In a world where celebrities’ lives are at everyone’s fingertips and “social media influencers” are all the rage, it can be easy to be quick to judge them for their mistakes.
The young people within our society have developed a “canceled culture” in which well-known internet personalities or celebrities who are problematic can be shunned and decidedly “canceled.”
However, it seems we are forgetting the fact that they are just that: people.
Take Logan Paul, for instance. Admittedly, even typing his name out sends shivers down my spine after the Suicide Forest incident in which he showed the body of a suicide victim in one of his videos. While people analyzed Paul’s apology video for body language indicators and tweeted with #JakePaulIsCancelledParty, they seemed to forget that he was a 20-something-year-old just like them.
His actions were absolutely horrendous and the lack of response was upsetting. But people forgot about the fact that he is human and will make mistakes. “Showing a body in a YouTube video is too big of a mistake,” I hear Twitter calling out, and maybe that is true. But I don’t think that is the real problem.
One mistake and celebrities are sent packing. Will we continue to let society be an incompassionate dictator, or should we think twice before canceling someone’s career?
I venture to say it is imperative to remember that those who are in the limelight and elicit the buzz on our phones from YouTube, Twitter and entertainment news sources are still just people.
They are people who make mistakes; people who will fail. Sure, they chose this life and should expect the backlash that comes with every mistake they make, but is that enough to end someone’s career?
Imagine if the media heard and saw everything you did on a daily basis. Wouldn’t you want some sort of grace, too?
