying (it’s a blog post!), but these are the hallmarks of what I’m talking about when referring to Cancel Culture.

While Cancel Culture is a movement of the progressive “left” at this moment, it is a tactic that has been used by all sides throughout history. The “right” used it during the McCarthy era to ruin suspected communists, jail them, cast them out, impoverish them in every way. When taken to its most horrific degree, it results in not just “idea cleansing” but “cleansing” plain and simple, as in religious zealots burning through witches in Salem, or atheist zealots and the atrocities of their totalitarian governments of the last century. Cancel Culture is used as a tool of terror out of the terror of losing power. Oftentimes, and perhaps as the most cruel twist of fate, it cycles back around rather than dies out because a group of people has been truly oppressed, has now thrown off the oppression, and then gives into the temptation for revenge, rather than grace, falling into the evil they once overthrew.

I have not made a political post on social media in quite a long time. I don’t find it worthwhile. But last week, Disney fired and began defaming an actress for having political opinions they purport to disagree with. (Side note: It is difficult to know if they actually disagree with them, or if they are simply scared of not disagreeing about it in public. Cancel Culture may seem like freedom to proponents, but it is really a restrictive prison for them, which does not allow for false moves. The Culture eats its own and forgiveness is not seen as a virtue there, even when groveling apologies are issued.) Rumor has it that Disney had wanted to fire Carano for some time (again, merely because of political views), but the final straw came when she tweeted about the creep of totalitarianism, and how neighbor being led to hate neighbor is the first step in that system. With apparently no trace of irony, Disney then fired her and drummed up hatred for her by calling her anti-Semitic and intolerant of other religions. (Only in Disney’s America can you tweet about the evils of Nazi Germany and also be anti-Semitic! I guess someone should tell Ben Shapiro, who is Jewish and just hired Carano to produce her own movie.) You can make an argument that a private company can hire and fire whomever they want. But is there an honest argument to be made that it is okay for Disney to instantly come out and smear an actress’s character in one of the most despicable ways possible? Accusations of anti-Semitism? Abhorring other cultures and religions? Imagine how difficult it is for the wrongly accused to come back from such accusations, especially in light of the loudness and pervasiveness of Cancel Culture. (Spoiler alert: Lives have been ruined.) Meanwhile, Pedro Pascal, the star of the same show Carano got fired from, had made frequent online references to those who don’t agree with his politics as Nazis for years, and Disney has not so much as uttered a statement about it and he still has his starring role (as he should). Can an honest argument be made that Disney is justified in cancelling Carano but not Pascal…?

I usually let Cancel Culture slide without mention. “Cancellings” like this happen all the time. It’s the moment we’re in. But I was so revolted by the double standard and hypocrisy on display with Disney’s move last week with the defamation of those who don’t share their views, that I canceled my Disney+ subscription and posted about it on Facebook to let people know they aren’t alone if things like this bother them. I’ll still cherish memories of our family in Disneyworld, watch Disney films, pack my preschooler’s Minnie Mouse lunchbox each morning, celebrate the good things about their creations. But I’m not going to pay Disney any more money for a subscription to watch a show I love when they used that very show to embrace the bully tactics of Cancel Culture.

Unfortunately, Disney’s is only one of the most recent examples of a very long string of Cancel Culture character assassinations and trashings of people’s lives—and not only actors, but “regular” people, college professors, doctors, neighbors. Many people (from many political backgrounds) have spoken with me since my Facebook post and said they agree and are afraid to say anything in agreement online or anywhere else. Even if one doesn’t get “cancelled,” a commitment to Free Speech and open discourse will significantly lower your standing in the eyes of many, and instantly align you with every evil “ism” out there. I’m well aware people can’t believe what a confused, unenlightened rube I am because I don’t fit the mold and I’m “against accountability.”

What can we do rather than ruin/cancel each other out of fear? A better way to handle an opinion you don’t like is to use your free will, something we all have. If you didn’t agree with the actress in question, you could have A) ignored what she said because who cares, or B) stopped watching the show, or C) either A or B plus try to convince others of the wrongness of her views, not by destroying her or blocking her out, but by talking with people. (When Pascal made his Nazi comments, I chose “A.” Really, who cares.) Was the actress doing a poor acting job? Was she breaking laws? Espousing racist views? No? Then what business does Disney have firing her and making a statement defaming her, and yet keeping Pascal on? Why not simply let people decide for themselves if an actress’s views are worth their time or not? Would that be too freeing for the dumb, unwashed masses?

My friends supporting Cancel Culture refer to it as “accountability” or a similar term. And I agree that we do need to hold public figures (or any individual) accountable for harming others, breaking laws, lying, etc. Also, private companies can surely choose who they want representing them and hire or fire based on that. But neither individuals nor companies have the right to attempt to annihilate someone through slander because of differing political opinions. Trying to absolutely silence and then destroy someone’s life for holding a differing opinion is not the same as accountability. It is oppression. And it can happen to you, even if you’re sitting pretty on top of the Cancel Tower. All it takes is one “wrong” move.

How can we have some real accountability for crappy ideas? Wacky/loony/irrational/evil ideas have less chance of gaining a strong foothold in the marketplace of Free Speech—IF THERE IS FREE SPEECH. MORE speech is what rids society of poor ideas, not less. Debate, listening, discussion, forgiveness as opposed to throwing a tantrum and shouting people down or blackballing them; that’s the real cure. It keeps us on our toes. Makes us question, hone, evolve. Stuffing Play-Doh into our ears in the campus Safe Room just makes us incompetent, unempathetic, intellectually impoverished, and doomed to repeat the bad ideas of history—of which Cancel Culture is one.

There are many things on which honest and well-educated minds can disagree or be nuanced about. There are many topics on which the science is young and we don’t know what we don’t know yet. WE are very young, too, all of us. We don’t get many years. And there are also many topics which we can never fully grasp because they are of a spiritual nature and here we are on a physical plane. And it’s okay! I might be wrong on some things. You might be wrong on some things. Or we might both be a little right, who knows? We do not all have to think the same and agree on every single thing to be decent human beings. Likewise, if we disagree on some things or have some lame or even dangerous ideas, it does not necessarily mean we are any kind of “ist” (misogynist, racist, bigot……. ist….). Sometimes it does, but in the vast majority of cases it does not.

It’s Ash Wednesday. We all come from the same dust—even atheists agree on that. Let’s stop trying to bury people in it out of revenge and extend a little compassion, or at least a little “live and let live.” I won’t use the word “tolerance.” It’s bloodless, empty, sterile, dated. Kindness is pretty toothless and wishy-washy too, when it comes down to it.

Is love for neighbor too old fashioned and out of reach?