“Cancel Culture” and Responsibility

Let’s be clear from the start: the term “cancel culture” is bullshit.

The idea behind “cancel culture” is nothing new — Mel Gibson was canceled long before the term was coined. Thirteen years ago Michael Richards get himself cancelled for spewing racist bile at a heckler. Sixteen years ago some fools tried to cancel the Dixie Chicks for a (mild) political statement. Hell, Hollywood cancelled Errol Flynn in the 1950s after one too many “bad boy” stories about underage girls.

The reason the phrase has been coined today is that there are more cases in the news. And why, you ask, are there more cases? Are people behaving so much worse than of yore?

No. We’re just giving fewer celebrities a pass for shitty behavior. It’s what happens when you choose to believe survivors.

Remember 30 years ago, when everyone started decrying “political correctness?” That was that era’s reactionary label for trying to cut offensive stereotypes out of our everyday language. It was such a successful re-branding of “not being an asshole” that it’s still used today to claim colleges and universities are being oppressed if professors can’t make ethnic jokes or misgender their students. Republicans use it to decry their inability to make racists or sexist jokes. “Political correctness is out of control!” No, you just want license to be a raging ulcer on society without being called out.

The phrase “cancel culture” serves the same function. The label is a reactionary response by…