The whole internet seems to be awash in cancel culture. From J K Rowling to Shane Dawson, everyone seems to have fucked up bad enough for their own fan base to turn on them. It feels like a very derisive split between people who think it’s a good thing, and those who think it’s ridiculous.
I am personally, on the side of largely thinking it’s a good thing. If someone has been really shitty, or are sharing an awful opinion with their fan base, I do think they deserve to be ‘cancelled’. I don’t think people who are transphobic, racist, homophobic, or otherwise shitty in a way that comes down to human rights and moral views, not just they screwed up one time, should get to have a fan base.
However, I don’t think these people should be attacked. If I cancel something I’ve ordered, I don’t then send emails calling the thing names, I cancel it and move right on. That’s what I think we should be doing. Cancel them, and move on.
I also don’t think people who choose to remain fans of these people should be attacked for doing so. It’s perhaps not the best idea, and I agree that in all likelihood these people probably have the same opinions, but they’re not spreading it to a fan base, and they most likely picked it up from the people they’re fans of in my opinion.
I think most people online could do with learning that you can only decide what you do. I’ve stopped supporting J K Rowling and Shane Dawson amongst others, but if I went after everyone I saw that still supports them, I wouldn’t have much time for anything else, and it’d be very stressful.
It seems to me, and this may be controversial, but most people who are against cancel culture seem to be people that have done or said things they could be cancelled for.
I also know from personal experience that some people with an online presence absolutely deserve to be cancelled. As someone who was manipulated and gaslit by another blogger, who then tried to claim it was me that had done that to them, I’d love to see them cancelled and not have to see people praising them without knowing what they’re really like. Sure, that ones petty, but that’s my point!
When people have done waaaaay worse stuff than that, I absolutely think cancelling them so they cannot continue is the best thing to do, but it should be a less aggressive decision, and more of a joint choice to all ignore them.
I’d love to hear your opinions on the matter!
-Dana
Carry on Beautiful! 