CANCELLED

f’(x): Has Cancel Culture Gone Too Far?

P. P. Zhang

TAYLOR SWIFT’S NEW ALBUM MIDNIGHTS HAS RECEIVED CRITICAL ACCLAIM AND SHATTERED SALES RECORDS LEFT AND RIGHT. However, all good things must come to an end. The same day sales records were being shattered, Midnights was being shattered by a controversy. The artist has been labelled as ‘fatphobic’ as a result of a scene in her “Anti-Hero” music video, which depicts Swift stepping on a scale which subsequently displays “fat”. Now, out of context, perhaps the allegations would seem justified, but in the context of the song is a reference to her struggles with an eating disorder back in 2020. The scene ultimately embodies the self-reflective theme of the song and album as a whole. 

In this era, ‘-phobic’ has become a far-too-common weapon for activists to pin prejudice on an opponent, as a way to shame someone with a simple one-liner. Cancel culture has evolved as a growing issue in the technological, interconnected world that we live in today, with social media platforms such as Twitter especially effective at communicating this contempt. Of course, that’s not to say these terms do not still hold their place in society. Marginalisation and oppression still exists, and is more prevalent than ever, justifying the need for people to speak up. Take  the #MeToo movement, in which cancel culture was crucial in providing justice for women who had been failed by their workplaces and the judicial system. However, it’s difficult to deny that the overuse of ‘-phobic’ terms has inevitably resulted in a collective ‘cancelphobia’, where influencers and society alike are afraid to voice their opinions in the fear of being cancelled or censored. A major problem with cancel culture is its irreversibility – forgiveness is not an option. Once someone is cancelled, they ultimately stay cancelled. 

The everyday use of terms such as ‘homophobic’, ‘transphobic’ and the works has led to another issue: these words no longer hold the same value they used to, and instead, are heavily trivialised and thrown around whenever any instance of partiality arises.

Whenever the cancel culture debate gets heated, the ‘free speech’ argument always gets brought up. Whilst it has a place in our proudly democratic society, free speech does not mean free from consequences. Former President Trump was infamously cancelled and subsequently banned on Twitter, and whilst most can agree this was the right decision, it raises the question of how one decides who is silenced and who is not. 

A few days ago, during one of my procrastination sessions, I was browsing Youtube and ended up watching a blind date video which seemed innocent enough. However, some of the interactions were questionable, and as a result the comments started flaming one participant for racial fetishization, and the other, fatphobia. Again, in this instance, the problem lay in the lack of context; viewers were so quick to cancel something heavily edited for entertainment purposes, perhaps without even watching the rest of the video. As the discussion developed, the audience quickly became divided, not over whether or not the participants were guilty of the above, but which was the lesser evil. We have been left with no other option but to fight fire with fire, in a desperate attempt to cancel the other before they cancel us. Lana Del Rey was similarly accused of racism in her attempt to criticise the double standards in the music industry, forcing the singer to apologise. 

While it’s true, Taylor Swift could’ve used a different word of choice, it’s hard to say whether it would have captured her fight against body dysmorphia to the same degree. Although eventually, she did end up quietly editing the video to answer the public’s cries, music videos have always existed as a form of potentially controversial expression, but one that should surely remain uninhibited by increasingly pervasive things like cancel culture. Activism’s role in the 21st century is undeniable, but now is the time to wonder whether the line between social justice and cancel culture has been crossed one too many times.