We Need to Stop “Cancelling” People and Here’s Why
By Lily Scheckner
By Lily Scheckner
If you are a student at Eastern Middle School, you’ve probably heard of something called cancel culture. This practice is defined as ostracizing a person, often online, and forcing them out of professional and/or social circles. While it has become quite common on various social media platforms, especially since the beginning of the pandemic, I believe this custom to be overtly harmful and not at all helpful in rectifying someone’s alleged offenses.
J.K. Rowling. Lea Michele. Chris Pratt. These are just a few of the many celebrities who have been “cancelled” throughout 2020. J.K. Rowling was called out for a series of transphobic tweets, Lea Michele for making racist remarks on the set of her hit show Glee, and Chris Pratt for supporting an infamously anti-LGBTQ+ church. People responded by calling the celebrities out on their admittedly offensive actions, which is totally justifiable. However, the problem with cancel culture does not lie in holding celebrities accountable--it lies in attacking the celebrities until they feel obligated to defend their (however misguided) views.
The psychology behind this lies in the theory of confirmation bias. According to Oxford Languages, confirmation bias is defined as “the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories.” Essentially, this means that people will ignore any information that does not support their ideas, which explains why people who are cancelled rarely back down--and if they do, it always consists of a half-apology written by managers trying to salvage their reputations.
There is also a second argument against cancel culture that, unfortunately, is rarely discussed, and that is the inherent bias that comes with deciding who gets cancelled or not. Despite the fact that many celebrities are cancelled over racist and sexist comments, people are quick to dismiss the fact that most, if not all, the cancelled are women. While celebrities like Kanye West, who’s questionable actions have ranged from interrupting Taylor Swift at the VMAs to running for President (although I prefer to think of that as a brief fever dream), continue to rise in popularity, the smallest mistake from even the most charitable of female celebrities can result in cancellation. For example, Jennifer Aniston is currently being criticized for a Christmas ornament that says “Our First Pandemic 2020.” People are saying it is making light of the pandemic, despite the fact that she has donated to COVID relief efforts, promoted small businesses, and encouraged wearing masks at every opportunity.
Explaining why someone is wrong can be a powerful temptation. It is even easier with an online identity, where you can hide behind a fake name and a private profile. But even if this grants you a bit of pleasure in the moment, cancel culture is a toxic practice in the long run. Not only is it rarely effective, it also comes with its fair share of prejudice. Without the benefit of communicating with someone one on one, I have no doubt that this mode of calling out celebrities will soon spiral out of control--if it hasn’t already.
Sources:
https://www.dictionary.com/e/pop-culture/cancel-culture/
https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110810104644335#:~:text=The%20tendency%20to%20test%20one's,might%20disconfirm%20or%20refute%20them
https://www.glamour.com/story/a-complete-breakdown-of-the-jk-rowling-transgender-comments-controversy
https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/lea-michele-glee-controversy-amber-riley-samantha-ware-1234625000/
https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2020/10/19/21523754/chris-pratt-avengers-fundraiser-for-joe-biden-and-twitter-denounced-him-christian-faith
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/10/real-problem-with-cancel-culture/
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6686064/kanye-west-taylor-swift-relationship-timeline/
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/9/29/wthh-kanye-is-still-running-for-prez/
https://www.insider.com/jennifer-aniston-christmas-pandemic-ornament-instagram-story-2020-12
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Pratt
https://time.com/4217718/jk-rowling-depression-harry-potter/
https://www.vulture.com/2020/07/ellen-degeneres-letter-to-staff.html
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2020-06-04/lea-michele-amber-riley-glee-samantha-marie-ware
https://www.vulture.com/2019/05/moby-on-being-politely-shut-down-ny-lana-del-rey.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54714660
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Crews
https://deadline.com/2017/07/anne-hathaway-barbie-movie-sony-1202135188/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoop_Dogg
https://www.vulture.com/2020/03/vanessa-hudgens-instagram-live-coronavirus.html
https://www.vulture.com/2020/03/evangeline-lilly-instagram-coronavirus.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyra_Banks
J.K. Rowling. Lea Michele. Chris Pratt. These are just a few of the many celebrities who have been “cancelled” throughout 2020. J.K. Rowling was called out for a series of transphobic tweets, Lea Michele for making racist remarks on the set of her hit show Glee, and Chris Pratt for supporting an infamously anti-LGBTQ+ church. People responded by calling the celebrities out on their admittedly offensive actions, which is totally justifiable. However, the problem with cancel culture does not lie in holding celebrities accountable--it lies in attacking the celebrities until they feel obligated to defend their (however misguided) views.
The psychology behind this lies in the theory of confirmation bias. According to Oxford Languages, confirmation bias is defined as “the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories.” Essentially, this means that people will ignore any information that does not support their ideas, which explains why people who are cancelled rarely back down--and if they do, it always consists of a half-apology written by managers trying to salvage their reputations.
There is also a second argument against cancel culture that, unfortunately, is rarely discussed, and that is the inherent bias that comes with deciding who gets cancelled or not. Despite the fact that many celebrities are cancelled over racist and sexist comments, people are quick to dismiss the fact that most, if not all, the cancelled are women. While celebrities like Kanye West, who’s questionable actions have ranged from interrupting Taylor Swift at the VMAs to running for President (although I prefer to think of that as a brief fever dream), continue to rise in popularity, the smallest mistake from even the most charitable of female celebrities can result in cancellation. For example, Jennifer Aniston is currently being criticized for a Christmas ornament that says “Our First Pandemic 2020.” People are saying it is making light of the pandemic, despite the fact that she has donated to COVID relief efforts, promoted small businesses, and encouraged wearing masks at every opportunity.
Explaining why someone is wrong can be a powerful temptation. It is even easier with an online identity, where you can hide behind a fake name and a private profile. But even if this grants you a bit of pleasure in the moment, cancel culture is a toxic practice in the long run. Not only is it rarely effective, it also comes with its fair share of prejudice. Without the benefit of communicating with someone one on one, I have no doubt that this mode of calling out celebrities will soon spiral out of control--if it hasn’t already.
Sources:
https://www.dictionary.com/e/pop-culture/cancel-culture/
https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110810104644335#:~:text=The%20tendency%20to%20test%20one's,might%20disconfirm%20or%20refute%20them
https://www.glamour.com/story/a-complete-breakdown-of-the-jk-rowling-transgender-comments-controversy
https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/lea-michele-glee-controversy-amber-riley-samantha-ware-1234625000/
https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2020/10/19/21523754/chris-pratt-avengers-fundraiser-for-joe-biden-and-twitter-denounced-him-christian-faith
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/10/real-problem-with-cancel-culture/
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6686064/kanye-west-taylor-swift-relationship-timeline/
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/9/29/wthh-kanye-is-still-running-for-prez/
https://www.insider.com/jennifer-aniston-christmas-pandemic-ornament-instagram-story-2020-12
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Pratt
https://time.com/4217718/jk-rowling-depression-harry-potter/
https://www.vulture.com/2020/07/ellen-degeneres-letter-to-staff.html
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2020-06-04/lea-michele-amber-riley-glee-samantha-marie-ware
https://www.vulture.com/2019/05/moby-on-being-politely-shut-down-ny-lana-del-rey.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54714660
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Crews
https://deadline.com/2017/07/anne-hathaway-barbie-movie-sony-1202135188/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoop_Dogg
https://www.vulture.com/2020/03/vanessa-hudgens-instagram-live-coronavirus.html
https://www.vulture.com/2020/03/evangeline-lilly-instagram-coronavirus.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyra_Banks