Shapiro, Ben - The Authoritarian Moment by Shapiro Ben

Author:Shapiro, Ben [Shapiro, Ben]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Broadside e-books
Published: 2021-06-02T00:00:00+00:00

THE CANCEL CULTURE COMES FOR EVERYONE

Cancel culture is the order of the day in Hollywood. And you need not be a conservative to be canceled. The mere passage of time may subject you to the predations of the authoritarian leftist mob. It’s become a truism to state that classics of the past simply wouldn’t be made today—movies like Airplane! and shows like All in the Family would never make the cut. And that’s obviously true. Hollywood studios regularly prescreen their shows for activist groups like the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation; GLAAD brags that its media team “work closely with TV networks, film studios, production companies, showrunners, scriptwriters, casting directors, ad agencies, and public relations firms” to ensure “fair and accurate representation” of LGBT people. By “fair and accurate,” GLAAD presumably means reflective of GLAAD’s agenda.22 It’s unlikely that GLAAD would let slide any joke about sexual orientation.

In fact, most jokes are now off-limits. The Office retconned its own content, removing a scene in Season 9 in which a character wore blackface (never mind that the scene was about how insane and inappropriate it was to wear blackface). Executive producer Greg Daniels intoned, “Today we cut a shot of an actor wearing blackface that was used to criticize a specific racist European practice. Blackface is unacceptable, and making the point so graphically is hurtful and wrong. I am sorry for the pain that caused.” Meanwhile, Community cut an entire episode from the Netflix library because an Asian character dressed in blackface, prompting a black character to fire back, “So, we’re just gonna ignore that hate crime, uh?” Even condemning blackface is offensive now. Episodes of Scrubs and 30 Rock were also disappeared.23

Movies of the past have been taken down to provide “context,” most famously when HBO Max removed Gone with the Wind from its library, explaining that the film was “a product of its time” that contained “ethnic and racial prejudices” that were “wrong then and are wrong today.”24 Never mind that Hattie McDaniel, who was accused of embodying that prejudice in playing Mammy, became the first black actress to win an Oscar for her role. Disney+ has now updated old movies with a warning: “This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together. Disney is committed to creating stories with inspirational and aspirational themes that reflect the rich diversity of the human experience around the globe.” Movies tagged with this pathetic mewling include Aladdin, Fantasia, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, The Jungle Book, and Swiss Family Robinson.25

And if content is perceived as un-woke—no matter how apolitical—it may be targeted for cancellation as well. In the midst of the Black Lives Matter protests and riots of 2020, the reality series Cops was canceled from Paramount Network after a thirty-one-year run—all because of fears that the show might show police officers in a positive context.

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