▲ Cancel culture (Source: gettyimages)

The Meaning and History of Cancel Culture

Recently, "Cancel Culture" has become a societal controversial topic of issue. It refers to the collective actions of the public to criticize or exclude famous individuals or organizations who have made controversial remarks or actions from their social standing. Those who become the target of cancel culture, find themselves in a situation of what can be called a kind of "social expulsion" under the pressure of the public. This phenomenon mostly spreads through social media, resulting in strong negative impacts such as public withdrawal of support, boycotts, and career damage.

Initially, this phenomenon emerged as a means of holding accountable those who violated social norms such as racism, sexism, and hate speech, aiming to realize justice. However, nowadays, especially among the younger generation who easily utilize SNS, it has been justified to publicly criticize and drive out individuals who have made statements or actions deviating from moral standards.

A Tool of Blame Disguised as Justice

In recent years, cancel culture has been criticized for straying from its original intent and becoming overly emotional and aggressive. In the past, passive methods like unfollowing social media accounts or hashtag campaigns were the main trends, but now, it has become more common and extreme to actively criticize through boycotts, comments, or sending direct messages (DMs), displaying more radical and punitive tendencies.

Rather than providing opportunities for conversation and reflection, there are even movements to completely destroy and bury one's entire life over a single mistake or wrongdoing, causing social controversy. As the cancel culture phenomenon explosively spreads under the influence of social media and popular culture, people show tendencies to exclude and destroy individuals from society with just one mistake or remark.

It is no longer unfamiliar for politicians or celebrities to face public criticism and social exclusion due to specific statements or actions. This culture seems to emphasize justice and responsibility, but the problem is that it is rushing in an overly emotional and irrational direction. Cancel culture is not merely about pointing out and criticizing the wrongdoings of specific individuals, but rather it has degenerated into a tool to attack and destroy their entire lives. This act of wholly denying the character and life of an individual causes serious problems that hinder healthy social development.

Problems Arising from Cancel Culture

The recent controversy involving the influencer Kwak Jun-bin, who runs the "KwakTube" channel, clearly illustrates the issues with cancel culture. During the recent Chuseok holiday, Kwak uploaded a video to his channel. The video featured actress Lee Na-eun, who had been socially condemned for bullying and school violence allegations during her time in a girl group. Kwak became the target of cancel culture for appearing to approve and support Lee's appearance in the video.

As public criticism intensified, Kwak belatedly set the video to private and posted an apology. However, the public's response was unsympathetic. In just two days, his YouTube channel subscribers dropped from 2.12 million to 2.10 million, and a public service advertisement on school violence in which he appeared in for the Ministry of Education was also taken down, leading to significant blows to the career he had built up.

Of course, Kwak can be criticized for acting immaturely and failing to properly grasp the social atmosphere. The problem, however, is that the public did not forgive him, focusing instead on negating all his achievements and career, even though he had not committed any illegal acts or directly caused societal harm.

Cancel culture, in this way, often seeks only punishment without offering opportunities for reflection. This is more of an emotional outburst rather than a true resolution of issues, making it difficult to address problems through rational dialogue. Rather than offering the chance to correct and improve wrong actions, cancel culture negates and buries everything about an individual, leading to socially destructive consequences.

▲ KwakTube, a travel YouTuber who has recently been the subject of cancel culture due to controversy (Source: KwakTube Instagram)

Additionally, cancel culture leads to the side effect of people hesitating to freely express their opinions. When J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, expressed opposing views on transgender issues in the past, transgender rights activists became enraged and launched severe attacks against her, leaving malicious comments on her social media and even leaking her home address. Although they aimed to cancel J.K. Rowling in the name of political correctness (PC), such excessive actions resulted in the cessation of freedom of expression. This leads to a situation where people become reluctant to freely express their opinions in public spaces out of fear that their views will be met with overly aggressive attacks.

Freedom of expression is the foundation of democracy, and a healthy society can only be formed when diverse voices and viewpoints coexist. However, under the pressure of cancel culture, people refrain from expressing themselves freely out of fear of losing their social status or reputation. Consequently, society loses the opportunities for public discussions where the free exchange of diverse opinions and ideas is necessary.

Cancel culture is also a significant problem in that there is inconsistency in its standards and methods of application. Some people are lightly criticized for similar mistakes, while others are socially buried for minor missteps. This shows that the judgment in cancel culture tends to be influenced more by the emotional reactions of the public than by objective evaluation of individuals' actions.

Another issue is that the individuals being canceled often face excessive punishment. The term "Narak" which means ‘abyss’ has become a trend, and it seems like mocking and criticizing someone for a single mistake, and preventing them from ever regaining their former glory, has now turned into a sort of entertainment. However, when evaluating a person’s entire life, it is deeply unjust to negate all their achievements and efforts based on a single mistake in the past. While criticism for wrongful behavior is necessary, it is an overreaction when such criticism is carried out in a way that destroys a person’s entire existence. Cancel culture uses a judgment emotionally oriented, leaning more toward emotional revenge than social justice.

Toward a Society That Offers Opportunities for Change and Reflection

Although cancel culture originally began with the emphasis on justice and accountability, it has lost its original purpose by degenerating into an overly emotional and aggressive trend. By blocking opportunities for productive dialogue and reflection, it ultimately intensifies social conflict and division.

As seen in examples of cancel culture, we can recognize the negative aspects of cancel culture through the absence of rational dialogue, infringement on freedom of expression, and the problem of double standards. The public needs to stop being swept away by emotion and negating an entire individual’s life and instead find a balance between criticism and forgiveness.

The Importance of Cultivating a Mature Cultural Awareness and Emotional Restraint

Ultimately, cancel culture is a culture that is shaped by all members of society together. When we all develop a proper understanding of cancel culture and adopt responsible attitudes, cancel culture can become a positive force contributing to the realization of social justice.

Even at moments of criticism, individuals should be provided with opportunities for reflection, and while holding them accountable for their mistakes, society should also leave open the possibility for societal comeback. True justice lies not “in punishment” but “in offering opportunities” for growth and reconciliation. Society can develop through more mature conversations and debates, and to do so, we must move beyond the emotional exclusion of cancel culture. Nationally, it is necessary to foster democratic awareness through education that respects the opinions of others and accepts "difference from oneself."

We hope that cancel culture will evolve from a mere tool for expressing anger to one that promotes social dialogue and realizes justice. We must create a better culture that understands the compassionate delivery of constructive criticism, to ensure that individuals’ mistakes do not lead to societal destruction.

By Jeong Yu-jin, cub-reporter  jyj490825111@gmail.com

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