Cancel Culture: When Is It Too Much?

In recent years, “cancel culture” has become a huge phenomenon that has been extremely apparent on social media, but more specifically on the platform: TikTok. We’ve seen numerous celebrities and influencers getting so called “cancelled,” or called out for their wrongdoings. However, has cancel culture become too much? 

The dictionary definition of cancel culture is: “the practice or tendency of engaging in mass canceling as a way of expressing disapproval and exerting social pressure.” In the context of social media, it’s basically a way of holding influencers accountable for their actions. 

I’m all for holding people responsible when they do something problematic, but “canceling” someone has become such a common label to countless influencers, the significance of the word is lost when it gets thrown around constantly. I feel that every time I go on TikTok, I find that a new creator is cancelled.

I’ve seen many people who are just looking for anything and everything they can find to dig up dirt on an influencer, just so they can cancel them. That’s not to say many of these people don’t deserve the backlash they receive, it just depends on what the action in question was and how they handle it moving forward.

In addition, it’s difficult for influencers to apologize after getting “cancelled” because most fans won’t accept their apology. They don’t even let the person learn or grow from that situation because even after they apologize, they’re still getting slammed with hate. It becomes this toxic mindset where people are so quick to point fingers as if they’ve never made a mistake before.

Charli & Dixie D’Amelio

I’m sure we’re all familiar with the famous TikTok sisters, Charli and Dixie D’Amelio, as they are two of the most famous users on the app. However, in November 2020, the sisters were facing lots of backlash after posting a video that is part of their Youtube series, “Dinner with the D’Amelios.”

This episode featured James Charles, a popular makeup creator on Youtube as well as Aaron May, a close friend and personal chef to the D’Amelios. What started out as a very light hearted video, took a turn for the worse as fans began questioning some of Charli and Dixie’s comments and actions throughout the video. 

The chef prepared a paella dish sided with a salad and Dixie and Charli were not pleased. As he began explaining the menu, Charli was seen making faces of disgust. Shortly after, Dixie found a snail on her dish and even pretended to gag before eating it. Finally, after eating the snail, she actually vomits in her seat and has to leave the table to regroup before returning.  

These actions were seen as very disrespectful and unappreciative by fans. Many called Charli and Dixie out on their unmannerly behavior. Charli even suffered the loss of over one million TikTok followers after it was posted. However, Charli stated in a livestream that it was, “not meant to be hurtful or truly meant to put anyone down.” 

In this instance, I believe that Charli and Dixie should be held accountable for their bad manners, but I don’t think they deserved to be “cancelled.” I remember seeing some of the comments and while a few were normal and vocalizing how they were upset with the actions of the sisters, others were extremely hurtful and unnecessary.

In my opinion, this is where cancel culture can appear to become too much. I think they certainly needed to be called out, but it was definitely blown way out of proportion. There have been numerous other influencers that have done things far worse than what the D’Amelio sisters did, but haven’t received half of the hate these girls get.

“The D’Amelio Show,” that is now streaming on Hulu, has given fans an inside look of the D’Amelio’s life and what it’s like behind the screen. They even touch on how tough it is for the sisters to deal with hate they receive and the negative impact it has left on their mental health and daily lives. It features many raw and heavy moments of the sisters breakdowns due to all their backlash.

I think cancel culture is a very circumstantial type of thing that should be monitored. Excessive hate shouldn’t be sent for no reason. For example, sending death threats and really hurtful comments doesn’t make the public look any better than the influencer that made the mistake. Not to mention the fact that when an influencer is so called “cancelled,” it just so happens that a week later the comment section acts like nothing happened. This is where it can be so touch and go and the label of “cancelled,” loses its grip.

The question of: “when is it too much?” is difficult to answer. Tik Tok has become such negative and critical space it’s hard to decide who should be getting cancelled to the point where they ultimately lose their entire platform and following. Needless to say, there is this huge discrepancy between leaving hate for no reason and making sure someone is responsible for their actions.

So, what do you think, has cancel culture become too much or is it a necessary evil for creators to be put in their place?