Why I will not be leaping into the dogpile: Comprehending, and not condoning

    "The Jury may leave the courtroom" the judge said, and just like that we were escorted out of the courtroom. Then the building, and back into the general public. We exchanged no pleasantries, we did not speak as we left. All of us accepted the gravity of the situation. After a week of testimonies, evidence, and expert opinion we had given a guilty verdict on all charges. I had done the math in my head. Given the age of the accused the combined sentences would be the equivalent to a life sentence. This is the one and only time I have ever been on a jury, and I still think about it. I remember the intense and crystal clear talk we were given that drove home our responsibilities, and accountability to case, and the law. It is a stark difference to the trials of public opinion that play out in the social media landscape. Up front I will say I have made a promise, and conscious effort to not be a part of a dogpile. I will watch them unfold and try to comprehend what I am seeing But, I want no part of them. In fact now when I see someone dogpiled, unless it is for a truly reprehensible act, I feel an urge to offer support to the person at its centre. 

    There is no point in arguing that people have no right to voice their opinions, such actions are the fundamental foundation of freedom of speech. However, as the proponents of these hashtags and actions will often say 'freedom of speech, does not mean freedom from consequences'. Despite holding such avid belief I am unsure how they would respond if asked who is responsible for Alec Holowka being driven to suicide?. After the accusations of emotional and sexual abuse from a former partner led to Alec being fired. Seemingly overnight he lost everything. In short order the accusation went from accusation to accepted fact. People on twitter spreading the accusation like wildfire. Whilst some would try to challenge this, it would ultimately be outweighed and Alec would take his own life. 

Names removed to spare the users

    Again I am not condoning Alec, nor am I against listening to victims who come forward with their accusations. Again during the trial I was a juror for, we had to rely on individual and video testimony from the victim, as well as other first hand claims. Also the opinions of  independent experts. The problem was that Alec would never be given the chance. The situation became worse still when people dug up social media  posts from the time of their relationship revealing Alec and his accuser going out and socialising in spite of the claims put forward in the initial accusations. I will not claim to know the truth of the accusations, and will not pretend to be in a position to do so. That after all is not the point of this blog. However, the question I would ask those people who so quickly took up their metaphorical torches and pitchforks on social media is simple. Do you believe that the sudden and massive onslaught faced by Alec may have contributed to his suicide? Is it plausible to consider this as a possibility? If so, then do those who took part have any accountability for their tweets? In the spirit of fairness it is also important to note that a dogpile also ensued against the accuser. Which drove the accuser underground, and saw Holowka's still grieving family have to comment on those taking action in Alec's name. His sister stating "do not use our grief as an excuse to harass people". Later she would write a piece on her brother and transformative justice. In which Eileen would explain that "we have the right to our feelings, but when those feelings become public narratives, they gain a kind of power. They become truth, and that truth wrote over an entire lifetime of work and nuance". 

     Lately I have seen this meme entering the discourse surrounding the 'cancel culture' debate. With people responding firstly that cancel culture does not exist, and then secondly asserting that they are 'accountability culture', but when they get it wrong what is done to undo their efforts. Because, sometimes they get it very wrong. Just ask Projared. In 2019 Projared announced his split from his wife. Following the announcement his now ex wife Hiedi came out with a stream of accusations against her former husband. These included cheating with another internet personality. However, this paled in the comparison to what came next, with two individuals coming forward to accuse Projared of knowingly trading and seeking naked pictures from them. They claimed he did this despite knowing they were underage. Additionally the story detailed that Projared ran a tumblr for trading and posting nudes with fans. Something he acknowledges was wrong, and presented a major power imbalance. The allegation of preying on underage fans had him quickly labelled a pedophile. He lost subscribers in droves. It is still one of the largest subscriber drops in youtube's history. He could not put his head up on social media without being savaged, and to top it off his nudes were being circulated online. After all he had been labelled and judged, and thus deserved everything that was coming at him in the public's eye. His accusers would email the people around him with their story. The Gamegrumps, who had worked with Projared previously were quick to private all videos that included Projared. Projared would later go on to say that this was done as they had believed the accusations. However, what happened next shattered this. Projared returned in a forty minute response video. Not exactly looking like the triumphant hero, in a fatigued and unkempt appearance. The whole event having clearly taken a visible toll on him. 

    He had returned with quote 'the receipts', and began to unpack each of the accusations of the two underage individuals. Projared explained that these were what had led to the internet 'dehumanising and demonising' him. Projared did not back away from these accusations, and in explaining the delay in his response he stated that 'serious accusations need to be taken seriously'.  Projared would go onto to lament that despite the numerous people commenting on the situation that quote 'Not one of them [the drama channels] reached out to me'. In a move that is hardly surprising. In his response Projared acknowledges that he also cut ties with people in order to stop them being dragged down with him. In sentiments similar to those expressed by Eileen Holowka, Projared would explain that quote 'people ran with a narrative with layers and layers of accusations without facts, this was perpetuated until it became 'the truth''. It is important to note that the accusers also would go on to backtrack, and delete the accusations against Projared. Despite providing copious amounts of evidence to counter the claims against him. The coverage of this was hardly as high as that of the accusations. In fact much of it came from other youtube commentators that backtracked criticisms they had made. Yet despite this the damage was well and truly done. In his response Projared also noted a petition to restart the internet Dungeons and Dragons series 'Dice Camera Action'. Sadly this would never happen, with the may 9th release being its last update. Perhaps also telling is the fact that the comments section has been turned off. Additionally, Wizards of the Coast would replace both Projared and Holly Conrad with new players for their 'DnDpresents' series, which went on to replace Dice Camera Action. Projared would also go on to acknowledge the feelings of those still angry with him. Stating that quote 'there will be people who are still angry and that are allowed to feel how they feel'. He would also say he forgave people who may have said things about him previously. I will put my hand up and say that I was someone who believed the accusations when they were first made, and in fact this case was the one that made me no longer agree with dogpiling. Also his final sentiment was the one that would stick with me. Projared would ask those watching the video that 'the next time you see someone being cancelled with the mob attacking them and going after them ask what's the other side's story. Is there more to this? How do you know they deserve to be bullied and shamed, through evidence, or public opinion?'. His channel has climbed back to the 888k subs mark, and he is averaging decent views again. However, there is no doubt that the entire event has cost Projared. 

    Yet not all those that run afoul of cancel culture, or the twitter mob are as unfortunate. There is a stereotype that one side of the political aisle plays the outrage game. However, this is not the case. Furthermore sometimes it can be said that what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Cancel culture has become a tool in political battles, and in fact it is occasionally an economic threat, Enter James Gunn, and his decade old tweets, and those who would take the cancel tactics, and turn them to their needs. In fact many state that Gunn was targeted in response to the firing of Roseanne Barr for tweets she had made at the time.  

    Mike Cernovich would engage in the now time honoured art of offense archaeology, trawling through decade old twitter posts made by James Gunn. Once collected Cernovich would go on to shotgun them into the public arena in an attempt to discredit Gunn. The tweets themselves were a series of 'provocative' jokes and statements from Gunn, who would later go on to lament making them. 

"As I have Discussed publicly many times, as I've developed as a person, so has my work and my humour"- Gunn

    Gunn would be removed from Disney and the MCU, who it must be said no doubt did so to protect their family friendly image. This is a common response whenever a brand finds itself attached in any way to a potential image threat. In youtube history this was phenomenon was called an 'Adpocalypse' and was a tool in the well known conflict between two prominent youtubers. However, perhaps somewhat luckily for Gunn, Disney decided to bring him back to direct Guardians of the Galaxy 3. I would risk being a cynic if I suggested that it did so for the exact same reason they fired him. Money. They feared negative publicity and loss of money, and then had him return for the same reasons. Fans of Gunn voicing intentions not to watch a Guardians film without him. Cast members had also come out in support of Gunn, which no doubt helped his position. In a strange way it felt more like he had to go through the motions. Similar to the way that author Jon Ronson of the book 'So you've been publicly shamed' describes. That in many ways cancel culture can be seen as putting someone in the stocks for public mockery. Gunn was fired, allowed to make his apologies, and then taken back into the fold having taken his lashings. In an interview with Deadline, Gunn would explain that he found positives in the experience and perhaps most notably in his response stated 'people have to be able to learn from their mistakes'. It is a noble sentiment, however does everyone get the same opportunity that Gunn was given? 

    Arguably Projared has been able to retain some of his previous existence. However, others once labelled have not been able to escape as easily. Felix Kjellberg, known as Pewdipie, is still frequently labelled as a white supremacist due to articles written about him by the Wall Street Journal, the same publication that would cost him a project with youtube. Ironically it would later emerge that the journalist behind these articles would have his own antisemitic jokes on twitter made public. Much akin to the statements of Eileen and Projared, this narrative has become fact in the case of Pewdiepie. It has reached a point that even his own subreddit has memes about the label. 

    Felix himself is still visibly frustrated when he comes across the statements online left by people commenting on his videos. Many when challenged will simply respond with 'google it', or other such petty responses. These responses highlight the strength of narrative's ability to become entrenched fact, in spite of any proofs to the contrary. In Felix's case he was one of the most high profile figures to initially refuse to back down. It should be mentioned that given his years of success and financial security he is able to withstand the pressures others would not be able to resist. As such it is not surprising that media outlets and detractors continue to attack his character. As I once told a friend 'the best revenge is simply to live well', and in Pewdiepie's case that is exactly what he has done. 

     Regardless of which side of the aisle a cancellation comes from, the one unifying fact is not apologising, or playing the game infuriates them. Which brings us to the individual that led me to writing this blog. Gina Carano. Now upfront anyone who has followed for me for even a small time knows that I like Star Wars, and have spoken frequently about the quality of the Disney's The Mandalorian. Additionally Carano's Cara Dune was a favourite character of mine. When she was fired recently by Disney I was genuinely disappointed. However, what would come to disappointment me more was the way in which the predictable and sad series of events came to occur.  

    

    In order to understand the firing you need to have a grounding in the events that preceded it. The firing, as Gina herself would later explain, was not the result of one event but rather that Disney were 'headhunting' her. Gina had come under a continuous series of social media attacks for months prior to her eventual firing, each attempted ousting was accompanied by the hashtag #FireGinaCarano. The actress had come under fire for stepping on what she called 'Landmines' in an interview with Ben Shapiro on 22nd of February. Now I know it is hard to believe that people make gaffs and are misunderstood, but it actually does happen. Gina had like many Americans, and infact many Australians, had questioned lockdowns, and masks during the pandemic. Something that as a care worker truly annoyed even me if I am to be honest. Though to be frank I was wearing a mask whilst my own government was still maintaining we did not need to. So I understand the frustrations regarding mixed messages. Carano posted the following image.

    Immediately Carano is thrown into the covid denier camp. In her interview with Shapiro, Carano would go on to explain that part of the motivation about the post was to highlight in her eyes hypocrisy that was occurring, and additionally in response to the mixed messages about the virus. Again I remind you that even in my own country there were official recommendations not to wear masks. So I was being mocked in the street for wearing one. Moreover, Carano stated she felt for people who were losing out due to the lockdowns and being put out of work. Something I can empathise with having watched friends going through hard times due to the pandemic. She mentions occasions where leaders would be caught out disregarding their own rules. Again people in both the UK and Australia should be able to empathise with this having seen cases of individuals flaunting their own rules, such as government officials travelling despite travel bans. However, because she called out one side of the aisle it would result in her coming under fire. 

    The problem Carano faced was now that she was on the radar, she would find herself being put under the microscope again and again. In fact one only has to look at the tweets being made against her to see the same names appearing over and over again. Next up Carano would be attacked for not supporting BLM. A move that is odd considering that she had already made support for it known. 

    This tweet by Carano in June would be completely ignored later when the dogpile would return again months later, demanding that she make statements in support of BLM. When met with anything but acquiescence they would begin fresh attacks against the actress. With a level of viciousness in line with many of the dog piles I have already covered previously in this blog. 

    The users would level every accusation in the book at Gina with vitriolic glee. Even taking pride in the idea of driving Gina to block them, as though it was a badge of honour to these individuals. Those doing this had clearly identified Gina as being a target worthy of any level of abuse. She had been given a label, and thus all actions were valid. After all there are no bad tactics only bad targets as the common saying goes. Similar to the way in which Projared had been deemed a valid target in his cancellation. Gina herself would do what anyone would do in her position. She came out to defend herself against these people, and their accusations. Gina herself stated in the Dailywire interview 'I have hot blood'. Carano responded in the following tweet.

  

    Unsurprisingly this did not only fail to silence the mob, instead they began mocking her rebuttal and she came under a new wave of abuse. Now I am not going to jump to the Bot assumption, despite it truly looking like bot spam. Instead I will be open minded, and say these individuals decided that the best response was to mass spam the exact same post in a coordinated campaign. Remember Gina had already posted in support of BLM. Now the demands continued with the narrative being 'unless you do it, you must be a racist'. With statements such as 'prove you're not racist' coupled with demands that she post links and support for the BLM movement. 

    What I sometimes think people fail to realise, is the enormity of how a person on the end of this feels. To see your name and character being butchered. In today's charged climate labels such as bigot, nazi, or racist are thrown around so quickly, and so lightly, that individuals forget what a massive charge that is against a person. In her interview with Dailywire, a clearly emotional Carano explains that 'I have been called so much, i've been called racist, i've been called transphobe, i've been called homophobe, i've been called now anti-semitic. I don't take those lightly. Like you're calling me, my soul, the blood that runs through me, you're calling me that'. However, people will throw these epithets around, then lose their mind if someone dares to defend themselves against the charge. However, the final straw would come when Gina posted the following on social media. Also I do apologise for those that may be offended, but I feel it is important to see the original post to understand it. 

    Within short order the post began gaining attention, and unsurprisingly negative attention. The narrative became 'She is comparing republicans to the Jews in the Holocaust'. Carano would explain in the Dailywire interview that she had intended the post to be about people coming together, and not trying to make any other statement. One thing that I see repeatedly in the stories of Carano's 'scandals' is the lack of acknowledgement of her intent. As though her intent did not matter, or worse that somehow other people know her intent somehow better than she does. This is also the crux of the situation with her pronouns post the 'Beep/Bop/Boop' in the bio moment. In her own words Carano was becoming frustrated with the now relentless stream of people trying to 'bully' her into doing, or saying things. In that frustration she would respond with the noises in her bio. Following the tweet was put out by Carano regarding the response to the situation. 

    Whilst I understand how the move was taken the way it was. I ask, have we not all at one time or another lashed out when cornered? Remember we are talking  about months of continual mobbing and harassment being sent Carano's way. Is it not plausible to believe that someone in the moment could do what Gina did? Surely the sheer volume of tweets that were sent Gina's way serve as proof that people will react emotionally and in the heat of the moment? If so, then why is it so hard to see that a person on the end of such continual harassment might want to put thumb in the eye of those they perceive as coming after them? Again remember it is comprehend, not condoning. Put aside the reaction to what happened. Can we comprehend how it came to happen? The situation seems to be that in a conflict between Gina and her detractors, that trans people were drawn into it. That in the sea of demands and abuse sent towards Gina, perhaps a good faith request about pronouns was taken as coming in bad faith. Gina in the Dailywire interview went on to explain her shock and upset at what happened with the pronouns post. Additionally she details the processes and meetings she went through in order to account for what happened. I encourage people to go and listen to the interview and ask if she really is the uncaring monster that she has been made out to be. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxObG659Sc0

    There is a philosophical principle called charity. It asks us to not automatically assume the worst in others. It is very important to the concept of innocent until proven guilty. Yet, in many of these cases be it the pronouns, the mask post, or the final instagram post, that there has been no such benefit of doubt given to Carano.  It was instead better to believe a narrative based on 'layers and layers' of accusations, until that narrative becomes truth. Similarly Carano's costar Rosario Dawson would be instantly believed to be guilty when a contractor working for her family would go on to make a raft of accusations from transphobia, and assault against the actress. In an interview with Vanity Fair Dawson would clear the record stating that 'the reason all the discrimination claims were dropped is because they didn't happen'. Dawson stating the person who made them was someone she had known for many years, and they have withdrawn the claims. It is also interesting to note that as Carano lost her job, the mob has refocused its attention on Dawson. Another costar, Bill Burr, in a recent podcast made the joke,'i'm on that show, now I have to watch what I say'. illustrating the apparent worry that celebrities have towards the current climate in which they are working. Burr would also describe Carano as an ábsolute sweetheart'. Despite the reality of the post Gina's employer would 'courageously' go on to fire Carano on social media stating, "Her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable" . Once more both the post as Gina said was purely about the concept of othering people, and that she hoped it would help bring people together. To ask them to treat one another better. 

    I think if I were in a position to offer my advice as someone who has both studied, and taught, history it is this. A more apt reference other than using WW2, is to instead come closer to the present and America. To dive back to America circa 1940s/1950s with McCarthyism. To me it in so many ways echoes the cancellations we are seeing. With individuals being accused of holding certain views, or political opinions, and those then being used to completely demonise and unperson them. In fact we see the same approach. The burden of proof placed on the accused, the accused being made to answer to an unfair system of trial, and when found guilty being unpersoned and removed from their ability to work. Do not forget under McCarthyism even Charlie Chaplin was unpersoned. Similar are the parallels between McCarthyism and the way the cancel mobs operate. It is also worth noting that in the wake of Gina's firing people began to single out Henry Cavill for the simply having dated the actress a decade ago. Not only is this a bizarre form of offense archaeology, but also the familiar guilt by association which is another element of the McCarthyist MO of the online mobs. In the same way we saw the Gamegrumps trying to distance themselves from Projared. We see anyone linked to Gina being worth scrutiny to these people. Gina mentions herself in the Dailywire interview that she could provide an account that would help support her story, however does not want to sell out a friend. In other words she may also believe that the person in question would face the same public attack she has experienced. In fact now following the simple comments made by Burr he too is being targeted online, for merely making a simple comment about Carano. 

    The claims of wanting to educate people tend to fall flat with me as well. As a former educator I know that abusing people rarely works, and that someone in a defensive state is hardly likely to internalise anything being said to them. However, it is important to remember that Gina did not make that picture. The Dead Kennedys stamp in the corner seeming to indicate a different creator. It would appear the actress like many of us. Saw a social media post and shared it on. Again in her own words Gina shared it for a specific reason and it was not to make the republicans have it bad argument. Regardless, I do not think we are now in 2021 in a position to pretend that WW2 comparisons have not been front and centre of political discourse for the greater part of the last decade. Hell even the Furry community had a Nazi problem. Also not to flog a dead talking point but even one of Carano's costars would make multiple posts using the WW2 comparisons. From almost all of the dogpiling I have seen online education and change does not seem to be the motivation of the majority of the action. Instead it seems that for many targeted for cancellation it is that people want to see them ruined. Punished for their crimes real or not. 

    Having watched the ongoing saga unfold around Carano, The Mandalorian, her costars, and even people Gina dated a decade ago I can only come to the following conclusion. This whole sad state of affairs has been truly wrong. I do not believe this idea that Carano is the vile monster that the narrative would have you believe. She no doubt made mistakes, and certainly could have been more careful in her posts. However, there is no denying also that many of them has been completely taken the wrong way, and spun for hyperbole. Even today articles are dropping about Bill Burr with the most insanely misleading headlines. This is a problem considering the well known fact that in the current age people are guilty of reading headlines and not the article. That the headline becomes the narrative. That this hyperbolic narrative then becomes the accepted truth. Carano just is another in a long line of individuals that have been dogpiled and cancelled. Delving into all of this has taken me a large amount of time. A task made worse by the ever shifting focus of the internet mobs. Cavill, Dawson, and now Burr coming under fire as I wrote this very piece. Even right now I would happily sit down and talk to Carano as a human being. She is for lack of a better way of putting it, welcome in my Khanate. I would be surprised if we would agree on everything, and that is acceptable. I do not want to live in a McCarthyist style world. A lack of dialogue is detrimental to all of us. Yet, for the foreseeable future that looks to be the world we inhabit. As I said in the beginning of this blog I have been on a jury, I have looked a person in the eye, and then had to look at the evidence and make up my own mind. In the online world we all interact with we do not have that ability. Instead the majority relying on as Projared would say 'Public opinion', and it is worth remembering much of that is shaped by the sensationalist headlines we ingest without thinking. There is also an important element that is vital in judging a situation. Intent. Intent does matter, and sadly it is too often disregarded. Only yesterday Twitch would come under fire for a move it made in using the term 'womxn' in an attempt to be more inclusive, and was roundly roasted by the online community. Melonie Mac, an outspoken opponent of cancel culture and gaming personality, would post the following take

    It is my humble request if you have made it through this blog post that you do one thing and one thing only. Be less willing to leap into the dogpiles. To exercise your reasoning and to assess the evidence. To read beyond a headline. To question if a narrative is actually the truth. To look at where these narratives are coming from. To not simply abuse and barrage people online, and to remember that behind that screen is another human being. I am not telling you not to care about causes, or to excuse wholesale what you see. I am asking you to question more of what you are presented with. That is what accountability culture really looks like.

    On a person note I would add in humour that I want to thank the mob for one thing and one thing only. Due to your actions I have an item that has tripled in value. Also to Gina I would add if we ever get through this whole pandemic mess, I would be happy to host you at my table and all I ask is that you sign this item. 

    As always remember hospitality is sacred
-The Khan