[Ads-l] Cancel Culture

ADSGarson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Sat Feb 6 15:38:04 UTC 2021


Below is a 2019 New York Times article containing the phrase
"right-wing cancel culture" and a 2020 Newsweek article containing the
phrase "Conservatives Weaponize Cancel Culture".

The term cancelled has been applied to Johnny Depp and Marilyn Manson.
Both have been accused of engaging in abusive behavior toward their
partners.

At the 2017 Glastonbury Festival Johnny Depp said "When was the last
time an actor assassinated a president? It’s been awhile, and maybe
it’s time." (This quotation appears in the Newsweek article.) So he is
not a friend of Trump.

These examples are offered in an attempt to help reveal the varied
contexts of the terms "cancel" and "cancel culture".

Website: The New York Times
Article: Opinion: Why Kathy Griffin Will Not Stand Down
Article Subtitle: Two years after the comedian’s infamous Trump photo,
she’s back — battered but unbowed by right-wing cancel culture.
Author: Jennifer Finney Boylan (Contributing Opinion Writer)
Date: July 31, 2019
(See article subtitle for instance)

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/31/opinion/why-kathy-griffin-will-not-stand-down.html

[Begin excerpt]
This story is about more than a comedian and a disturbing photograph.
It’s about what America has become: a place where in the wake of a
single mistake, a career can be canceled, a place where the president
of the United States can happily use the power of his office to
destroy an American citizen.
[End excerpt]

[Begin excerpt]
We think of so-called cancel culture as an excess of the left. (The
author Meghan Daum, in reacting to the movement, says, “Woke me when
it’s over.”) But in this case, it was the right wing doing the
canceling, with the not-inconsiderable muscle of the Department of
Justice added in for good measure.
[End excerpt]



Website: Newsweek
Article: Conservatives Weaponize Cancel Culture to Tame Anti-Trump Celebrities
Author: Emma Nolan
Timestamp: 6/24/20 AT 11:21 AM EDT
(See article title for instance)

https://www.newsweek.com/conservatives-weaponize-cancel-culture-tame-anti-trump-celebrities-1513041

[Begin excerpt]
Cancel culture. It's here, it's happening and it seems like every day,
there are calls to cancel more famous faces on social media—but not
always from the voices you would expect.

In recent weeks in the wake of the George Floyd protests and the
resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, the spotlight has shone
on the likes of late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon for
past use of blackface for comedy sketches. And among the multitude of
voices calling for these celebrities to face consequences for their
past actions are a number of conservative figures and media outlets.
[End excerpt]

On Sat, Feb 6, 2021 at 9:55 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I'd just call it a "partisan buzzword."
>
> If I were twice as old, I'd call it a "partisan shibboleth" or "partisan
> slogan."
>
> JL
>
> On Sat, Feb 6, 2021 at 9:24 AM dave at wilton.net <dave at wilton.net> wrote:
>
> >
> > Is there a term for a buzzword/political label that is overwhelmingly used
> > by one side in a debate but only has semantic valence in the context of
> > that debate?
> >
> > The ur-examples may be "pro-life" and "pro-choice," but as has been
> > pointed out, there are lots of examples.
> >
> > I would distinguish them from words like "patriarcy" or "fascist" which in
> > the current political context may be mostly used by one side but have a
> > life of their own outside this context. "Cancel culture" is a term limited
> > to one faction in our particular political moment.
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: "Jonathan Lighter" <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Sent: Saturday, February 6, 2021 7:57am
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Cancel Culture
> >
> >
> >
> > The "opposing political view" being suppressed is often "one's own." So the
> > term is "used opprobriously."
> >
> > JL
> >

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