Blog Discussion| Is Cancel Culture Idiotic?

If you’ve been on TikTok or any other social media platforms, you must have heard of the cancel culture phenomenon. I might have an unpopular opinion, but I felt the need to share my thoughts regarding this particular subject.

I am not the biggest fan of cancel culture, but I agree that the majority of the things that get cancelled are problematic or harmful. The not-so-good part of this movement comes when it stops to be specific, and general things are suddenly becoming problematic. Let’s take the men as an example. I get it when people say that men are cancelled, which is a joke. There is a lot of misogyny and a lot of awful things that men have done to women and minorities, but not every single one of them is bad. Not every man is evil and not every man deserves to be put in this bucket.

Let’s move forward to J.K. Rowling. I know that she said a lot of awful and transphobic things, and trust me when I say that I do not support her, but do we have to cancel Harry Potter too? The books have always been disturbing, and just because you, as a ten-year-old, weren’t able to see, it does not mean the problematic part of the book did not exist. That Asian character in the book series was always named Cho Chang, the teachers always used to abuse the students and so forth, yet none of you pointed it out before J.K. Rowling started being transphobic. You can not cancel a book series that shaped the lives of so many people by snapping your fingers. Instead of doing that, you could stop buying official merch and new books. In this way, you are not directly supporting J.K. Rowling, while still enjoying your favourite book series. By doing that none of the income gets into her pockets.

Now, let me tell you my biggest problem regarding cancel culture; it pushes and rejects all of the undesirable things as a final solution. If you ask me, it is not the right way to approach the situation. I get it, and I know that the harmful and problematic are painful to be around, but there is knowledge you can gain from it. Think about it this way; if you keep pushing down the bad, you are not going to resolve anything. Is just like hiding dirt under the carpet. The filth won’t disappear, as it remains under the rug. Plus, that dirt attracts bugs, and when they start to appear, the realisation that you did more bad than good emerges. The problem gets worse, but you are getting the impression that it does not because you can not see it.

We should try as much as possible to use the knowledge we have to create a harmonious life for everybody. We shouldn’t try to hide the ugly. Let’s recognise the problem and try to solve it together, without hurting anybody!

What do you think about this? Do you have the same opinion as me, or see this issue differently? Comment down below your thoughts.