Cancel Culture and How it has Shaped Societal Viewpoints on Death

     There is longstanding viewpoint in society perfectly captured by a phrase in Portuguese society, which I shall translate rather roughly as, "despite the fact I used to talk bad about this person, I shall now praise them because they are dead." With the rise of cancel culture and its various derivatives, we now see this viewpoint being challenged fiercely by the global population. This is becoming increasingly apparent with the deaths of OJ Simpson and the all too recent murder of United Healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson.

    Our best example of people not holding much merit to this archaic ideology is with the death of OJ Simpson. OJ Simpson was best known for his football career spanning from college to the NFL until the subsequent murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles, California. 

    In a shocking turn of events, LAPD managed to botch the investigation by being closely connected with Simpson and he was found not guilty in criminal court. However, OJ Simpson was astonishingly found guilty in civil court and had to pay his ex-wife's family for years to come. Not to mention, despite his plea of innocence, almost the entire American population along with some international populations never bought it. OJ Simpson died April 10, 2024 from a battle with prostate cancer. His death, unbeknownst then, would bring one of the biggest storms of memes to ever hit the internet. 

    According to NY Times, United Healthcare is one of the health insurance providers that are highly likely to deny insurance claims. The only one higher than United was Humana, who was 16 times more likely to deny claims than United. Not only do they deny claims as if it were a hobby, they also laid off numerous employees despite a spike in their net profit. This according to reports. Many former employees on Glassdoor made an implication that they also lay off their employees as if it were a hobby. All of this notoriety is thanks to their now former-CEO Brian Thompson, who was only taken out of power due to being shot down in Manhattan. What has caught the media and some of the public by surprise is the lack of sympathy to the fact that he was murdered. It has instead been met with jokes about how his claim must have been denied or if the ER waited to confirm coverage. 

    With the accusations, most of them confirmed in one way, shape, or form, it is not a surprise that people are being more forthcoming with treating people as they would have treated them in life. Death does not make one a saint and it doesn't erase the sins one makes in life, nor should we forget about them. All in all, I think in time that we will all find this viewpoint less shocking and accept it as the new norm.