Cancel culture has to be one of the worst things to have happened to society since social media became a ubiquitous part of everyday life for a lot of people, and while there’s often sound reasoning behind some of the targets, other times it just feels like the online flash-mob swells in numbers and turns something into a huge deal without knowing all of the facts.
One recent example saw people shocked that beloved Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. had worn blackface in Tropic Thunder, with demands for him to apologize immediately and have him forcibly removed from the top of the Hollywood A-list. The only problem was that a lot of those that were offended hadn’t even seen the movie, and therefore had no idea that the actor’s Academy Award-nominated performance as Kirk Lazarus existed entirely as a satirical look at the entitlement of white actors.
The recent push for more diversity and inclusion that’s happening around the world is a great thing, but there’s a huge difference between The Flash firing Hartley Sawyer due to genuinely offensive comments, and the ramblings of a crazy fan determined that co-star Danielle Panabaker face the same fate.
Gone With the Wind may have returned to HBO Max with a disclaimer, but it appears as though the fine lines between racial and cultural sensitivity and knee-jerk cancel culture have become even more blurred. For instance, the college football rivalry between Oregon and Oregon State has dropped the ‘Civil War’ tag from their rivalry, and now the internet is targeting Marvel Studios’ third Captain America movie for the same treatment, and you can check out some of the reactions below.
Cancel Marvel for using "civil war" in one of their movie titles
— Zykorbeus (@GabCaram) June 27, 2020
Finally ? now let's rename the Spanish Civil War, Russian Civil War, all the other past and present civil wars, that Marvel movie, and Civil Engineering https://t.co/e5oRffD8WO
— Evan Kerns (@EvanKerns) June 26, 2020
@Marvel one of your comic and movie titles is based on a war about slavery and should be changed immediately civil war was not a great time African Americans the fact that a company that loves to employ equality in there product can get away with this and use this title is insane
— Ragna151 (@ragna151) June 26, 2020
Agreed #EndRacismNow
— Andrew (@DangerousAinHD) June 26, 2020
@Marvel and @MarvelStudios need to change the name of #CivilWar immediately. It not only demeans and belittles the brave African-American men & women who fought for their rights in the 1800s but also devalues the strong ancestral leaders of today’s fight against racism.
— Andrew (@DangerousAinHD) June 26, 2020
I cannot believe Marvel named a movie Captain America Civil War. Must be changed immediately https://t.co/l6rYxOBRS6
— Caden (@caden_morello) June 26, 2020
Can’t wait until Marvel changes the name of Captain America: Civil War to Captain America: An Unfriendly Dispute Between Old Companions https://t.co/tG5zlPrbtj
— Branon Hayes (@BranonHayes) June 26, 2020
is marvel gonna rename captain america civil war to something else too https://t.co/teln9HZgWo
— sehun (@sehunhan) June 26, 2020
@Marvel Captain America better be next that movie title Captain America Civil War triggers me please change the title https://t.co/OPEE3fkiaf
— Hunter Andrews (@HunterBlue24) June 26, 2020
It shouldn’t need to be pointed out that America isn’t the only country to find themselves fighting a civil war throughout history, and while it seems unlikely that the title of Captain America‘s third outing is going to be retroactively altered, this is really starting to get out of hand. Owning up to and admitting past transgressions and behavior is one thing, but rewriting history to try and cover up a mistake is never a good idea, and it defeats the entire purpose of the seismic recent cultural shift if things are just being swept under the rug or erased completely.
