To a certain extent cancel culture is being used to degrade people for personal attention from other viewers. Racism is another topic where cancelling is appropriate, so where do we get off hurting others online unnecessarily, because we don’t agree with their taste in music or sense of fashion.
What is Cancel Culture?
Cancel Culture is a dangerous trend that has been around since 2014, because of the hit television series “Love & Hip Hop: New York,” according to CBSN reporter Christopher Britto.
“In 2020, there’s one c-word more politically charged than coronavirus: cancelled,” said Britto.
Cancel culture has always existed in a way, but we’ve given it a name in recent years. Nobody is safe, because of how high the sensitivity for this generation has climbed since the last generation.
The #[person]isoverparty became a trending default hashtag on Twitter where celebrities popped up daily for incriminating evidence they were being held accountable for, strictly out of boredom during quarantine.
The influence that the internet has on Gen Z has created a major divide today where if you’re not cancelling people on social media, you are part of the problem. Or is this Gen Z’s influence on the Internet?
Fame or Lame.
Imagine being famous one day, then waking up the next day finding out your career, and social life is hanging on by a thread, because of a mistake you made years before.
Popular YouTube star Shane Dawson has made his appearance on the video social channel around 2008 creating funny, but questionable content.
Dawson created skits where he would make content based around the idea of racism. He managed to create multiple personas he takes on within his skits portraying blackface, stereotyping minorities, and using racial slurs referring to the black community.
During that time many people would have considered this a part of dark humor, but as time progressed dark humor didn’t save his case. The videos didn’t age well, particularly as society moves toward honest conversations about systematic racism.
As his videos resurfaced this year Twitter users have been fighting to get his videos demonetized, and his YouTube account banned.
His last video titled “Taking Accountability” was uploaded on June 26, 2020 adressising his offenses and racial remarks that he constructed.
In response to his video, popular gossip channel Hollywire commented: “How did someone not catch this?”
Many fans began unsubscribing and trolling him on twitter saying vile and unimaginable things, that no person would want to hear. Brand deals began to cut all ties tracing back to Dawson, close celebrity friends began ghosting him, and youtube took action demonetizing all his videos within his three channels.
Saturday Night Live (SNL) a show known for pushing boundaries along the offensive side of comedy had to also deal with it’s own cast member Shane Gillis, whom they fired after videos of him ridiculing Asians on his podcast resurfaced Mid September 2019.
Although he, “was funny enough to get on SNL,” he said. His big debut did not last long.
#TikTok is over party
The form of entertainment today has escalated as far as what social media app most people use.
TikTok the beloved Gen Z app was great in the beginning, but has taken a major decline once popular creators and new creators began sexualizing Disney trends, appropriating culture, and spreading racism on the platform.
Popular creator Addison Rae, also known as Addison “Raecist” has been cancelled due to a live stream she conducted with a friend where she was seen whispering in his ear, “say the N-word.”
Many fans have taken screen recordings and made videos trolling her on the internet as “the racist girl from the south.”
Since then Addison has received much attention and began affiliating herself with problematic creators and celebrities such as, Tony Lopez, The Kardashians, Lil huddy, and Nikita Dragun.
Problematic creators on high platforms that have affiliated their fame with racism and drama with other popular creators on their platforms.
Tony Lopez, another popular Tikok creator was repeatedly exposed online for flirting with minors through their personal DMs on Instagram and Snapchat with prior knowledge of their age.
Fans once again took to twitter #TonyLopezisoverparty with tweets saying “if you simp for tony lopez I will disrespect you,” and, “ How does tony lopez get girls to be around him like ur hanging around a pedo…”
On the rise to fame new tik tok creators have tested the waters, but have no luck shining in the limelight. Through desperate measures they result in video collaborations with problematic stars that live in viewers’ minds rent free inviting viewers to cancel them and anyone supporting them.
A highly favored creator on the platform Duke Depp cosplays as Tim Burton’s popular character Willy Wonka.
As Willy Wonka he partakes in various trends with friends he meets across the platform for fun. One month ago he was cancelled simply for commenting “Nice hair,” on the brother of Tony Lopez’s page Ondreaz Lopez.
Now in contrast to his brother Ondreaz has not conducted any derogatory actions online that would result in him being cancelled by viewers, but sadly he is cancelled for associating with people who are cancel worthy.
Cancelling people for their small connections to stay relevant is inconsiderate and time consuming. Who wakes up and decides “yeah i’ll make up something to get people to join me in cancelling them.” said student Maria Gonzalez.
As a society we’ve dug ourselves a deep hole seeking validation from people online. Hate has been accentuated into a whole new level where it can be seen as a form of online bullying.
We can’t cancel every celebrity that breathes the wrong air. In other words holding people accountable to their past actions is understandable to a certain extent.
Nowadays teens and young adults have dipped their toes into dark humor that revolves around suicide, self harm, and racism within their own race as a joke.
Where is the cancellation in that? The problem is there isn’t.
So who’s really cancelled? Celebrities apart of the hype or the generation indulging in it?