This week in class we discussed the affects of cancel culture, and who is most impacted by it’s results. Rather than stating whether I agree with it or not, I’d rather focus on the fact that there is implicit bias involved in cancel culture that is based on race and power. If a person of color does something that deems they should be canceled, they are crucified to the fullest extent of social media, and that is something that I do not agree with. As I said in class, Dave Chapelle’s comedy special has and will continue to be perceived differently by viewers. We are in a time where the media cannot handle comedy or rap lyrics, as broadly as before. Personally, I understand distasteful comments, but if you try to put limits on someone’s creativity or life experiences--you limit the artist, and discredit any previous work they’ve done before.
Similarly, cancel culture gives people with fake screen names, the power to cancel someone that they don’t know personally. If we had all of our worst moments documented we would all be canceld, and unfriended by most. The ignorance behind certain situations has to be discussed, because some people genuinely do not know what is going on in the world. No matter how supportive and inclusive, or “woke,” you are--there is no way for you to know what is going on in celebrities lives 24/7, quite frankly--most people don’t care, and I think people are entitled to not care about certain comments a celebrity makes, because--you literally have the option to not support them, but recruiting strangers on the internet to boycott someone and potentially ruin their lives, seems a bit dramatic when you could just change how you view that person.
Overall, I do not think Dave Chapelle should have been canceled, and I can also understand that as a cis-gendered female, I may not ever understand. What I do understand, however, is Black culture, and the fact that Chapelle focused on how being a member of LGBTQ+ trumps being black, as well as any other marginalized group. Black people are the most disrespected, falsely incarcerated, and wrongfully killed race, so I don’t expect everyone to recieve what Dave said, but through his comedy he chose to pick on Queer individuals to highlight how serious that group is taken, and I personally believe him being “canceled,” further proves his point. As for my case study of JK Rowling--I do not believe she intended to hurt anyone, and I mentioned this in class, but I do think that growing up as a straight white woman or white man--comes with a lot of ignorance, and institutionalized beliefs. Furthermore, the era she grew up in explains a lot of her ideals. Further research allowed me to read the actual tweets, and they were distasteful, but she also made good points. Her only fault is projecting her trauma and bias on to trans-women, rather than being open to critisism
It's really hard to truly understand cancel culture because it might just happen. That's why more than ever one must be cautious about what we say and do because you might get canceled out of nowhere. I agree that Dave should not be cancelled, what he has done throughout his entire career really deserves all the recognition. But like you mention that you are talking from one's perspective and place in society. What I might find funny, or the truth might be offensive to others and obviously comments that he has done have truly offended people that at a certain level took them to cancel Chappelle. Great job, Mari!
Shamaria, I really enjoyed your analysis of cancel culture and how its complexity makes it hard to cover. I agree that in many instances the faceless masses are able to dictate the outcome of someone's life that they don't even know. This presents a positive and negative because it gives power to the people, but people can be malicious when they're given anonymity. I also agree that POC like Chapelle face harsher scrutiny in the public eye. At the end of the day, limiting someone's expression (so long as it isn't being actively destructive) is a net negative.