An Alternative Take on Cancel Culture

“But this, in my view, has little to do with people being overly sensitive and much more to do with the very economic system that conservative critics of cancel culture regularly prop up.”

Cancel culture seems to be, once again, at the forefront of the public discourse. This comes in the wake of several high-profile firings like that of actress and former wrestler Gina Carano from the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, as well as writers such as Donald G. McNeil and Andy Mills from The New York Times resigning under pressure. In all of these cases, the firings and resignations seem to be unrelated to the individuals’ job performances and, instead, appear related to “politically incorrect” behavior elsewhere. It is most clear in Carano’s case, as she was let go amid a string of controversial social media posts.

This has given conservatives a renewed chance to decry their victimized position in today’s culture. Shortly after Carano’s firing was made public, it was announced that she would be starring in a movie (subject to be announced) produced by Ben Shapiro. The firings were also denounced by Marni Soupcoff in a recent essay for the National Post, one of Canada’s leading right-leaning newspapers.

There are several issues that could be raised by all of these events. Emily VanDerWerff, at Vox, has argued that making the case that Carano was fired for being a conservative amounts to acknowledging that conservatism and bigotry are one and the same. The reason is that some of her more controversial social media posts were anti-Semitic, among other things. One post highly trivialized the Holocaust, and previous ones had included anti-Semitic tropes, such as suggesting that Jews rule the world behind the scenes. Another issue is whether it even makes sense to talk about cancel culture, given that her termination from Disney+ directly led to her landing a leading role in an upcoming film.