The culture of cancellation is a phenomenon that has been operating since approximately 2015. It is a large-scale boycott, supported by social networks and that for offense, error or “bad behavior” condemns actors, directors, politicians and politicians to ostracism. celebrities of various kinds. One of the fields in which this popular criminalization exerts more force is in comedy, and although some people like Seth Rogen defend it, the reality is that there are several comedians who have been canceled due to tweets or jokes in the past. One of them was fellow actor Kevin Hart, who in a promotional interview for his new series Being a father in the Sunday Times , has referred to the issue as a real problem.
The actor who is in the middle of the filming of the film of the dystopian video game Borderlands , knows very well what it is that the social networks cancel it. In 2019 he was going to present the Oscar gala, but as a result of a great media bombardment by some jokes from the past, he had to give up presenting the gala he had always dreamed of. The actor harshly criticized the culture of cancellation in the interview, assuring that it represents an absolute loss of freedom.
“If people want to get things out and go back to the same tweets as before, go ahead. There is nothing I can do ”affirmed the actor and added“ you are seeing a younger version of myself. A comedian who tries to be funny and, in that attempt, fails ”. Then he spoke of the falsehood around a supposed sense of perfection that does not exist: “ Where were people supposed to act well all the time? (…) I don’t expect perfection from my children. I don’t expect it from my wife, friends, employees. (…) I don’t know a child who hasn’t screwed up or done stupid things ”.
At the end of the interview, Hart compared it to the feeling of being behind bars . “It is like jail. People are locked up so they can be taught a lesson. When they leave they are supposed to be better, but when they do, people tell them “I’m not going to give you a job because you were in jail” (…) Are you saying that all life should end because of a mistake? Should your life end and shouldn’t it end because of a mistake? The comedian is not the only one who has run against this trend of digital exclusion, a few weeks ago Sharon Stone said that it was “the stupidest thing she had ever seen” and a year ago, the writer JK Rowling signed a letter with various intellectuals, in which he considered the phenomenon as a restriction of the debate in our culture.
