It’s Far Too Soon to Say Peak Woke is Behind Us

The mob strikes from Texas to Poland

angry mob with torches

It’s not 2020 anymore! 

Peak Woke is over!

Plenty of people across the political spectrum have made such declarations recently. They invite us to reflect on the bygone days of cancel culture: A speaker says something. The mob interprets it with zero charity, and the public shaming ritual begins. 

The heretic grovels and apologizes, but that only fuels the mob’s blood lust. The heretic may be fired, lose friends, lose opportunities, and be forever branded with a scarlet H. 

Such scenes no longer dominate social media, so in one sense, those who declare that Peak Woke is behind us are right. But I’ve argued for years that those who focus on the high-profile examples of wokeness and cancel culture have always been myopic. 

They overlook the worst aspects of the climate around free expression, aspects that are usually hidden and unseen. These days, woke spectacles may be less common, but that doesn’t mean that fear has stopped corrupting the pursuit of truth. 

If you’re fed up with groupthink in entertainment, media, and more, please consider subscribing to Shiny Herd. Free subscriptions are still the only kind I offer. I’m grateful to all of you who have pledged support, and I plan to accept your generosity soon.

Shame on You!

Public shamings may be less visible today, but they’re still with us.

Take Gilberto Hinojosa. The former chairman of the Texas Democrats just finished apologizing and groveling for speaking frankly about transgender issues.

I’d like to be a fly on the wall if he ever has a beer with Marek Żydowicz.

On the other side of the world, it’s now Żydowicz’s turn to endure a struggle session. And it’s not because his film festival is presenting the world premiere of the infamous Alec Baldwin film Rust. 

Until recently, Żydowicz was best known as the director of the Polish film festival Camerimage, the world’s most prestigious cinematography-focused film festival. But now he’s probably best known as a spewer of sexism. Did he actually spew sexism? No, but tell that to the mob who attacked him just as his festival approached its opening night (November 16). 

Headlines screamed “sexist,” “misogynistic,” even “highly-misogynistic.” He was ripped by cinematography organizations such as the American Society of Cinematographers, the International Cinematographers Guild and the British Society of Cinematographers. Hot-shot directors joined in the grandstanding. 

Coralie Fargeat pulled The Substance, her Demi Moore horror flick, from the festival. Steve McQueen—oops, make that Sir Steve McQueen—boycotted the screening of his own film Blitz, and the ceremony in which he was set to receive the “outstanding director” award. 

Said the 12 Years a Slave director:

Although he has issued an apology, I cannot get past what I consider deeply offensive words. I have enormous respect for cinematographers of all genders including women, and believe we have to do and demand better to make room for everyone at the table.

If McQueen truly believes that, he shouldn’t have canceled his flight to Poland because making “room for everyone at the table” is what Żydowicz is calling for. The embattled Pole is standing up for excellence, no matter who creates it. What he opposes is DEI filmmaking.

How to Enrage a Mob

The controversy began when Żydowicz penned a column for Cinematography World magazine in which he responded to demands to increase female representation in cinematography. Again and again, Żydowicz made it clear that he supports women in film. 

He hailed the growing recognition of female cinematographers and directors as “crucial” and “positive” and called “the long-standing gender inequality” in film “unfair” and an “obvious injustice.” He referenced how women have improved filmmaking and noted that his festival “has always defended under-appreciated and excluded creators—both male and female cinematographers.” 

Żydowicz speaks to English audiences through an interpreter. My hunch is his lack of English fluency doomed him when he dared to address such a fraught topic in a language other than his native tongue. 

The passage that ignited the outrage came just after he praised the increase in female representation. He asks:

Can the pursuit of change exclude what is good? Can we sacrifice works and artists with outstanding artistic achievements solely to make room for mediocre film production?

Żydowicz goes on to write:

Further efforts to include more female cinematographers and directors in the festival presentations are indisputable, but they must not come at the expense of what is truly important to the festival: evaluating artistic merit and selecting valuable films for competition.

Sir McQueen says he read Żydowicz’s column, so it’s hard to make sense of his interpretation. Żydowicz calls for excellence, and asserts that the rise of female filmmakers has increased excellence. He doesn’t stand against women; he stands against mediocrity regardless of sex. 

Why can’t we redirect the righteous indignation kicked up by this controversy toward those who would destroy the reputation of a well-meaning man? 

---

Related

• The Chill is More Dangerous Than the Heat: 9 Hidden Truths about Groupthink and Cancel Culture

• Filmmaking During The Great Chill: Why We’re Releasing Our Movie on Substack

• Why You’ll Be Watching Fewer Problematic Movies: The hidden side of cancel culture at Sundance

• J.K. Rowling: "The attempt to intimidate me is meant as a warning to other women” The myopic cancel culture take that won't go away

---

The Cycle of Myopia Continues

Ah, but will Żydowicz lose his job? We’ll see. 

If he hangs on, the myopics among us will squeal that the episode proves cancel culture doesn’t exist. But cancel culture has never been mostly about the poor sap in the crosshairs. 

Regardless of what happens to Żydowicz, consider how the episode will affect the film industry professionals who witnessed it. On its own, it won’t matter that much. But the episode doesn’t exist on its own. Those who paid attention to it will add it to their private list of reasons why they should not speak frankly about issues such as diversity and excellence in art. 

Self censorship blunts the truth-seeking process that’s encouraged by a culture of free expression. Self censorship diminishes the film industry’s ability to improve the issues it says it cares about. 

In short, widespread self censorship creates the Great Chill, that subtle force that corrodes everything it touches. 

If you’re fed up with groupthink in entertainment, media, and more, please consider subscribing to Shiny Herd.

Ted Balaker is a filmmaker, and former network newser and think tanker. His written work has appeared in many publications including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Reason, and The Washington Post. 

His recent film work includes Little Pink House starring Catherine Keener and Jeanne Tripplehorn, Can We Take a Joke? featuring Gilbert Gottfried and Penn Jillette, and the new feature documentary based on the bestselling book, The Coddling of the American Mind, by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. Stream the very first “Substack Presents” feature documentary here on Substack or on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Google Play.

Ted and his wife and producing partner Courtney Moorehead Balaker are now making a narrative feature film based on Rob Henderson’s bestselling book Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class.