Kevin Spacey Is Uncancelled, But Has He Learned Anything?
Hollywood would rather talk about McCarthyism than Cancel Culture
The uncancelling of Kevin Spacey just entered a new chapter.
After being accused of sexual misconduct in 2017, Netflix dropped the two-time Oscar winner from the hit series House of Cards, and Spacey suffered a professional death. Then, in 2022, he was found not liable in a New York lawsuit. The next year a London jury acquitted him on sexual assault charges. And now the industry that has shunned him for so long, not only invited him back to one of its swankiest film festivals, it presented him with an award.
When the American Beauty star recently took to the stage at the Cannes Film Festival in France, he quipped, “Who would have ever thought that honoring someone who has been exonerated in every courtroom he’s ever walked into would be thought of as a brave idea. But here we are.”
Spacey went on to warn of the dangers of blacklists and cancellations. He harkened back to the mid 20th Century:
It was a long, long time ago, but we have to think about the pushback [Kirk Douglas] received after he made the brave decision to stand up for fellow colleague, two-time Oscar winning screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo, who had been blacklisted from 1947-1960. He was blacklisted. Blacklisted, do we know what that means? He couldn’t find work in Hollywood for 13 years.
But even after he was warned if he tried to hire Trumbo as the credited screenwriter for Spartacus in 1960, he’d be called a Commie lover, and his career and professional status would be canceled, Kirk Douglas took the risk, and would later say, and I won’t do my Kirk Douglas impression, but he said this, “It’s easier for us actors to play the heroes on screen. We get to fight the bad guys and stand up for justice. But in real life, the choices are not always so clear. There are times when one has to stand up for principle.”
Spacey continued, “I’ve learned a lot from history — it often repeats itself. The Blacklist was a terrible time in our history, so let’s hope that it never happens again.”1
Why would Spacey ask audience members to recall something that happened “a long, long time ago”?
If he really wants the threat to strike them as real, as something that could happen today, wouldn’t it be better to reference a more recent example?
Now if only there were a more recent example. Let’s strain our memories and figure out if we might be able to find one. Hmmm. I wonder if there might have been some kind of contemporary cultural development in which people were routinely cancelled for thoughtcrimes.
Oh wait, how about this one?
How about Cancel Culture!
You know, that tsunami of paranoia that destroyed careers, open inquiry, and even led to many deaths? You know, the one that began about a decade ago, and still claims victims today?
You know, the very same force that hit Spacey?
RELATED
Dumber by Design: Five Years Later, Reuters Is Determined to Learn Nothing from George Floyd Fallout
J.K. Rowling: Uncanceled — How the monoculture manufactured a pariah
Don’t Expect Student Protesters to Embrace Oppressed Venezuelans: Selective compassion seeks the “correct” kind of marginalized people
If Movie Reviewers Rip Jim Caviezel, They Should Rip These Celebs Too: Selective Outrage Over “Sound of Freedom”
Three Ways the Entertainment Industry Quietly Enforces Conformity: Netflix’s ‘Emilia Pérez’ mess is a case study in cultural corruption
Examining Cancel Culture’s Toll
Spacey referenced the Hollywood 10 and the “475 other industry professionals whose lives were destroyed by false allegations during that lengthy dark period.” In their essential book, The Cancelling of the American Mind,
and Rikki Schlott put the number of Communist and communist sympathizing actors, writers, and directors rendered unemployable at around 300.Then they offer some context.
Let’s begin with academia:
“The modern era of cancel culture (2014 to present) has resulted in almost 200 professor terminations.” That’s more than the 100 to 150 professors who were fired during the second Red Scare (1947 to 1957).
“From just 2014 to mid 2023, we know of more than 1,000 attempts to get professors fired, punished, or otherwise silenced.” They report that about two-thirds of the attempts were successful, and point out that even unsuccessful attempts chill speech.
That represents only a small part of the picture.
Lukianoff and Schlott know they’re underestimating Cancel Culture’s victim count by a lot. That’s because incidents at smaller and less elite colleges rarely make the news and because “investigations are shrouded in secrecy.”
A survey conducted by Lukianoff’s organization the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression found that 16 percent of professors say they’ve been disciplined or threatened with discipline for their speech, teaching, or academic research. Moreover, an astounding 29 percent of college faculty report being pressured by administrators to avoid controversial speech.
Outside of campus, it becomes even harder to document cancellations because “fired employees rarely make the news, and many of them sign severance contracts that include non-disclosure agreements.”
Even so, Lukianoff and Schlott say it was “relatively easy to find hundreds of examples of folks—including K-12 teachers and principals, entertainers, journalists, small-business owners, museum curators, and librarians—who were cancelled for something they said.”
And, as I often point out, the visible cancellations represent just the tip of the iceberg. As with those frozen mountains, most of Cancel Culture’s danger remains hidden from view.
Take one example.
As I noted recently, we can assume that Cancel Culture contributed to thousands of murders and deaths after demoralized and depleted police departments became reluctant to protect peaceful people from violent people.
highlighted how our nation narrowly avoided another social justice-fueled tragedy that would have resulted in the deaths of thousands.What Moves Hollywood
If there’s one thing Eight Percenters know well, it’s selective outrage.
They will ignore a thousand travesties, but when victims and oppressors emerge that reflect their worldview, it’s time to don ribbons, issue open letters, and produce movies. Witness all the films made about the Red Scare and McCarthyism including George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck and Bryan Cranston’s Trumbo. Where are the movies that explore Cancel Culture?
You’ll find some, and I’ve done my part (see Can We Take a Joke?). But even on the rare occasion when Hollywood skewers Cancel Culture, don’t expect Eight Percenters to actually admit it exists.
Kevin Spacey represents more of the same. During his triumphant “I’m still alive!” speech, he ignores the monster that chewed him up.
Many artists, academics, and journalists jam their heads into the sand and pretend Cancel Culture doesn’t exist. Or if they’re as savvy as Zoe Saldaña, they take a beating from the mob, learn how to play the game better, and win Oscar gold.
After all, who cares if Cancel Culture ruins lives and spreads death and stupidity? Tribal loyalty takes precedence over telling the truth. Only icky conservatives complain about Cancel Culture, and the last thing a progressive in good standing wants is to be quoted by Fox News. It’s a sentiment I’ve heard from regular lefties as well as entertainers and their handlers.
Yes, the left gave us Cancel Culture, but Cancel Culture also spawned a conservative version (Lukianoff and Schlott detail that sad development). So when President Trump bulldozes his way through our culture, Eight Percenters suddenly snap out of their slumber to remind the rest of us that free expression really is important.
Yes, the spectacle is depressing.
Yes, it’s predictable.
But at least the next actor who gives a speech after surviving Cancel Culture won’t have to reference something that started before the advent of color TV.
I haven’t been able to find transcripts or video of Spacey’s entire speech. So it is possible he mentioned Cancel Culture, but based on the media coverage, I doubt it. I’m also not weighing in on whether or not Spacey is a good guy. Like all of you, I’m not able to devote the necessary time to research each Cancel Culture case thoroughly.
"There are times when one has to stand up for principal.” Skinnn-eeerrrrr! Don't you mean "principle"?