When I was a child, not yet understanding how to cope with difficulties in my life, I would act like my problems never existed–sometimes I still do. I did this with people as well. Whenever I felt that my friends or family had wronged me, I would simply deny their existence; act like they were not talking to me in the same room; the silent treatment. When my mom told me that I was not ready to get a dog, it was another obstacle that I did not know how to handle. I felt powerless. My only response was to initiate the silent treatment in an act of rebellion. In that sense, the silent treatment is not much different than cancel culture. When the public feels powerless over the offensive actions of celebrities and influencers, we can do nothing but ignore them. Unfortunately, as we all know, the silent treatment does not last very long. In a couple of days, I was back to being a momma’s boy, and my mom was back to being the main authoritative figure in my life. Similarly, canceled celebrities quickly go back to their normal lives in which there lies an abundance of fame, wealth, and power. Their wrongs fade from history, never to be addressed again. Adding that cancel culture is becoming less of a response to the wrongs of those in the limelight, and more of a trend to participate in, it is also losing validity in the eyes of the public. After so many attempts at canceling influencers–some that turned out to be wrongly accused such as James Charles and Kanye West–the culture has gained lots of controversy. The inefficacy of cancel culture is highlighted when we realize that the dispute over its validity usually garners more attention than the consequences of whoever is being canceled. Those who deserve to get canceled often do not actually face any meaningful consequences, while others get wrongfully canceled altogether. Cancel culture is nothing more than an updated, trendy version of the silent treatment, a childish slap on the wrist for those who act wrongly with no long term repercussions.