What does it mean to be cancelled? Well, the exact definition is to decide or announce that (a planned event) will no longer take place. But in today’s society, it means something completely different. To be “cancelled” today is to remove public support from public figures in response to their behaviour or opinion. Essentially it’s to hate on anything related to that person whether it be them, their work or pretty much anything they do. But before you get too comfortable, cancelling does not just happen to someone in the public eye. This can happen to someone like you or me. The term “cancel” derives from medieval Latin- meaning to cross out. Pretty much this is exactly what happens to people today if they cross certain lines. It’s a massive informal boycott. Like a bandwagon, Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.

Cancelling started to take hold in recent years especially when the “me too” movement and other movements demanded accountability for people in the public eye. People who have been “ cancelled” often have a past behaviour that is unethical, illegal and wrong. This can also happen to someone if they do something to offend the public on a larger scale. So in reality is there such a thing as cancel culture or is cancel culture just another way of holding someone accountable?

So let’s get into it, is this positive or negative? Many will have contradictory opinions on the matter, which both sides have some sort of validity to them. There are many reasons someone could be cancelled and sometimes it’s for the better. It can serve as an outlet for changing social Norms. This made it apparent that no matter who you are, regardless of your position you still don’t have the power to challenge dominant opinions from the public. This has given more power to the people in the sense that they can take back some of the narratives in the media and news. Like never before we can interact and pose our opinions on bigger issues. We have so much more access and means of communication, making it more accessible to reach a broader audience.

Following the “me too” movement you see all these men like Harvey Weinstein which stemmed from the beginning of the movement, R.Kelly, Woody Allen or Bill Cosby along with others lives being destroyed because of their illegal and predatory behaviour. These cases were just the tip of the iceberg and started a way larger conversation about sexual assault in the industry and even in our everyday lives. This side of cancelling isn’t necessarily “cancelling” but like I said it is holding them accountable for their awful actions. To fully “Cancel someone” you need to cancel their legacy. Meaning to stop supporting them and their work.

When Louis CK admitted to being inappropriate in front of other female comedians he was dropped by HBO, Netflix and his agency but is still selling out comedy shows. Or when Kanye west stated that slavery was a choice but remains one of the highest-paid celebrities. Or when Harvey Weinstein showed up to a female comedian show and when she asked HIM to leave SHE got booed. So does this mean someone can be fully “cancelled “ or does this just mean it’s a term with no backbone?
On the contrary, this can play on both sides, Cancel culture can be a toxic place too. This can be like good versus bad. You can’t have a free-thinking society where people are afraid to say what they think for fear of persecution.

An example of this would be in 2003 when “The Chicks” formerly known as “The Dixie Chicks” stated that they did not support the US invading Iraq and were ashamed that the president at the time Geoge W. Bush was from Texas. After this statement they had immense backlash and were blacklisted from all country radio stations in the US, the band members received thousands of death threats and their record sales plummeted. They didn’t say republicans suck or that they hate the military, they just merely disagreed with a war that was based on false pretence. There is a fear of expressing an opinion for fear of the backlash that might be perceived as unpopular. What used to be room for healthy debate and discourse both publicly and privately is now either your with us or against us.

This also leads us to today’s society where getting cancelled is very “in” at the moment. Every day In the media I hear about how all these new people are being cancelled for even the smallest incidence. When did it become so popular to cancel someone on their cringe-worthy behaviour, lack of style or poor sense of humour? When you look at people like Gal Gadot and everyone who took part in that rendition of “imagine” they were all put through the wringer by the media. Why? Because it was extremely painful to watch and because they are all insanely tone-deaf? Or because they had caused offence to the public. Another example would be couples like Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas or Shawn Mendes and Camilla Cabello for their intolerable love and PDA. These are all examples of the media seeing cancelling as a humorous joke and essentially boycotting these celebrities for their toe-curling ways.

Cancel culture has affected even me from potentially wanting to pursue something that would bring attention to Myself in fear of being cancelled. I’m even nervous that I’m not doing my best to stay neutral in fears of being “cancelled”. The bifurcation of society has split things into such a divide whether it’s right or wrong. As an example, there is such a huge social construct surrounding republican or democratic and things just seem to be very black and white. It seems to be that there is only one way or no way. The internet has this mob mentality which can be extremely detrimental. It can also be a dangerous term used by people in power facing these criticisms and blaming it on “cancel culture” when they can’t handle the heat.

“Cancel culture” can be many things. It can write many wrongs by taking bad people down but it can also be very harmful by silencing people for merely having an opinion whether it is popular or not. We as a society also need to step back and realize that people make mistakes and deserve an opportunity to learn, grow and evolve as human beings. Thus, cancel culture might exist, but it is not the pure work of cultural vigilantes, and it can take many victims. Cancel culture is multifaceted, but I feel like the most important aspect is the voice that it gives victims of abuse, racism and injustice to reclaim their power and for Justice to prevail.