"Your Love Is Cancelled" - The Ins and Outs of Cancellation Culture in Europe and America

(Credit: IC Photo)

Yang Dawei Xue Qian/Text

J.K. Rowling 's tweet

The history of British literature is full of outstanding women. These writers were so accomplished that their reputation often surpassed that of their male contemporaries, and J.K. Rowling was one of them. In various polls conducted by readers, J.K. Rowling almost always ranks among the top ten of famous British writers. This is, of course, not only because she is still in our time, but also because she has a clear and vivid impression on people, and because she has already sold more than 100 million copies as a best-selling author, her popularity cannot be ignored.

Rowling 's era began in 1997 with the first volume of her book series " Harry Potter ", "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". The passion Harry Potter created among readers not only changed the business model of the book publishing industry, but, as the title suggests, magically brought millennial children back to their desks and shaped them into people who love to read. generation. Before this, some even pessimistically predicted the disappearance of paper books. However, with the publication of Harry Potter, the number of children reading and the amount of reading by children has been increasing substantially, and millennials have almost grown up reading Harry Potter.

Today, more than 20 years later, as a legend, Rowling has been entrapped into another magical era, and even once became the central figure in the whirlpool of this era. This era, we call it the era of cancel culture ( Cancel Culture).

The whirlpool of the times in which Rowling lives is so turbulent and so unkind to her that at the end of November, the 20th anniversary reunion program " Returns to Hogwarts" announced to be produced, Almost all the main people related to the movie Harry Potter were invited, except Rowling.

unimaginable in this important show,Rowling, who was supposed to be the soul, was absent. This seems absurd and needs to be traced back to June 2020. At that time, Rowling retweeted an article "Creating a More Equal Post-COVID World for Menstruating People" and made a comment that could not conceal the sarcasm: "'Menstrual people'. I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud? attract people's attention. The use of the term "menstruating" should have a slightly more complicated story, in short, to avoid discomfort for transgender people. And Rowling's vitriol obviously offends an extremely important vulnerable group in today's society - LGBT. As soon as the tweet came out, criticism, attacks, curses, and even death threats followed, and the response was so great that Rowling would be surprised.

Independence and perseverance are the characteristics of British women, not to mention Rowling. Rowling may not even agree with the accusations made against her. Her voice seems more absurd because of the peculiar changes in language and the subversion of tradition. Rowling neither apologized nor silenced, but explained her views in more detail. We quote here more fully because this explanation by Rowling is a clear reflection of the cancellation culture that has been rampant in the last two years: "If gender is unreal, there is no same-sex attraction. is not real, then the reality of the existence of women around the world will be erased. I know and love transgender people, but erasing the concept of gender robs many of the ability to meaningfully explore their own lives . This is telling the truth, not hatred... I have empathized with trans people for decades and have a sense of closeness because these are just as vulnerable as women — that is, vulnerable to male violence. Many women think the same way as I do. But we think gender is real, and there are consequences for it. It's absurd to think we hate trans people just because we know it.

I respect the right of every trans person to live in whatever way they feel is true and comfortable. If you are discriminated against because you are trans,I will stand with you. But at the same time, I shaped my life as a woman. I don't believe it's abhorrent to say that.

Rowling's explanation seems peaceful and rational compared to the acerbic tweet. However, even so, Rowling has not escaped more and more fierce criticism. In subsequent tweets, Rowling, several times She explained again for herself, but each of her explanations seemed to provoke another kind of argument, which made the debate between the two sides endless, which was like a piece of chicken feathers. It seems that people with different cultural concepts, In a debate, one will never approach another point of view, just as two parallel worlds can never intersect. The Harry Potter member from Rowling. Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who played Harry Potter, the calm and refreshing young Harry Potter in the past, now With a beard and a hairstyle that has quite a personality, he has entered a mature period of life. Perhaps due to pressure, perhaps out of self-consciousness, Daniel became the first Harry Potter group to stand up and make a statement Although he thanked Rowling for helping set her life on track, and sees working with Rowling as an honor, Daniel believes that Rowling's comments hurt trans people. Daniel's statement, as follows Everyone's statement is the same, clear and firm: a trans woman is a woman.

Followed by a number of Harry Potter members, they all condemned Rowling and expressed their opinions to the transgender people. Celebrities who are actively or passively involved in the battle for transgender names include best-selling American author Stephen King, film "The Danish Girl" star Redmayne, comedian Pete Davidson. Warner The studio also had to issue a statement of support for trans people and accuse Rowling in the end.

Looking at Rowling's remarks about it, it seems that we can't conclude that Rowling disagrees with Daniel's statement that trans women are A woman's statement. But it doesn't matter, because at this point, it seems that the whole world thinks Rowling disagrees.

Rowling seems to have lost all resources,And cancel culture is on the rise.

Origin of Cancellation Culture

Before Rowling's hilarious tweet, cancellation culture was already well established. The word "cancelled" is used for characters and first appeared on the 1981 album "Take It Off" by the pop group Chic, which included a song called "Your Love Is Cancelled". Use the firm word "cancel" to indicate that you are no longer in contact with the other person. In 1991, the film "New Jack City" referenced the song, using the word "cancel" to mean abandoning the girl. However, the word "cancellation" is associated with culture, but it has to wait until the "Me Too" movement that spread across the United States in 2017.

Cancellation culture was originally a way of ignoring and ignoring a certain celebrity or company. It was a relatively passive and gentle way of speaking out when disadvantaged groups did not have the right to speak. . But after achieving a certain social effect, cancel culture has become radical and influential.

In 2017, Hollywood famous producer Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual assault by more than 80 women. The whole incident immediately caused an uproar and uproar in the country, until finally Harvey was sent to prison . At the time of the incident, Alyssa Milano, who is also an actress, writer, producer, singer and social activist, advocated and encouraged women who have been violated to stand up and bravely tell the world, "I am also (victimized). By)". The "Rice Rabbit Movement" has been blessed by many Hollywood stars, and women across the United States seem to have responded positively. Amid the clamor of accusations, a sizable number of cultural personalities withdrew from the professional scene, notables including actor Kevin Spacey, PBS and Bloomberg feature host Charlie Rose, and Fox No. 1 host O'Reilly. In addition, members of the House of Representatives, senators, and a large number of corporate executives have left or been fired due to pressure from public opinion.In other words, they were all cancelled.

Cancellation culture has certainly been influential in empowering and having a voice for women. In fact, thanks to the cancellation culture, the "Rice Rabbit Movement" has made many celebrities bid farewell to the stage they have been on for a long time and fade out of the public eye. Since then, the career has been silent and bleak, and it is the fault of these celebrities. Women fill nearly half of the vacancies created by departures or dismissals.

Aside from the LGBT sphere that Rowling's tweet incident started this article with, the role of cancellation culture in fighting racism is undeniably stronger. Celebrities or high-ranking employees who have lost their jobs due to allegations of racial discrimination can be found in all fields. And the death of Floyd in 2020 brought the movement to a climax. Floyd died at the end of May. Since June 6, nearly 500,000 people have protested in more than 500 places across the United States every day for nearly a month, becoming the historical peak of the "Black Lives Matter" movement.

The concept of "political correctness"

The reason why cancel culture is so powerful in society has its deep moral and value roots, especially in the United States for nearly half a century, people have increasingly identified and tended to hold the "political correctness". The idea of ​​"Political Correctness" is closely related. Since the 1980s, "political correctness" has gradually become a trend. Its simple and clear original intention is not to hurt vulnerable groups, including those in religion, race, gender, sexual orientation and other aspects. Based on consensus, people try to avoid using those offensive words in various situations. In terms of policies and measures, the government and enterprises have taken vulnerable groups into consideration, given them various preferences and care, and even turned some provisions into laws. For example, out of consideration for the disabled, all public places must have access for wheelchairs, the sidewalks should be gently sloped where the road is interrupted, and the parking spaces in the parking lot closest to the building are reserved for the disabled. It is a guideline that public facilities must abide by. In addition to the law, the public will help people with disabilities at any time and everywhere, such as holding elevators and store doors, so that people with disabilities can enter and exit first.

The love for the weak and the respect for others, generated by the interaction of law and compassion, have in some ways actually become a meme of the people without much need to be taught. We can often see situations where, despite the rude or hippie appearance of some people, when entering a building, the rude or hippie person will automatically open the door for the lady or the handicapped, and will The man next to him held on to the doorknob. This kind of goodwill and etiquette revealed subconsciously is exactly what a civilized society needs. This is both an American tradition and the result of years of strengthening political correctness.

Political correctness tries to create a good society where people of all races, religions, and genders are treated kindly. When all the disadvantaged groups first touched the kindness, care and help brought by these concepts, they all felt the warmth of the world and the power of civilization, and relying on this also brought social progress.

But political correctness is not a new concept of human beings. There is nothing new under the sun. The traditional concepts of the ancients, such as "the old one is the old one, the young one is the young one" and "the widow and loneliness are all supported", are actually talking about the same ideal and the same kind of beautiful social vision.

culture of vigilance/ism

Another consequence of political correctness is a state of alertness to any trace of racism, misogyny, homophobia or other prejudice that is politically incorrect . Conservatives today call it "Woke Culture/Wokeism" (WokeCulture, Wokeism).

Woke means awake, which means alertness and vigilance. Woke comes from black slang and is the past tense of Wake, which has a much longer historical origin than "cancel". Woke has long been especially relevant to black people, and it means black people are wary of injustice, especially from the police and the legal system. So when the word acquires today's meaning, it's more about black people being vigilant in a white-supremacist society. What is special about a culture of vigilance is that it emphasizes that discrimination and injustice come from systems and institutions, not just from individuals. Liberalism and Conservatism are sharply divided over wakefulness.Liberalism supports a culture of vigilance, arguing that there is still systemic discrimination in the United States. Taking urban planning as an example, liberalism believes that decisions made by cities in areas such as zoning and housing policies often in fact include black people into those areas that are poor and poorly equipped, which is an invisible but deep-rooted and real racial discrimination.

Conservatives argue that a culture of vigilance deepens divisions and social unrest. In fact, conservatism states that white supremacy is out of tolerance in all institutions in America today, but vigilance is ingrained in nearly every institution. As a result, vigilantism claims to cure the disease of racism, yet it constantly emphasizes race, reminding people of the differences of ethnic groups again and again, thus stirring up resentment. This narrative of resentment would once again divide the country by race, undermine the hard-won freedom and mutual trust America has built, and threaten the future of the next generation.

The culture of vigilance is also a culture of awakening. It is about self-awareness, alertness to the unfriendly environment around you, and a prelude to cancellation culture. Cancellation culture is rooted in a culture of vigilance. It is an action, an awareness and struggle about the individual. CRT ). As an academic concept, CRT has been around for more than 40 years with the underlying idea that race forms a social fabric and that racism is not just a product of personal prejudice or prejudice, but something deeply ingrained in legal systems and policies. The urban planning we mentioned above also somewhat confirms that bias comes from the system and has deep roots.

American scholars have done a wide range of research on CRT, including sociology, political science, linguistics, etc. There are many books and scholars. To some extent, the CRT is now cited as the rationale for all diversity and inclusion efforts. The emergence and development of the CRT has undergone a long and tenacious academic debate, and it has tended to a degree of skepticism about the universal values, objective knowledge, personal values, enlightenment rationalism, and liberal principles cherished by conservatives.

A considerable number of scholars are critical of CRT, arguing that CRT has brought negative factors to American society, it either divides the population into the oppressed and the oppressed, or divides it into the discriminated and the discriminated. CRT emphasizes the uniqueness of the population while ignoring its commonalities and does not focus on shared values, thus making people more and more intolerant.

The perhaps inextricable divide between conservatism and liberalism regarding critical race theory also exists in Supreme Court . Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative, famously said: "The way to stop racism is to stop distinguishing races." Liberal Justice Ruth Ginsburg argued this : "It's hard to understand how you can solve a problem about race in a non-racial way."

Youth in Cancel Culture

In Cancel Culture, young people are like As in all previous sports, showing special enthusiasm. Political correctness has left its imprint on generations of people over the past few decades, and young people have grown up in a politically correct cultural atmosphere. The justice and equality pursued by political correctness is full of humane feelings and idealism. It appeals to the moral law in the deepest part of human hearts, which not only makes people feel noble, but also makes people feel the importance of responsibility. Young people are a group of people who are pure and kind, and whose intuition is not polluted by the world in this world where interests are entangled. Therefore, young people are always active in all ideal and noble careers.

Many young people want to change the world. They don't really want the celebrities involved to be cancelled, but rather hope that these celebrities can come out to apologize and do more charity work. Maybe that's Rowling's problem. Had she been able to apologize to the angry internet public after retweeting the article and making comments, she might not have been removed from Harry Potter membership. The unforgiveness of young people has to do with the self they have worked hard to establish. They desperately need the approval of the world for their actions, their opinions, and the icons they care about. The enthusiasm and strength of young people is amazing,They are a bit dismissive of either party, but in public affairs they appear to be relentless. This situation is easily reminiscent of the anti-war culture of the 1960s. Beside the Lincoln Memorial, inside the White House, in front of the Washington Monument, on many avenues in Washington, thousands of young people, day and night, in song, speech, walk and text Expressing their opposition to the Vietnam War, many scenes were recorded and became classic moments that will forever flash in history.

If technology is still stuck in the 1960s, young people are probably now in various public places, expressing their desires and love. In today's information and media age, young people have already moved their world to the Internet. Yet young people's hearts are filled with ideals and justice, and they rush through the cancellation culture, trying to express their kind sympathy and passionate desires, ignoring that they are in this world, stirring up layers of waves .

Times have changed, and the main body of the anti-war culture in the 1960s has now entered the twilight of life. They are still passionate and moved about that era, but they also have more reflections. Young people are always full of blind actions under the passion, only thinking about the consequences. They are reminiscent of the French Revolution from earlier. Although the world has progressed because of this, but under the great cultural changes, all traditions, together with people, together with things, together with many ideas and beauty, are gone forever, and the glory of France is only history, only those created by the past. The beautiful literature and art that came out, and the palaces that remained.

It is hard to predict what today's young people, today's culture and sports, will leave to future generations. Cancellation culture, as a weapon of political correctness, has become the enemy of ideas. When it began to warn people about what to say and what not to say, the once unrestrained mind was already at the door of death. Young people should be the most open and tolerant of various viewpoints. However, today's youth group, the younger you are, the less you can tolerate different views, and the more you want to publicly shame and punish those with different political opinions. The passions of young people are constrained by their closed minds.

Cancellation culture shows us a complex world, and we try to understand this culture, and at the same time we are more disturbed by the turmoil, disorder and collapse of tradition that this culture brings. 19th century French thinker Tocqueville said when reflecting on the French Revolution: We are in a roaring sea without a coast; A generation couldn't find it, couldn't get a foothold there.

This is probably how many people feel in the world today.

(to be continued)