The Golden Age of Emotional Blackmail is Over

Our culture is moving away from one that centres extravagant public claims of empathy and accusations of cruelty towards - what, exactly?

Deportations began within the last week, so singer and actress Selena Gomez (instagram follower count: 142 Million) posted a video on social media, crying, face close to the camera, squeezing out distraught gasps about children, “my people” and her inability to stop what was happening. So far, so 2016; this kind of reaction was not just run of the mill during Trump’s first term but that era became a monotonous thrum of tears, demands and outrage issuing from every corner of popular culture; in terms of setting a cultural tone and swamping the administration, it was successful. But this is 2025: within the hour the backlash had been such that the post had been removed, and replaced with a black screen bearing the message “Apparently it’s not OK to show empathy for people.”