I haven't touched on this topic yet, mainly because I wasn't exactly sure how to get my point across. Because this is such a touchy subject with people. The topic is cancel culture.
Let me say to start that I find the term "Cancel Culture" to be rather sterile. It's almost like it was born out of a corporate buzzword brainstorming session. Cancel Culture. Conservatives, who suddenly want to brand themselves as defenders and heroes of the first amendment, brand anyone they see fit as engaging in cancel culture. They like to call anyone that calls for so-called "cancelation" as soft, or a snowflake.
What we need to do is understand some historical facts, undisputed facts as they were. Conservatives fostered and nurtured cancel culture for decades. They tried to cancel Elvis Presley. They said Elvis' hip gyrations would cause young Americans to feel lusty desires. Ed Sullivan had to agree to film Elvis from only the waist up to appease those that called for the legendary T.V. show host to cancel Elvis' appearance. They even called for boycotts of the show's sponsors. They were ready to toss ol' Ed off the air simply because who he chose to have appear on his show. Their efforts failed, and Elvis went on, and was a success.
Then there was the Beatles. During their Yesterday and Today tour, John Lennon made the comment about the Beatles being "Bigger than Jesus". This led to a firestorm of protest by Christians and Conservatives. Radio stations were demanded to not play any Beatles music. In some locations, they made a spectacle of it. The conservatives would stage burnings of Beatles LPs and posters. The Vatican demanded an apology. Here again we have a cancel culture movement led by conservatives.
Then there was the movement to cancel Prince over the lyrics to Darling Nikki. When that was over, they moved on to Madonna, protesting over the video to the song Like a Prayer. The combination of burning crosses and Madonna kissing a saint that happened to be black was too much for conservatives. They demanded that radio stations quit playing the song, that stores stop selling the 45 single that was released. And that MTV stop playing the music video. Whereas the pervious protest bore little fruit, this one did a little damage. Madonna lost her endorsement deal with Pepsi. There was a boycott of all Pepsi products and Pepsi cut ties with Madonna. Though Madonna was able to keep the five-million-dollar fee, the protesters won, costing her an endorsement deal that could have netted her millions, beyond the five million fee.
Fresh off of that, Terry Rakolta, a conservative from Michigan, was offended by an episode of ...Married With Children. After a strong letter writing campaign, multiple sponsors pulled their ads, but the protest only made people want to see what the show was all about. However, the fact remained that we had a case of a conservative trying to cancel what they didn't like. Donald Trump is a prime example of the hypocrisy associated with cancel culture. The man that spent decades trying to cancel others was suddenly aghast at the idea of cancel culture when it set its sights on him.
Cancel culture has been around for a long time, it's just metamorphized into other forms. From my point of view, cancel culture has become Frankenstein's monster. While some have tried to use to it hold other to accountability, others have weaponized it to remove what they personally find offensive. The advent of social media has just given it stronger legs. The main issue has been people jumping aboard a cancel bandwagon based on a few tweets without themselves doing the slightest bit of actual research. That is one of the dangerous elements we now face. Another element that has grown larger since the days of Ed Sullivan and Elvis. The irony that is lost on many people practicing cancel culture that if the tables were turned, they'd plead form a second chance. And that is why I referred to cancel culture as Frankenstein's monster. because everyone of us is one misspeak, one error, one error from our youth from being canceled.
No comments:
Post a Comment