I miss Will Smith movies
Image Source: Dall-e
I enjoyed all of Mr. Smith's movies that I can remember. I also enjoyed Hartley Sawyer in 'The Flash' TV series and Alex Kamal in 'The Expanse.' Similarly, I was looking forward to seeing Will Smith in the originally planned sequel to 'Hancock,' but now, one punch and it’s gone. To be sure, each of these actors has committed an action which led to a prompt and severe punishment.
Will Smith hit one person and I wonder if he will ever be seen onscreen again. Hartley Sawyer made inappropriate tweets and when they resurfaced years later he was promptly fired. Alex Kamal was investigated for sexual misconduct and no studio wants to be associated with that. Here one episode and gone the next.
Now I'm not exactly in the know on things like "Cancel Culture" but as I understand it...if social media decides you are in the wrong...you are finished. Popular one day and then ghosted the next. A million followers on Friday and a nobody on Monday. Just one stupid act, one wrong comment, one viral video or in the case of General Mills, one mention that "Cereal can make a good dinner in these tough economic times".
Times have changed
Now each of those men that have been cancelled in today's society would not have been treated so harshly in different times.
Will Smith hit another man for insulting his wife. In times gone by it would have been a matter or honor to defend one's family. Hitting a man who insulted them would have been deemed as honorable and largely forgiven.
For Hartley Sawyer, in times before social media, twitter, and everything being stored digitally a few comments made years ago would never have come to light. They likely wouldn't have even raised an eyebrow in a "male dominated" and patriarchal society.
If Alex Kamal has the same accusations made against him in Ancient Rome it would have been of little consequence. In the trial of Verres (A Roman Magistrate) by Cicero in 70 BCE charges of rape were brought up to show that the man was of poor moral character while the 'real' charges were that of abuse of power and extortion.
However, we don't live in the past. We live in the present and for those who don't follow the rules of current society there are consequences. Just to be certain, I don't condone any of the acts these three men committed. Sexual misconduct and physical assault are not appropriate behavior and never have been. I just wanted to say these acts are seen as more vile now than they were in the past.
When you look a little deeper though, while community standards have changed the consequences haven't changed as much.
A new name for an old punishment
Today's "Cancel Culture" is actually not a new punishment. It is simply being ostracized by society.
In the old Catholic run society if you didn't agree with the Pope and the Catholic church you would be Ex-communicated. You are no longer a Christian, no longer a member of the Catholic church, and the churches members will have nothing to do with you.
In today's society it may seem a trivial thing. However, go back a few hundred years and that meant social death. Your business would fail. Your friends would vanish. Your family would shun you. You would be a pariah and lose all status overnight.
Or perhaps you ran afoul of an old time monarch. A monarch couldn't excommunicate you but they could certainly banish you. Banishment meant leaving everything you have, everything you know, and whatever job and lands you owned. You were outcast and forced to leave the country, never to return. Never to see friends and comrades again. Never to see any family who didn't leave the country with you. Forced to start with nothing in a foreign land. Again, all status and ties cut. Everything was lost.
Of perhaps it was just offending the local community. There was a time when someone could be "run out of town" for not fitting with the local communities views. Indeed even within my lifetime I saw one person "run out of town" in a place I lived. It seemed the individual was caught raping a farmers cows (I know, its very odd, I don't know why but???). When word got out he was threatened with a shotgun and given until night to take whatever he could and leave.
In more extreme cases such as the Salem witch trials if you were considered to be "a witch" you were done for. It just took the start of a rumor and once it spread someone was likely to be burned at the stake.
Innocent until proven guilty
I'm not a big fan of "Counter culture" as it bypasses the general idea that someone is innocent until proven guilty. I like the fact that I am free to live my own life and that if I commit a crime I'll have my day in court to prove my innocence. Of course if I'm not innocent then at least I'll have a judge decide what a fair punishment is for me.
Counter culture can operate on something as simple as a rumor or gossip. Someone thinks you did something and you can be finished. Someone misinterprets your words as something they are not and you can be finished. Or in the case of someone like Will Smith, one deed done in the heat of the moment can destroy a lifetime of work. There is no judge and no fair sentence just an immediate judgement of society and the person vanishes from significance.
I guess I'm lucky.
I don't have an online presence except on Hive. It is true that enjoy Hive but if I was 'cancelled' here I could just cash out my tokens and move on with my life. I live in the real world and the virtual one means almost nothing to me. I have no fame to be taken away and no power to be stripped from me.
I'm about as "counter culture" proof as it gets. But still I am concerned when counter culture divides a nation.
When society can't make up its mind
There is a special case when society is split down the middle on whether to cancel someone or stand behind them. I'm seeing it play out in the United States right now.
With Donald Trump you have half a country that wants to see him cancelled and removed from power, fame, and significance. You have the other half who want to stand behind him and make him their president. Which side you decide to support doesn't matter to me. What matters is that I can see it ripping a great nation apart.
When such a powerful nation stands divided. When so many people can't agree and get into a fight. When so many people have such deep beliefs and hatred for the other camp....well, that makes me nervous. It reminds me of a bitter divorce battle. Each side things they are right, neither side will back down, and no-one wants to be part of a fight like that. No-one win. Except perhaps the lawyers.
I really wish that social media and public opinion weren't as powerful as it is. I wish that everyone had a chance for a fair trial and fair verdict. I wish society could get along and peacefully coexist.
...but again that is just wishful thinking.
People have faced social isolation and ostracism pretty much since society began.
People have fought wars over deeply seated beliefs and differences again since society began.
Social media just gives it a new face and a new name for a very old punishment.
People still say and do stupid things. Times change. Standards change. Laws and government change. However, for those who don't follow societies standards the punishment remains the same: Excommunication/Banishment/Cancelled...different names for the same punishment...ostracism.
I firmly stand behind justice, fair judgement, and peaceful society and while cancel culture certainly metes out a quick judgement I'm not sure it's always fair. Plus when cancel culture can't make up its mind deep divisions can follow.
I think I'll pray for peace, wisdom and self control to the people of this world....although that very statement could be cause to be cancelled myself.
Thanks for reading and of course my opinions are my own,
Feel free to disagree or leave a comment 😉