There’s an argument from a certain strain of people on the internet that says that the world is TOTALLY TERRIFYING at the moment, because if you so much as sneeze in the wrong timbre, an army of KEYBOARD WARRIORS will CANCEL YOU – a 2020 fate, much worse than death.
I wonder, this week, what those who believe we live in a ‘world of cancel culture’ that signals the end of debate and conversation as we know it, think about cabinet minister for education, Gavin Williamson?
Williamson has overseen what is probably the greatest education scandal since… no, I don’t know actually, let’s go with good-old living memory. He’s potentially wrecked the actual lives and prospects of thousands of young people – the exact opposite of what we imagine was the top bullet point on the ‘achievements and objectives’ portion of the job ad. He’s U-turned, a deadly move in politics, but in this case a move that's also caused absolute chaos in the universities system, a move that some have warned could threaten the whole infrastructure and close some institutions in future. He’s even said he’s ‘incredibly sorry’ – again, ill-advised usually. And yet, he’s happily popping up on morning TV shows saying he won’t be resigning because the action he has now taken made a ‘real difference’. The Prime Minister Boris Johnson is on holiday in Scotland, but has sent word to ‘Number 10’ to tell everyone that he has his full backing.
I wonder if those shaking in their boots at the ‘overwhelming power of armchair activists’ think Russell Brand has much to fear?
Over the weekend Brand was criticised for tweeting a clip of a YouTube video discussing whether Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s video for WAP was ‘Feminist Masterpiece or Porn’. He says: ‘If male hip hop tropes are about the potency of male sexuality... and then the female video is a sort of celebration of sexual potency… It’s an emulation of a template that already exists and was established by males. Is it equality if the template has already been established by the former dominator? The answer is no.'
Brand was criticised for a lot of things. Let’s start with mansplaining feminism. Then let’s consider a man who gained the infamy for being a lothario wading (unasked) into a debate about a song that explicitly aims to open conversations about female sexuality, and shutting it down and criticising it. Many users also focussed on Russell’s very low cut top. If Russell wants to talk about ‘already established templates’, he might’ve considered that there’s a template (a template sometimes even used IN COURTS OF LAW) where women don’t get to be taken seriously when they wear low cut tops. He might think about what the fact that he didn’t consider, or have to consider, his outfit choice when sitting down to film his thoughts about feminism, has to say about patriarchy, not feminism. There’s probably a lot more that Twitter said in criticism, but let’s leave those as a starter for 10. Russell seems fine and very much not like he’s suffering a fate worse than death on his Twitter feed, where he’s continuing to post his more recent podcast discussions.
This isn’t all to say that cancel culture is right – that these are ‘missed cases’ that we need to get on and delete these men from the earth right now. But it’s saying there’s some evidence that cancellation just isn’t something that really happens to people beyond the confines of apps stored in little cubes on our phones. That the ‘court of public opinion’ actually isn’t so terrifying that it needs to be shut down quickly before society collapses. Or, should we say, that all of that doesn’t apply to everyone, probably not those wealthy or in power.
It’s to say that this week can feel depressing if you’re not necessarily a proponent of cancel culture, but did believe grown ups when they told you that actions had consequences, or that everyone gets their comeuppance eventually. It’s not about delighting in that comeuppance, or wanting blood, or what that really solves. It’s an observation that while the debate continues to RAGE about the ways in which we supposedly CANCEL people online, the reality is… what? What’s actually happening to these people?
Brand, probably more than any other celebrity – and definitely any female celebrity – has been allowed unquestioned to reinvent himself repeatedly. Williamson lives another day as education secretary – and if he doesn’t in the near future, the likelihood isn’t destitution. It’s another role when this has ‘all blown over’.
Some people do get ‘cancelled’. While Williamson continues his job, today news emerged that 7,000 Marks & Spencer employees are to lose theirs. They’re not the first or last in this recession, either – people who are suffering real consequences that affect their lives as a result of truly bad things (like, yknow, deadly viruses) happening.
In a speech last night, Michelle Obamaspoke about President Donald Trump, saying he ‘is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us.’
Michelle Obama is one of the most powerful women in the free world as a former First Lady. What was the sentence that followed this pronouncement about the huge inadequacy of the President? ‘It is what it is.’ Obviously her wider point was to vote and mobilise to make change. But ultimately, when talking about what can really be done, this second, to change or delete the harm done by the powerful man, even Michelle Obama knows there’s a sense of ‘shrug emoji’ feeling sometimes. It is what it is.
That’s the strange thing aboutthe cancel culture debate – those who say it’s happening and ruining us all say that it’s stifling debate and the ability to speak freely and debate and advance through discussion. But surely it's clear to see ‘certain people’ are seemingly cancel-proof. And it's that which can make many of us feel like no change can be made. At least being angry and pointing out bad behaviour on Twitter is cathartic, spreads a message, lets others know that some things are not ok.
Many of us (not the cancelled) are left feeling like our voice isn’t being heard and that we’re screaming into a void wildly angry, before just lying down, shrugging and thinking, ‘Well, it is what is is.’ It's a 2020 vibe.
READ MORE: What Is Cancel Culture? And Who Has Been Cancelled Now?
READ MORE: The 10 Soundbites You Need To Hear From Michelle Obama’s Incredible Speech