On close examination, the roots of cancel culture can be found squarely located in traditional drama. Traditional drama involves three archetypal characters: the hero/rescuer; the villain; and the lowly victim. Each of them depends on each other for their very existence. What keeps the drama going is the roles shift. Someone who appears to be the hero turns out on occasion to be a victim (watch out for that kryptonite, Superman), and the victims sometimes transform into would-be heroes or villains (Batman and the Joker.) In postmodern culture the villain is sometimes capable of doing good deeds or at least has redeeming qualities. This drives the drama. .In the politically correct thought process, it usually involves someone or some group that cannot find a sense of their own identity or value unless they have a victim in place. The hero or rescuer becomes righteous and heroic by virtue of finding someone they need to rescue..So then, is Kyle Rittenhouse a victim? A hero? A villain? He’s been variously portrayed in US media as each. The producers who drive media ratings know immediately this story has all the viewership-boosting capacity of pure drama, and they treat it as such. .In their binary world, everything is defined as good or evil. There are no shades of grey. No matter what Donald Trump did, it was characterized by many as evil. The same vaccine that Democrats are making mandatory right now, they refused to take when it originated under the Trump administration. But now, it’s perfectly OK. In fact, it is more than OK; it is laudable and promotable and virtuous. Even better: it’s mandatory..Certain people will eagerly attach themselves to whatever makes them feel heroic. The ends of their actions always justify the means. I think of young Canadian boys running off to join the murderous ISIS..Young men can loot and burn in Portland, Henderson, and Minneapolis, and set trains on fire here in Canada, and they will go free from censure of criminal prosecution so long as they are regarded as a victim, or heroic. Every thief becomes Jean Valjean. A victim or hero can get away with blocking highways, and daylight robbery..This persists because rescuing heroes need — nay, enable — victims. This explains why certain classes of people are locked in perpetual poverty with the heroic coterie claiming to be their defenders. Some news organizations characterized the Somali sea pirates as quasi-innocent victims of poverty. Would they be as sanguine if poverty-stricken indigenous peoples set fire to major buildings in Toronto? Their narrative requires a victim and the ships’ captains and crews didn’t fit their dramatic paradigm as well as the pirates did..They cast Somali pirates as poor underdogs fighting international corporations, and Palestinian suicide bombers as militant desperadoes. Domestic rioters and looters are oppressed peoples standing up for their rights..When protests ostensibly in support of an identified victim group take place, you can normally spot the rich white liberal kid with an overpriced (and often unemployable) education leading the charge. Their need for acceptance as a leader/hero to the victims is so great that they will often fake their race or identity..They know the politically correct rescuer has no interest in teaching a man to fish. The rescuers need people who are on their knees. After all, the world has no need for Superman in a world where Lex Luthor and all the evildoers no longer exist. .Richard Landau is a Western Standard contributor
