I was reading up on a controversy concerning The Korean Englishman (Josh from Jolly) in October of 2020. This was during the pandemic and he planned a birthday party for his wife in Seoul (she’s Korean) and videotaped it. The Korean police did not take kindly to it and arrested them. There were other issues with the wife as well. The charges were eventually dropped in April, but many Koreans were done with them. The feeling I got from the things I read was that they had welcomed him into their country with open arms, and this was how he acted? No.
I did not go too deep because, frankly, whatever. But I was looking up something else related to Jolly, and this came up. There was a Reddit thread in which the OP bleated about forgiveness and second chances and cancel culture. My dude. Jolly is doing just fine. Korean Englishman is doing fine as well (I just checked). The latter is still around and getting 3+ million views per video. Josh’s apology video got over 4.5 million views. They are just fine. They will be just fine. So they got that second chance.
But. Even if they did not get the second chance, that’s capitalism, bay-bee. When people talk about the free market deciding (granted, that is mostly Americans and they need to shut their traps), this is exactly what they mean. If there had been enough people disgusted by what happened who turned off the channel that it caused the channel to be shut down, well, that would be the market deciding. When Americans bleat about free market, they never think about if it goes in the direction they would prefer it didn’t.
When marriage equality was an issue in America–and I hate that it was up for a vote in the first place–there was a gay bar in…I want to say Tucson, but really, it could have been anywhere that stopped allowing bachelorette parties in the bar while the debate raged on. They said, “We love our straight sisters, but if we can’t marry, you can’t drink here.” I applauded their decision and I hope that more places start doing this in response to religious freedom. Won’t bake a cake for a gay couple? Fine. Then gay bakeries don’t have to bake them for straight people. Also, as Margaret Cho said in one of her bits about gay men who worked in the wedding industry, “If we can’t get married, you can’t get married.”
It’s the same when Roe v. Wade was overturned. I was advocating a full Lysistrata for those who could afford to do it without putting themselves in harm’s way. Honestly, I’ve gone a long time without sex and I’m in peri-menopause. I’m not in any hurry to have PIV sex as long as I can conceivably, well, conceive. It’s just not that important to me, and I love PIV sex. But I love even more not having children. MN still has legal abortion, but I’m still mad over Roe v. Wade being overturned. Furious.
I really hate how in America, the conservatives have controlled the narrative for so long about, well, everything. They are really good with messaging and discipline in said messaging. I may not agree with their message (and I don’t. Ever), but I cannot fault them for pushing it uniformly. Democrats, on the other hand, are messier with our messaging. It’s in part because w e do nuance, but that doesn’t matter when you’re trying to reach the masses.
There have been a slew of issues on which they have owned the messaging. Let’s start with ‘politically correct’. That’s the label they slapped on anyone trying to bring up any people other than middle-class cis straight white men. Woke is the current term that has a similar connotation, and if you were to listen to the conservatives, you would think it was the worst thing ever. However, if you were to present it to people in a more positive way (caring about all people and their different lived experiences, for example), it’s much harder to push back against. Not impossible, obviously, but more so than if you allow the Republicans to define it as not being allowed to say what everyone is thinking.
“You can’t say anything any more!” “Freedom of speech!” These are both in a similar vein, and it’s amusing and irritating at the same time that they only mean freedom of speech for them. I’m not even going to touch that it’s about what the government can and can’t do to you in regards to speech or go into depths about how I am not a constitutionalist. I will just point out that in normal conversation, you can, indeed, say anything you want. But, and this is the important part, so can the person you’re talking to. So can the internet if you post what you’re saying online! That is the beauty of free speech is that everyone has the same freedom! So, yes, you can tell me that you think Asian people are sly. I, in turn, can tell you that you’re full of shit. See how that works?
Circling back to cancel culture for a minute. I agree that the internet is ruthless. I’m not comfortable with how quickly a Twitter mob can go after someone. But, on the other hand, if you make money off the internet, you’re going to have to deal with the negatives as well. I’m not saying that there should be any kind of death threats or personal insults, but that’s unfortunately the nature of the beast. I think we need to develop new laws about what is and isn’t allowable on the internet because the law is at least a decade behind the times. In addition, the internet is much crueler to non-white dudes, which, by the way, is something that doubly infuriates me about those who deride cancel culture. They are heavily in favor of it when it is something they don’t like–for example, people being wished happy holidays. You want to watch a conservative go crazy? Wish them a happy holiday instead of a Merry Christmas! It’s just words, right? No need to get so upset about it!
It’s bitterly ironic how they feel that they’re being excluded by a phrase that is more broadly inclusive than Merry Christmas, but that’s the whole point of them. They need to be centered at all times, otherwise, it’s endless whining. I am not sympathetic at all as someone who is never centered. There is literally no time when I can look at media/pop culture/society and say, “I feel seen.” I know I’m going to be ignored or dismissed no matter what, which makes me very unsympathetic to white Christian conservatives who get SO UPSET about a minimum-wage worker wishing them a Happy Holidays instead of a Merry Christmas. If that’s the worst thing that happens to you in a day, then you’re doing really fucking well.
So, yeah. I’m out of patience for those who whine about having to think about anything or anyone other themselves for a hot second. I live in a country that has taken huge leaps backwards over the past few years when it comes to civil rights. Cry me a river if you don’t get what you want 99% of the time. Somehow, I think you’ll survive.