CANCEL CULTURE CLUB
Aretro musical, a murder-mystery, a magical threequel. What do West Side Story, Death On The Nile and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore have in common? For all those who haven’t been locked away and out of internet range in Azkaban or elsewhere for the last few years, the answer will be clear: they are all, to variable extents, litmus-test films for the knock-on effects of cancel culture.
The divergence of opinions on cancel culture shows no signs of abating right now. For many, the phenomenon is simply the previously silenced using their voices to call out perceived wrongdoing. Ennobled by the #MeToo movement, empowered by social media, these are the voices of people who wish to expose cases of injustice or inappropriate behaviour from those who might previously have seemed unaccountable, and to exercise the right to boycott a film or otherwise accordingly. For others, phrases such as “the woke mob” and “witch hunt” are routinely bandied about.
In between, choppy waters need to be navigated. What does a star or director’s cancellation entail for a film about to be released? What strategies can or should distributors, exhibitors, filmmakers, studios, stars, critics and beyond ask themselves in
