It's Time To Cancel "Cancel Culture"

This actually happened a few weeks ago, and I've been mulling over whether I should comment on it or not. What the heck, let's dig in.

Welp, this sucks! Actor Hartley Sawyer, who plays Ralph Dibny, aka The Elongated Man on The Flash, has been summarily fired by The CW over a series of offensive tweets.

The tweets in question contain references to sexual assault, as well as racist and homophobic language. In any other era they'd likely have been ignored, but they came to light during the furor surrounding the recent brutal slaying of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.

Oddly enough, the tweets in question were posted in 2012, well before Sawyer joined the cast of The Flash in 2017. That means some SJW out there must hate Sawyer with a white hot passion, as they reeeeeeally had to dig to find some dirt on him. Who the hell has time to sift through EIGHT YEARS of a celebrity's tweets, trying to find something they can use against them?

Note that I'm not defending Sawyer here, as his tweets are definitely pretty offensive. But it's patently obvious he was trying to be kewl, hip and edgy. There's no way he actually meant any of the things he said, as they're clearly jokes. You know, jokes? They're a thing we used to have long, long ago, before the Rise Of The Humorless SJWs.

His so-called "jokes" might have been acceptable if they'd actually been funny. Unfortunately none of them are the least bit amusing, even in a "dead baby humor" kind of way. Instead they're just... stupid. Like schoolyard humor, or worse.

Not sure what Sawyer was thinking when he posted the tweets, but they were definitely a mistake. To his credit, he issued an apology on Instagram, saying, "My words, irrelevant of being meant with an intent of humor, were hurtful, and unacceptable. I am ashamed I was capable of these really horrible attempts to get attention at that time. I regret them deeply. This was not acceptable behavior. These were words I threw out at the time with no thought or recognition of the harm my words could do, and now have done today."

So he screwed up, got caught and apologized. That should have been the end of the matter, as far as I'm concerned. But of course an apology isn't good enough here in our current jittery and hypersensitive society, and The CW fired his ass faster than you can say "unfortunate tweet."

What happened to three verbal and two written warnings before being fired? Apparently The CW ain't got time for that noise.

As I said, I'm not defending his troublesome tweets here. But let the punishment fit the crime, for corn's sake. Flat out firing him feels like an over the top, knee-jerk reaction— one I have a feeling The CW will eventually regret.

See, in the Court Of Public Opinion, once a person's convicted, that's it! They're guilty for all time, with absolutely no possibility of parole. This incident will stick with Sawyer for the rest of his life, and he may never work in Hollywood again.

Jesus Christ, even a convicted criminal gets a new suit and a twenty dollar bill once they've served their time.

Ironically, when Sawyer's character Ralph Dibny first appeared on The Flash, he was a sleazy, unlikable and disgraced police officer who was thrown off the force for falsifying evidence. He was eventually given a second chance by Team Flash, where he learned to become a better person and a valued member of their group.

I guess life doesn't imitate art over there at The CW.

That's the dirty little secret that SJWs don't want you to know. They all talk a good game, loudly crowing about their universal acceptance and tolerance. In reality it's just the opposite. If your opinions stray even slightly from their rigidly prescribed dogma, you'll be denounced, attacked and shunned in perpetuity. They're the LEAST tolerant collection of smug assholes you'll ever find.

Sadly, Sawyer's firing couldn't come at a worse time for The Flash. Season 6 introduced Sue Dearbon (played by actress Natalie Dreyfuss), a confident, sassy cat burglar and love interest for Ralph Dibny. Sawyer and Dreyfuss had an amazing onscreen chemistry, and watching the two of them play off one another was a joy to behold.

In the comics, Ralph and Sue are married, so most fans (including myself) naturally figured the same would eventually happen on the show. Season 6 ended with a cliffhanger in which Ralph informs Sue that she's been framed for the murder of industrialist Joseph Carver.

It was assumed that Season 7 would run with that storyline, and likely end with the two characters getting married. Now though... who knows?

The way I see it The CW has two choices. They can drop the "framed" storyline altogether, and simply never mention Ralph or Sue ever again. The two will simply fade away to the Land Of Wind And Ghosts, where they'll join Chuck Cunningham and other deliberately forgotten TV characters.

Or they can go the Bewitched route and recast Ralph. There's actually a precedent for this on the show, as Elongated Man's stretchy powers allow him to alter his facial features and impersonate other people. Ironically he used this power twice to morph into Joe West— who's a black man! 

Ralph could confess to the murder in order to save Sue, then morph himself into a new actor, who'll then continue the role from that point on.

If I had to guess, I'd say The CW will go the latter route and recast. Trouble is, will the new Ralph have the same fun chemistry with Sue? Unlikely.

This is why we can't have nice things around here!