Here’s why celebrities like JK Rowling and Mel Gibson never really get ‘canceled’
“You could say JK Rowling is canceled, but I mean if people bought 100 pounds less on Harry Potter this year than last year, I don’t think that affects him marginally.”
In today’s episode of BuzzFeed Daily, we broke down the major pop culture headlines AND discussed “cancel cultureâ€. You can listen below or scroll down to learn more about the interview!
So let’s dive in! Recently we spoke to Fast Company Joe berkowitz on the myth of “the cancellation of culture”. Here is some of what we learned:
BuzzFeed Daily: you recently wrote an article on “cancel culture” [and how it relates to] this season of Succession. How would you define the culture of cancellation as seen in the mainstream media?
HBO
Joe Berkowitz: Well, this is one of those terms that takes advantage of the lack of a fixed definition so people can kind of make it mean whatever they want it to mean for their purposes. But I think the easiest way to define it is, it’s a climate where people are more likely to face backlash for things that they maybe didn’t have before. But given that getting canceled could just as easily mean getting yelled at for half a day on Twitter, as it could mean getting unhired – maybe forever – I think that’s a term that we use too loosely.
BuzzFeed Daily: Based on what we’ve seen over the past five years, it seems a bit like canceling culture because we know it’s just the internet in general. I mean, the technology of social media platforms has apparently given every person on Earth the ability to react in real time to world events. Does that sound fair to you or do you think something more complicated is going on?
@arianagrande / GIPHY / Via giphy.com
JB: No, I agree. Technology is an integral part of it – being able to record and distribute anything instantly. I don’t know how I would have survived high school. I think everyone in high school now is a brave warrior so that they can’t have the space to make mistakes that wouldn’t be filmed or seen. And then it’s only half. The other half is that everyone has a voice to comment on something, and it could potentially be picked up and retweeted in the internet stratosphere. Moreover, if it is not a voice, it is a million voices that are agitated to act together.
BuzzFeed Daily: You’ve touched on this a bit before, but people will often point out that those who get “canceled†will lose their jobs and income as one of the big issues in cancellation culture. But usually the canceled people are rich and famous. So, is it even a hardware issue for them?
Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images
JB: It depends on what they did because the word “canceled†means so many things. You can be super powerful and super rich, and if they sentence you to death for an actual crime, then yes, you are going to be prosecuted by the law.
And that can mean the same thing as being like JK Rowling, who makes comments once or twice a year that undermines the trans community. And everyone gets really mad and she goes on with her day. You could say JK Rowling is canceled, but I mean if people bought 100 less Harry potter pounds this year than last year, I don’t think it affects him marginally.
BuzzFeed Daily: This is something you talked about in your article, and JK Rowling is just one example. We see it with Louis CK and Dave Chappelle, both of whom have just been nominated for the Grammys and are currently on tour. And Mel Gibson is going to direct and star in Lethal weapon 5, and actor Joshua Malina, who is Jewish, just wrote a editorial for The Atlantic calling on Hollywood to redouble its efforts to cancel it. So what do you think of this? Should the entertainment industry put up stronger walls to keep men like this out? Or should we let the audience determine for themselves whether they really want to support them?
Stephen Mccarthy / Sportsfile via Getty Images
JB: Well, first of all, I like to imagine what it would have been like if one of Mel Gibson’s career-destroying moments – the moment he got arrested and said these things about the Jews or the voicemail from his ex-girlfriend – if any of these have happened now, I would like to see an apology for the Notes app. What would it look like?
But you know, if it were up to me, Mel Gibson would self-fund independent films with any actor willing to work with him, not making wacky Christmas movies with Will Ferrell or maybe directing. Lethal weapon 5. But we do know that Mel Gibson has an anti-Semitic past and said some really, really horrible and disturbing things to his ex. We cannot relearn this information for the first time. So, because of the weird and fluctuating limitation period we have, these are now all personal decisions. It is the executives who decide to give the green light to his films and the actors who decide to appear in them, and then whether we will see them or not.
BuzzFeed Daily: You also wrote about how the terms “cancel the culture†and “wake up the crowd†have been militarized, primarily by the conservative media and Republican politicians. In reality, 64% of Americans see culture as a threat to freedom. So what do you think about the subject that has become such a flash point? Is there any substance to this or do you think the conservative media just turned it into a culture war issue?
Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
JB: I think culture cancellation is in the eye of the beholder. If you think a person hasn’t done anything wrong, then you are probably going to describe any consequence, including being yelled at, as undone. Yes, I think there have been a lot of unpopular opinions and movements linked to Donald Trump, and some of the politicians who are still in him have focused on the setback they are experiencing as the problem itself, rather than to view the massive unpopularity of these movements as the problem.
Jim Jordan, a congressman from Ohio, wanted to hold a committee hearing last March on the culture cancellation. At the time, it was very unpopular to have the opinions of him and his other members of Congress who voted to overturn the election. They were pilloried at the time, and in my opinion, rightly so. So yeah, they were very, very concerned about canceling the crop. And I think that’s kind of a little version of a larger pullback that we’re seeing.
Axelle / FilmMagic
In an ID question-and-answer session, she told playwright Jeremy O. Harris that she “obviously would never do anything to appropriate a culture. But I’ve had negative reactions before putting my hair in braids and I understand that. “
She added, “Honestly, most of the time it comes from my daughter asking us to match hair. And I had these conversations with her like, “Hey, maybe this hairstyle would be better for you than for me.†But I also want her to feel that I can do a hairstyle with her and not. make a big deal out either, if it’s something she really asks for and really wants. “
As always, thanks for listening! And if you ever want to suggest stories or just say hello, you can reach us at [email protected]