This is something I've thought about a lot in the last year or so, with all these different examples of people's lives and careers being destroyed by accusations, with some being true & some being false but most concerning - some being completely debatable if what was said/done was even wrong or should be considered a crime worthy of a "cancellation".
There seems to be a lot of grey area when it comes to what should be considered offensive, abusive or a crime, and there also seems to be a bad tendency of lumping it all together even if there are various degrees of severity. (for example, if you bump into someone should that be considered assault, if you touch someone should that be viewed as groping, if you say something sexual or too forthcoming should that be deemed the same as rape, if you say something negative or angrily should that be viewed as a death threat? - this is all hyperbole & ridiculous but hopefully you get my point)
Don't get me wrong, some people definitely deserve to have their careers ended due to the abuse of power or just terrible behaviour in general (Billy Cosby & Harvey Weinstein come to mind) but what about the wrongfully accused like Johnny Depp who was actually the victim of spousal abuse while being called the abuser. Or a lesser known example of a musician named Matthew Good whose career is at a stand still because of a recent breakup with his girlfriend, all she had to do was claim he was abusive without presenting any evidence and he was immediately drop from his record label.
https://www.iheartradio.ca/news/matthew-good-denies-ex-fiancee-s-allegations-of-abuse-1.14561675
There are plenty of other examples but with all the different variations and the allegations becoming more and more minuscule all I can think of is what is the extent of all of this and where does it end?
https://portolapilot.com/the-toxic-rise-of-cancel-culture/
That brings me to my question, "do you ever worry about being cancelled one day?"
because I do...
I've said and done things that could be viewed the wrong way, some where jokes & silly antics, some were private conversation through text that could have been easily misconstrued. Some were heated arguments either in person or in a chat log within IG, Facebook, Snapchat, whatever, all could have easily been saved with a screenshot (because I've taken screenshots of some of them). Some of those things were said with people I don't talk to anymore and with some of those people I'd say there's bad blood between us (maybe more so on my end than theirs) some of those things said & done I regret and it makes me cringe (especially the failed attempts of seduction) and with some of those situations I'd say lines were crossed.
- Does that mean I should be cancelled, should the people that hurt me or did me wrong deserve to be cancelled?
- Maybe, maybe not... depends who you ask and what your stance on the issue is.
Either way, with PC & Cancel Culture becoming more and more prevalent and with more books (like How To Kill A Mocking Bird & Dr Seuss) being banned from schools and old cartoons and current cartoon characters being dropped, as well as toys, logos being changed/replaced and of course actors and musicians getting fired, it makes me wonder what is deemed acceptable and how I should conduct myself.
https://counter-currents.com/2021/03/conservatives-cancel-culture/
No one is perfect and I'm definitely not in anyway... I think about the things I'm interested in like Art & Music and how I would like to make a career out of that one day BUT I'm concerned because I feel like I would have to delete all my social media because of the possibility of something being taken out of context or having everything I worked for taken away because of an accusation with no evidence. It all feels so extreme like burning down your house because there are a few termites in the drywall, I just don't know what to think of it anymore.
Thanks for reading, what's your thoughts?
Most Helpful Opinions