Is Cancel Culture Over?

Jonathan Richman arguably wrote one of the first songs about cancelling artists due to their dodgy tendencies. Titled ‘Pablo Picasso ‘, the chorus went, “Pablo Picasso was never called on asshole”. and was a pointed critique on his philandering. I wonder what he makes of Louis CK, Russell Brand and Lizzo.

Nobody is infallible in this world. We all make mistakes. But those who wilfully harm others must face consequences, regardless of their star status or influence. The clinical psychologist Dr Ramani has spoken eloquently on narcissism, saying that abusers are fully aware of what they are doing and must bear responsibility, even if they had a terrible childhood or past. I’m inclined to agree with her. They are adults after all, and fully aware of how their toxic actions negatively impact upon others.

It’s heartbreaking to see people you have long admired espousing political views that are questionable (Morrissey, Graham Linehan) and the recent allegations against the aforementioned in the first paragraph are truly shocking. But I don’t know if art is ever separate from the artist. Egon Schiele allegedly did some appalling things in his short life. But much of his art is incredible. Much of his art is indefensible too.

The vagaries of this could tie me into a human pretzel. Because it’s a discourse that can’t be summed up in a few handy soundbites on a blog, nor reduced to just a hashtag on social media. There’s so many voices crying out to be heard from all sides. Cancel culture isn’t going anywhere. The mitigating factors that lead to people exploiting others (entitlement, money, fame, notoriety) are as much a conversation as the art itself. Woody Allen sickens me but I still like some of his films. I often like art that scares me. Where do you draw the line?