Cancel Culture, Because Why?
Photographer: Cole Mowery
No, my friend wasn’t cancelled… I just liked the silhouette.
Cancel culture is now a regular part of life with the internet. The internet has the power to remember everything anyone ever writs online, and this level of permanence has given people the power to never forget. Cancel culture itself stems from the idea that people should be held accountable for the things they say and their actions, but in many ways, cancel culture has resulted in destroying lives over the worst things people have done. Sure, some people have done things that could be argued are worth being ostracized from society, but many people are being cancelled for jokes they made over 10 years ago, at a time when society wasn’t as concerned with the things people said or did.
I find myself in an interesting situation. I believe that people should be held accountable for their actions. I also recognize that humor has evolved, and that things that were funny 10 years ago, aren’t necessarily funny today. But there has to be a way to hold people accountable, and give them the opportunity to learn without destroying careers.
Aaron Calvin’s experience with the Des Moines Register establishes exactly why this is so important. Calvin was writing a profile about a local Des Moines celebrity by the name of Carson King, and while doing so, he performed a routine background check. While performing the background check, Calvin discovered a few off-color tweets, and inquired with King about them. Calvin made sure to note that he did not believe these tweets were characteristic of his profile, noting a number of more recent tweets directly contradicting those of concern. However, King decided to host a press conference the day before the article’s release, apologizing for tweets which were uncovered by the reporter.
This ultimately resulted in backlash against Calvin, who ended up having tweets from his own past brought to the spotlight, and was subsequently fired. Calvin’s situation is unique because he doesn’t believe that he was canceled. He believes that his company chose to fire him, and that it’s an important thing to remember.
Ultimately it’s interesting to keep his story in context, as an ordinary individual who was just doing his job - the job we’d expect any journalist to do, and was burned by his community, and by his company.
Carson talks about how the story of his cancelling left the spotlight just as quickly as it came. Justine Sacco reflects on her cancelling being far more drawn out, lasting over a year after her tweet and subsequent firing.
Ultimately cancel culture is an unfortunate side effect of the digital age. But it’s always been a part of life. People have been sentenced to exile since ancient times. It’s just unfortunate that society hasn’t found a more mature way to handle the small mistakes, and give people who tweeted stupid stuff as teenagers an opportunity to learn.