I'm trying to figure out the exact moment at which "cancelled" became the shorthand term for "a white guy suffered from being disagreed with publicly."
This column is the best. I will share this with some people who need to see it. Here's the thing: Exposing young kids to the uglies is not good even with context, if they are not mature enough to actually understand that context. Are you familiar with Tintin? I have the Tintin books in my attic, every one of them. My kid learned to read with them, took them with him on road trips, read them constantly (pre-internet). If you want to see bigotry of absolutely every kind, I refer you to Tintin. Gottta say my kid is an OK adult, but I would not go down this path now, and I have not passed them on to my granddaughter. I doubt that they are available in libraries or book stores anymore. However, I would not burn them.
Little House on the Prairie is a weird problem — I can’t really skip over the Native American interactions because they’re important episodes, I just have to be ready to contextualize everything afterwards.
I saw the warning in front of some of those Muppets episodes but didn't realize they pulled one entirely because of the host, I wonder what he did. *Looks it up* ..... oh.
Not that I think any of this nonsense is being presented in good faith but it is a little too on the nose that they were clamoring about the Muppets. Just as recently as Mitt Romney's awful presidential campaign he was calling to cut funding to Sesame Street and PBS. That's fine but God forbid our kids don't get exposed to the casual racism and stereotypes presented in a show from the 70's.
> I don’t know why this man—who I’m not at all familiar with but based on appearance and demeanor alone I believe to be a struggling actor who impersonates Ellis from Die Hard at office parties—would lie about such a thing?
I ran into something like this recently with my daughter and singing "Wheels on the Bus." Did you know that the bus driver does not say "move on back," but now "have a seat, or good day (this does not fit rhythmically)." And yes it's a younger children's song but it does make Mom and me pause and think about those lyrics. Same thing with Ring around the Rosy, gotta love the plague.
You’ve expressed how I feel almost exactly. These BS faux grievances are insane. There are certainly valid criticisms to the idea of cancel culture, mob mentality, etc. but as soon as the items you mentioned are brought up (Muppets, Mr. Potato Head) there’s no way to take that argument seriously. “Cancel culture” has become another conservative buzzword/phrase that’s used to strike up fear in the Fox News crowd.
I seriously tense up every time I hear the word "cancel" now. It's a word that has lost all meaning. And when people say it, I look at them and think, welp, that's a person whose opinions on things I will no longer take seriously. Because come on. I so appreciate people like Jane Coaston who keep calmly and patiently just repeating THIS IS A WORK over and over again. I've been able to reach a couple of people with her writing, somehow.
It's yet another enduring lesson of tHeSe TiMeS: the sheer volume of people who will double down on hideous behavior in the name of freedom rather than join the rest of us trying to be better to each other.
I'm trying to figure out the exact moment at which "cancelled" became the shorthand term for "a white guy suffered from being disagreed with publicly."
This column is the best. I will share this with some people who need to see it. Here's the thing: Exposing young kids to the uglies is not good even with context, if they are not mature enough to actually understand that context. Are you familiar with Tintin? I have the Tintin books in my attic, every one of them. My kid learned to read with them, took them with him on road trips, read them constantly (pre-internet). If you want to see bigotry of absolutely every kind, I refer you to Tintin. Gottta say my kid is an OK adult, but I would not go down this path now, and I have not passed them on to my granddaughter. I doubt that they are available in libraries or book stores anymore. However, I would not burn them.
Little House on the Prairie is a weird problem — I can’t really skip over the Native American interactions because they’re important episodes, I just have to be ready to contextualize everything afterwards.
I saw the warning in front of some of those Muppets episodes but didn't realize they pulled one entirely because of the host, I wonder what he did. *Looks it up* ..... oh.
Not that I think any of this nonsense is being presented in good faith but it is a little too on the nose that they were clamoring about the Muppets. Just as recently as Mitt Romney's awful presidential campaign he was calling to cut funding to Sesame Street and PBS. That's fine but God forbid our kids don't get exposed to the casual racism and stereotypes presented in a show from the 70's.
> I don’t know why this man—who I’m not at all familiar with but based on appearance and demeanor alone I believe to be a struggling actor who impersonates Ellis from Die Hard at office parties—would lie about such a thing?
[extremely Twitter voice]
Scott.
I can only picture in "memoriam" as the one from I Think You Should Leave:
Tiny Dinky Daffy, 1927-2019. Pancaked by Drunk Dump Truck Driver
I ran into something like this recently with my daughter and singing "Wheels on the Bus." Did you know that the bus driver does not say "move on back," but now "have a seat, or good day (this does not fit rhythmically)." And yes it's a younger children's song but it does make Mom and me pause and think about those lyrics. Same thing with Ring around the Rosy, gotta love the plague.
You’ve expressed how I feel almost exactly. These BS faux grievances are insane. There are certainly valid criticisms to the idea of cancel culture, mob mentality, etc. but as soon as the items you mentioned are brought up (Muppets, Mr. Potato Head) there’s no way to take that argument seriously. “Cancel culture” has become another conservative buzzword/phrase that’s used to strike up fear in the Fox News crowd.
I loved every single word of this Scott, thank you.
I seriously tense up every time I hear the word "cancel" now. It's a word that has lost all meaning. And when people say it, I look at them and think, welp, that's a person whose opinions on things I will no longer take seriously. Because come on. I so appreciate people like Jane Coaston who keep calmly and patiently just repeating THIS IS A WORK over and over again. I've been able to reach a couple of people with her writing, somehow.
It's yet another enduring lesson of tHeSe TiMeS: the sheer volume of people who will double down on hideous behavior in the name of freedom rather than join the rest of us trying to be better to each other.
Yesterday I came up with a hot take: Dr. Seuss is the Eminem of children's books.