Miscellaneous Musings

July 25, 2021
 
On Something That Is Hardly New and Rather Natural
 

On April 12, 1922, a jury, after just five minutes of deliberation, returned a not-guilty verdict in the case charging comedian Fatty Arbuckle with the rape and murder of Virginia Rappe. During four of those minutes, the jury produced a note proclaiming the following: Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. We feel that a great injustice has been done to him … there was not the slightest proof adduced to connect him in any way with the commission of a crime. He was manly throughout the case and told a straightforward story which we all believe. We wish him success and hope that the American people will take the judgment of fourteen men and women that Roscoe Arbuckle is entirely innocent and free from all blame. Not everyone shared these generous sentiments.
 
Much has been written about the Arbuckle case in the years that followed, much of it favorable to Arbuckle and, more recently, some seeking to restore Rappe’s good name. This article is not about which side should win that debate. Rather, it is to point out the historical trait of “cancellation,” as it is commonly called today. Arbuckle was cancelled, first by an industry whose executives no longer had confidence in his ability to attract an audience, and second, by the public, none of whom took to the streets demanding that Arbuckle be allowed to return to the silver screen. For right or wrong, they simply moved on.
 
Throughout history, this has happened numerous times. People have risen to become presidents and world leaders only later to be reduced to footnotes in history. Rulers have been revolutionaries in their lifetimes, but tyrants after their deaths. Singers and music groups have sold millions of albums at the height of their careers, and then reduced to one-hit wonders in the next. Professional athletes have been touted as role models to fathers, yet villains to their sons, while once incredibly influential books have become regarded as problematic.
 
And if we’re honest with ourselves, we have to admit that this is the way it should be. Every generation decides who it wants to hold up as a hero and role model, just as every generation decides who it doesn’t want to praise or support. Earlier generations saw nothing wrong with naming high schools after Robert E. Lee and Andrew Jackson. Their upbringing had taught them to see these men in a positive light. Later generations, however, saw history differently and openly questioned whether these were indeed honorable people. Similarly, moviegoers during the silent and early sound years thought it natural to cast Caucasian actors in non-White roles and even awarded some of them with Academy Awards for their work; later generations have been appalled by the sight of these actors in Yellowface or artificially darkened skin and openly debated whether the offending movies should continue to be watched.
 
This constant re-evaluation is part of the normal evolutionary process. As we have grown over successive centuries, we have strived to improve, to be more decent to each other, and to leave the world a better place than it was when we inherited it. We sought freedom, religious rights, and educational opportunities even as we sometimes denied those things to every resident. We told our children stories about heroes and villains while elevating some rather imperfect people to the status of icons. And we gifted talented entertainers both money and fame in exchange for making our lives just a little bit more enjoyable without ever inquiring as to their moral character. It is the right of successive generations to correct these wrongs.
 
So statues and flags fall, sports teams change their names, once beloved TV actors become pariahs, and movies become harder to see. The saintly become less so, the wicked perhaps more sympathetic. A word takes on a new connotation, which another is reclaimed. In some cases, a person’s whole record becomes more important than an individual act, just as a single act of another person is deemed to be so egregious as to wipe out all of that person’s positive deeds. It is all part of the natural flow of time, reflecting the ever-changing landscape of the human conscience.
 
Cancel culture is, thus, nothing new. It is evidence of a genetic manifest destiny, an inherent drive to create that elusive Utopian state. It is a process that is ultimately destined to yield disappointment, as there is no agreement as what constitutes paradise. Therefore, the process can be both painful and liberating, and there will inevitably be injustices along the way. However, as the old saying goes, time heals all wounds. One generation’s pain can be another’s pleasure. Just look at Fatty Arbuckle. Enter his name on Amazon, and 74 entries come up. It seems he’s been un-cancelled.