On Cancel Culture and Accountability

This isn't an easy blog post to write. For some people, this won't be an easy blog post to read. I have always been a left-leaner, politically speaking. I still am. But I'm struggling these days with a number of actions and activities that other left-leaners participate in. 

Last night, I witnessed Twitter's latest foray into Cancel Culture, with the hashtag of #RIPJeremyRenner. I was mortified. Look, I know what Jeremy Renner has said and the way he's acted in the past and I agree that in many ways he is, as we Newfoundlanders say, a "Juice-Arse". But you do NOT "R.I.P." someone who is not dead. It's not funny, or acceptable, to "kill" someone just because you don't like them. There are better ways to hold someone accountable. I wholeheartedly support the concept that we need to demand better from our public figures. I agree that we must not exemplify and glorify racism, sexism, homophobia/transphobia, and instead must call it out--but my God, World--we are not judge, jury and executioner. When did it become meaningless to apologize? When did it become criminal to make a mistake, even just once? We've abandoned all hope that there are people who are open and willing to learning? We refuse now to believe in people who legitimately strive to be better?

People like Harvey Weinstein, and even more recently Joss Whedon--they are people who, for a long time abused their power and have only "stopped" because they were caught in the act and finally called out by enough people. I strongly support the "cancelling" of individuals such as this because they need to learn that this behaviour is intolerable, no matter how strong they think they are. They know what they did, and they did it deliberately. There are others, however--I don't watch the Bachelor or any of its derivatives but my kids' mom does and she talks to me about it. A contestant attended an Antebellum party in high school, and was called out about it--and she apologized very profusely. Other than that, there's been no history of racism from this person, so I feel (you know, as a Person of Colour myself) that if someone makes a commitment to be better, give them the opportunity. I mean, I get it--some people just love dressing up in costumes and legitimately might not be aware of the history. If anything, hold the school accountable! But there are so many people who just want to condemn her as evil and racist--in particular, another former contestant named Taylor, who has been dragging Rachel as well as Chris Harrison (who had somewhat defended Rachel, similar to how I have--Taylor wants Chris to step down permanently). Taylor wants to hold these people to such a high standard (that's great), and because they fail to reach it (in her eyes) they should be erased. 

But here's the rub--Taylor has a history of making tweets that are racist, homophobic, fat-shaming, rape-shaming, etc. Someone found them, and now TAYLOR is being dragged, and guess what? She's SO sorry, and is asking for the same forgiveness that she didn't think that these other two people (who's "sins" were far less) deserved. 

We Leftists look at Trump, and Q-Anon and other extreme Right-wingers and see morons with a cult-like mentality, however I am very saddened to say that there is a quantity of people on the left who are equally nuts, albeit with the opposite perspectives. Leftists who feel like it isn't enough to not like Trump supporters, you need to hate ALL Republicans (even though Lincoln was a Republican and he's the one who ended slavery, it was the Democrats at the time who still wanted it)...there are some who even believe that if you identify as straight, you are somehow homophobic because you're "closing yourself off to accepting same-sex love". Some of the Left are becoming just as intolerant as the Right, and I'm not okay with that. 

Not that anyone actually READS this bloody thing, but for what it's worth, I'm calling on the world--Right, Left, Centrist--to sit the hell down and chill the hell out. Take a damn breath. We need to start learning how to listen to one another again. We can still disagree--but it's not ok, it's NEVER ok, to stop listening. And we've ALL gotten really bad for that now. We're all making things worse instead of better. Hold people to higher standards, 100%--but stop being so arrogant as to believe that you've got the right to dictate what happens to someone's career. Because just remember, just like Taylor who wanted to make a big show of herself as being "so woke"--you might not smell like a rose either. No one's perfect.

Honestly--the next time I see an #RIP for ANYONE, they better actually be dead. Have some fucking class, and stop acting like miserable brats.