“CRUCIFY HIM!”
We love ourselves an execution. We crave to see criminals hung on the stakes and the fire burning just below their legs and envelop their bodies. We love to see the guillotine’s knife drop. And a good old beheading would make the rest of the week. Just make sure you attend Monday’s execution session.
In the present world, we don’t get to gather around the public enemy’s burning body. We don’t get to shout, ‘Die!’ over and over again while the military pumps one, two, and three bullets into the culprit’s body. Hell, we don’t even get to cover the children’s eyes – most likely from the electric chair option - anymore.
Nothing ever dies out - though you can find some of these punishments obtainable in some parts of the world – and when it comes to having the crowd factor in the death of a pronounced public enemy, social media has more or less taken monopoly of that.
Behind our keyboards, we are greater warriors than we ever thought we would be. The EndSars protest was engineered on Twitter and brought to life on the streets, crowdfunding projects completed, and numerous other things have been made possible from here. While you revel in the beauty of this, ask yourself: is it the power of community or the power of the crowd?
When the moral compass is not facing north, things turn ugly quickly.
Chike, who released ‘Boo of the Booless’, a beautiful album in its entirety, insulted village traveling easterners in one tweet to put it in perspective.
In less than two hours, there were the soft chidings, the harsh ones, the completely insulting ones, and then we had the ones that claimed they were going to delete his album and never listen to his music again. We heard the verdict we only know so well: Chike was canceled. Dun dun dun.
I could understand the agitation. I’m of Abia descent myself, but that album? Did Chike kill my sister?
He had tweeted an apology when I came back online, explaining how he lost two of his friends to a road accident whilst traveling to the east for Christmas. It was completely understandable, but it got me thinking. I don’t know how I would have reacted if I was online when the first tweet was made.
It was interesting to watch how quickly everyone got over it, and we lived in harmony once again. We have a short attention span, but when focused, can wreck or make a situation. Maybe it's time to...
CUT THEM SOME SLACK
We tend to view people who have attained celebrity status as role models and hold them to a high moral standard. This is why every scandal is sweeter; every story juicier when it involves a celebrity or a popular person. The fall is longer, and landing even worse. We live for this violence. The harder they fall, I guess.
However, when you decide to take them off that pedestal and treat them as you would treat your next-door neighbor – regular human beings. They cry, they eat, and they make mistakes too. They aren’t mini gods who have attained a higher moral status as a result of celebrity status. They are normal people, and they are unique too.
This is why celebrities have a social media team handling their accounts most of the time. If you think they are so polite a lot of the time, you have probably only seen the team at work. More than often, it is chaos when the real owners take over. It is obvious when Burna Boy is the one behind the keyboard; we have seen it all too often. Wizkid insulted the president (it was called for anyway), Reekado Banks, and many other people when handling his account. As for Davido, I don’t think he has a social media team. TULE JARE!
These are normal people, and when you try to see them as such instead of holding their achievements over their head as a moral obligation to live up to, the world turns on its hinges easier.
I would drag Messi to the ends of the flat earth if he slipped. You don’t have to listen to me.
WHEN SHOULD CANCEL CULTURE BE A THING?
There are loads of instances in which cancel culture has been deployed – effectively or ineffectively, but I believe in the end, it boils down to personal preferences. To avoid merely being another piece of the crowd, interrogate yourself. Find out why.
What did the person in question do? Is it really so deep? If said person’s views trigger you, do the next best thing – unfollow, mute, or block their social media. If his/her triggering views are also portrayed in the service provided, then it’s your call.
Do you enjoy the service? If you enjoy the service provided by said person, why allow a few tweets to deprive you of it? In my opinion, that is bunkers. Learn to separate the artist from the music.
The point is, take the time out to reflect before jumping on the cancel train. Seven out of ten times, you will realize it isn’t worth it. Unless, of course, you’re just there for the violence. I love to see it. Here for the gbi-ti-gbogbo-ti-gbo. Most times, I am too.
This piece is in no way intended to invalidate your experiences; whenever it feels right, do what you want to do. My aim here is to make you ask yourself why, and if you are sure, by all means, go ahead. But do not deprive yourself of the otherwise wonderful service being provided.
Take care.
In the words of Shakespeare:
“Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that.” - Shylock, Merchant of Venice.
If anything should be canceled, it’s cancel culture. Let’s learn instead to call them out and correct them in love. The world is already cruel as it is, and we need not hide behind keyboards and the guise of wokeness to make it more cruel.
Love this write up though.
More people need to see this! People just need to understand that human beings are allowed to make mistakes and learn from their mistakes.