The conservative fixation on “cancel culture” has truly gotten out of control. And now, for some confounding reason, they’re asking Gen X to step in and save the day.
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The New York Post ran an article over the weekend mourning the “cancelation” of J.K. Rowling and Dumbo, before claiming that “the generation that fought for its right to party should be leading the charge against these millennial Maoists terrorizing the culture via social media.”
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The way author Matthew Hennessey tells it, censorship didn’t happen during the 80s when members of Gen X were growing up. This is a decidedly millennial turn, he believes.
Of course, that’s entirely inaccurate. Social media has given people a platform to collectively voice their concerns and outrage about anything and everything. That isn’t always what’s happening — no one asked for the Mr. Potato Head brand to get a gender-neutral name, and the Dr. Seuss Foundation stopped publishing racist books all on its own.
That didn’t stop Fox News from echoing the claims, keeping their network’s focus on “cancel culture” with pictures of Pepe Le Pew and fear-mongering about what beloved icon might go next if Gen X doesn’t step in.
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“Canceling” is something that’s happened for ages. It’s just largely been conservatives who have done it. Canceling musicians that speak out against a Republican president, canceling video games for violence, quite literally canceling “Ellen” when its titular actor came out as gay on the show and in real life.
This idea that boycotting or criticizing things that you don’t like in a way that gains traction and causes some sort of action, as a result, is new is absurd—as is the idea that Gen X wants to “save” the world from it, apparently.
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Gen X has been against “the machine” since the early 90s! We definitely have no interest in things being “how they used to be,” because that really fucking SUCKED. Saving America from “cancel culture” so people who watch Fox can feel better won’t fucking happen, here. pic.twitter.com/qQPsw6szzk
— glitterophelia
(@glitterophelia) March 15, 2021
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Fox News: Gen X, please save us from cancel culture.
Gen X *who grew up with their boomer parents who forbade them from hanging out with their gay or trans friends, tried to cancel the music they liked, hate on minorities, and tried to cancel sex ed*: ….
Also Gen X: pic.twitter.com/6AWDgYY0sG— Thainasorace Rex
(@MumblingNiggler) March 15, 2021
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Fox News is calling on Gen X to save America from cancel culture. I’m Gen X, and I think I can speak for a lot of us when I say, “Fox, you can fuck all the way off!”
— Amy Lynn
(@AmyAThatcher) March 15, 2021
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Something boomers don’t seem to understand is you can’t take everything away from the younger generations and then expect them to come save you when things no longer go your way — when conversations shift, when inclusiveness matters more than nostalgia, and when people are held accountable for their harmful opinions and actions.
That’s not “cancel culture,” it’s an evolving culture. And if anything, Gen X held open the door.
*First Published: March 16, 2021, 6:17 am
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