In addition to feminism, wokeness and the idea of queen slaying, null culture has become one of the most bastardized concepts thanks to social media.
And since everyone can now contribute to creating the meaning of a common concept thanks to the decentralization of communication, the definition changes depending on who you ask about it.
The concept is most misunderstood by those who believe that they have suffered the consequences of this social action, the more complicated the concept is for those who have not yet understood it.
LISTEN: Should ‘cancel culture’ be a group project?
Is culture void?
Wikipedia defines null culture as a phenomenon where people who are perceived to be acting or speaking in unacceptable ways are ostracized, boycotted or shunned.
Vox, on the other hand, sees the concept primarily through a pop culture lens that portrays it as a cultural act blocked from a prominent public platform or career.
“The rise of “cancel culture” and the idea of canceling people fits a familiar pattern: A celebrity or other public figures do or say something offensive. A public backlash, often supported by progressive political social media, ensues.
“Then there are calls to cancel the person — that is, effectively end their career or cancel their cultural cachet, whether through a job boycott or disciplinary action from their employer,” Aja Romano wrote for Vox in 2020.
Celebrities are most affected by the cancellation culture
There are some who believe that the culture of cancellation has real consequences. I am not one of them.
Many people often list celebrities like R. Kelly, Chris Brown and Kanye West as victims of the concept of “cancelling” people, ignoring the real-world consequences of the heinous – and sometimes illegal it has either been said or done.
Locally, efforts to unseat celebrities like AKA (due to alleged violent past with girlfriend Nellie Tembe), Kelly Khumalo (due to his involvement in Senzo Meyiwa’s death) and Jub Jub (due to litany of offences) have all proved to be exercises in futility.
Read: Chris Brown sued in the US for rape
And especially because the big group can’t see what to do with celebrities who have been involved in scandals or headlines that have a social impact.
Stories of rape, murder, child abuse and molestation.
Is ‘cancelling culture’ a group project?
Ideally, to achieve the desired effect, I believe that undoing culture should be a group project. However, I just don’t see the masses showing enough unity to decide their stand and stay.
Now (and most likely forever), undoing the culture, will be something for the individual because the only one who can control it, himself and his principles.
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