The world of pop culture causes a lot of debate, arguing, and conversation across the world and even more so in American society. With the help of social media, scandals and controversies have led to the creation of “cancel culture” among celebrities. Cancel culture is the the act of fans, or ex-fans refusing to follow or consume whatever the celebrity provides because said celebrity has done something the fan did not like. However, this concept has ruined the careers of many and even benefitted a few. Students here at Tahoma certainly had opinions on the topic.

The student body had plenty of things to say about the ridiculing of celebrities, some even doing so themselves. Senior Sky Kinchen spoke about Michael Jackson’s actions, saying, “Talking MJ, I think sleeping in the same room as kids as an adult and a stranger is definitely wrong.” Celebrities have been scrutinized for an abundance of things, whether it was an action or even a statement. Still, most students agree that celebrities should be held to similar standards as anyone else when it comes to being punished for their wrongdoings. Sophomore Henry Robinson speaks of the theoretical fallacies that may happen, saying, “If it’s a celebrity lying to the public, then you lose trust in them.” Because they are in the public eye the majority of their life, most celebrities have to walk on eggshells, making “cancel culture” a dangerous thing for these icons.

On the other hand, not all of our students felt the raised stakes for celebrities was a negative thing. Kinchen also states, “I do think we need to be critical of some of the things celebrities do just because they have money and people are watching them.” But as usual, not everyone held the same ideals. Robinson said, “a lot of them go through depression, nearly all of them. The amount of stress added is not healthy.” It’s difficult to set boundaries on how harsh society should be.

When all is said and done, cancel culture is affecting celebrities everyday. The morality of these effect can be good or bad dependent on perspective. Sophomore Samantha Patterson says, “It can be beneficial in showing the greater population what’s okay and what’s not.” For others, this idea surrounding celebrities was not ideal. Robinson stated, “It’s harmful because it ruins careers and ruins lives.”

Overall, this concept has been both ridiculed and praised, to some, cancel culture is a hard thing to face for celebrities, but also helpful to set an example of what society will accept as “idols”. Debates have sparked at Tahoma High School and everywhere else over where cancel culture needs to draw the line.