Sydney Sweeney has great genes jeans.
Was this intended to be the veiled compliment of eugenics so many people took it as, or merely a creative play on the homophone? Is Sweeney to blame, or was she merely following a script? Do she and the American Eagle brand deserve to be canceled? Does anyone?
Well, yes and no. It’s a gray area.
Cancel culture was recognized by the Oxford English Dictionary in 2016, with the term gaining popularity by 2018. But the overall concept of “canceling” is nothing new. Examples show individuals, companies, and movements ostracized and boycotted for behavior deemed unacceptable, ranging from the Salem Witch Trials to the Red Scare.
The term has become so relevant that in her mockumentary, actress Diane Morgan deadpans Jesus Christ was the first victim of cancel culture.
Lately, cancel culture has gotten a bit out of hand, with people looking for any grounds to shun celebrities and public figures. While some grounds hold reason and legitimacy, they are sometimes blown into unreasonable proportions.
Sabrina Carpenter was criticized for her new album cover being misogynistic and degrading to women. Pedro Pascal was called out for being too touchy with female colleagues. People have begun to boycott E.l.f for hiring Matt Rife in an advertisement, a comedian whose offensive jokes at women’s expense drew a harsh contrast to the cosmetic company’s mission of uplifting and inspiring them.
What of this is warranted? What is taking it too far?
“I don’t think Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle deserved the backlash they got for the jeans commercial,” University of Iowa first-year student Carly Thelen said. “They seemed to just intend it as a lighthearted ad, not as trying to make a racial or political statement.”
My personal take varies depending on the situation but leans towards forgiveness, which may be a naive take, but don’t cancel me for it. As Thelen pointed out, the intention was different from the reception.
A majority of the recent incidents were oversights or misunderstandings. That doesn’t necessarily excuse some of the actions, but we’re all human; we make mistakes, we overlook smaller details until they become bigger.
A 2021 Hill-Harris X poll found people tend to agree with this sentiment: 71 percent of registered voters in the U.S. stated they somewhat or strongly believed cancel culture had gone too far.
Many targets of cancelation have issued apologies after the backlash, taking accountability for their actions. E.l.f. issued an apology on Instagram after the Rife controversy.
“You know us, we’re always listening and we’ve heard you,” the statement said. “This campaign aimed to humorously spotlight beauty injustice. We understand we missed the mark with people we care about in our e.l.f. community.”
While some comments under the post were dissatisfied with the apology, and it indeed could have been a bit stronger, the brand did not intend to alienate women in hiring Rife. They misjudged and failed to account for his past actions and how they might be received.
There are instances where a brief cancelation may help to right a wrong or force deeper introspection into the actions to blame. Sometimes no more than that is needed. In the instances listed, I do not feel any stronger cancelation is necessary, and too much drama or focus may detract from the actual issues in need of cancelation and attention.
I think the cancel culture energy toward Amazon, Target, and Shein is rightfully placed. Concerns over unfair or discriminatory practices resulting from rolled back diversity, equity, and inclusion standards or cruel and harmful labor practices must contain more serious repercussions than the wrong marketing tactic.
Similarly, the more we focus on what a celebrity said wrong or what brand did something distasteful, the less we are focusing on the famine in Gaza, war in Ukraine, or health care access in the U.S. There are more serious issues in the world than Sweeney’s jeans.
That being said, some pop culture cancelation topics reveal cracks running deeper in society. Rather than focusing on the surface-level issues, we need to read into what they signify, what they are reminiscent of.
We need to reconsider our approach to cancel culture and think critically before boycotting a person or brand. We need to cancel the real problems and humanitarian crises. Unless the celebrities we tend to cancel are in a real position of power or influence, we need to direct our focus elsewhere. Mindlessly pointing fingers won’t do anyone any good.