Dox47 wrote:
No, it's like living in a small town where the church controls everything, and constantly looking over your shoulder before you say anything the church might not approve of lest you be socially and professionally ostracized.
While I had my restaurant open in Seattle, for example, I saw other local places get boycotted and Yelp bombed over:
Someone made a "did you just assume my gender?" joke years back and somebody re-posted it
The owner's brother made some nasty comments about a local city councilwoman on a call in radio show
A co-owner made a racist joke with a friend over a chat app and someone screen-capped and posted it
A business put in an art installation that was deemed "hostile architecture" because it prevented people from sleeping in front of their shop
.
I tend to look at some of these things as "keeping one's nose clean"
For example the jokes...racist, transphobic jokes, ableist jokes are simply in poor taste. However I do agree that "professional" comedians should be given some licence to push the boundaries here (not unlike the court jesters of old) and when done properly should be exempt. But there is some nuance.
For example Dave Chapelle making fun of an Asian was condemned as invoking old racist tropes against Asians, however I saw he was weaving it into the artistry of his delivery which he (in the same breath was expressing being an Asian in a black man's body (he used the n-word) deliberately using the tropes to make a point and the person who he was ridiculing was himself. He got away with it for that reason. Many Asians got on social media and said that they thought it was funny. Dave's children are half-Asian. I've seen Bill Burr occasionally make fun of black stereotypes as well, he does it artistically. Their critics tend to be mostly white journalists and certain interest groups.
On the other hand Kevin Hart's joke about his son being gay was pretty pathetic. He invoked violence against gay people and the joke wasn't funny. I think even Kevin knew that. But he has grown as a person and apologised for his indiscretion and was likely exposed as a child to homophobic values. I accept his mistake. Should he have been removed from hosting the Oscars? I don't know? Mark Wahlberg was a skinhead when he was a teenager. he claims to have made restitution to those people he victimised. Interestingly two of those who remember being attacked by Wahlberg and injured (one seriously) both claim he never personally apologised? Wahlberg claimed he did. Should he be forgiven? why isn't he "cancelled"? again if what Wahlberg said is true and by his actions he had grown as a person and is no longer that person he was then why hold him to account?
Your example of a small town being held to ransom by a christian "cult" isn't the cancel culture the anti-woke mob are calling woke. I think you know that.
A restaurant getting bad reviews or sabotaged isn't cancel culture it's underhanded competition.
An assume my gender joke is in bad taste when done in public (see my earlier comment)
Making nasty comments about a councilwoman on a radio doesn't get one cancelled unless the person is identified and the nature of the comments is mean't to vilify. If the person throwing slurs at the councilwoman holds some type of professional job and their employer is identified then it's a no-brainer for the company that employs them to terminate
Finally "hostile art" designed to keep homeless people from the business property. How exactly is that different to government public facilities using "anti-rough" lights to prevent homeless people from sleeping? my understanding is it's legal.
19 Jan 2022, 4:17 pm
