Dr Seuss And What Cancel Culture Is Not
I think we all knew in November that come January, conservative media outlets would return to their old ways. Like a schoolyard bully caught in the act, they scream incoherent nonsense in an effort to make the kid with the bloody nose appear somehow more culpable than they are themselves.
From Kamala Harris’ Inauguration Day outfit to Biden’s 12 year old rescue dog, it seems nothing is too petty to be off limits. I shudder to think what might happen if one of them dares to wear a tan suit this summer.
When Dr Seuss Enterprises decided to pull six obscure titles from its catalogue due to problematic imagery, we knew there would be some manner of fuss from Fox and their endlessly hypocritical talking heads. This on the heels of a toy company attempting to make a 1950s toy relevant to the age of iPads and Minecraft, made their new favourite punching bag ripe for the kicking — Cancel Culture.
Now, whether or not we agree that people and businesses should be held publicly accountable for their racism and/or abuse of others, Cancel Culture is a specific thing with a specific goal. ‘Cancelling’ happens when others call out a person or brand on their bad behaviour. And that’s not what happened here.
I, like many of you, grew up on Dr Seuss, and honestly, I had never even heard of these titles before the controversy hit the news. They were outdated titles the company chose, on its own, to pull from their catalogue. That’s the opposite of Cancel Culture. It’s called personal responsibility.
When my kids were young, I collected as many of the Disney movies I grew up with as I could. Looking back, Disney cartoons were about as innocuous as could be, right? Then I sat down and watched Dumbo with adult eyes.
My childhood rose-coloured glasses remembered the heart-rending tale of a little elephant being torn from the protection of his mother and mercilessly teased for his differences. When I watched it again, however, I was shocked at the blatently racist overtones I had missed in my youth. I deleted the movie from our library without showing it to my kids.
As a parent, it is my responsibility to raise my children to be kind people, and to that end, I cannot in good conscious expect them to ‘overlook’ the not so subtle mocking that was rife in much of the media I consumed in the 80s. I haven’t shown them Old Yeller or The Dark Crystal either, though for entirely different reasons (why were movie producers trying so hard to traumatize us all back then?).
What Dr Seuss Enterprises has done is what we hope to see all companies and public figures do — go back over their old content, see it with fresh eyes, and rather than deny they had done anything wrong, step up and admit that it was hurtful. Reconciliation begins with acknowlement. It is the first and easiest step.
After everything we’ve been through this past year, I would like to think that we all have the courage inside us to make this one small gesture. We want a new world on the other side of this pandemic. Let’s allow others room to change, and not mock them for it.
And for all the Fox News pundits out there, you should remember what they taught in kindergarten: cruelty is not courage.
