You would think that the two absolutely last influencers of the 21st century that anyone would presume to lecture about cinema would be these guys:

This is the guy who directed that iconic gangster movie: The Godfather.

And this is the guy who directed that other iconic gangster movie, Goodfellas, as well as Taxi Driver. Oh, and the recent epic masterpiece The Irishman.

But nope. If the internet and the masses of the 21st century were ready to diss and lambaste even Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola—who do you think you are to avoid being politically correct?

It is What It is

Yes, we’re quoting Robert De Niro from Scorsese’s latest movie because we’re on the topic: it is what it is. That means there are no two ways of going around it. Influencer or not, political correctness in the 21st century is the future.

If you’re looking for context, there are a lot of cons to that context. Some time ago, Martin Scorsese called Marvel/MCU and Disney movies (basically all superhero movies and Hollywood reboots plus Star Wars) “theme park films.” If that wasn’t enough, Coppola chimed in, and said Scorsese “was being kind.”

We guess the guys who are specialists in making gang war films forgot that’s exactly how you start a war. And that’s exactly what happened. Soon we had the masses divided. People hating on these giants of cinema. And even Robert Downey Jr. joining the chat.

As expected, it was ugly.

Why You Shouldn’t Do That

Maybe in a few years, people will forget what Scorsese and Coppola said about the MCU and Disney—there’s no way, after all, anything will ever top Goodfellas and The Godfather. But that’s because they’re Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola—they already received much support from critics and arthouse film lovers.

But will this 21st-century scenario play out the same for small business influencers?

Let’s say you’re a small business with a considerable following on your social media pages, and one day you just decide to go all “edgy,” and say something that you really shouldn’t say: especially something about marginalized communities or people who are generally the butt of jokes, such as vegans. It’s going to get really ugly, really soon.

The way forward is a precarious one, especially for businesses, is to know how the collective sensibilities of the world are changing. People are starting to wise up to the oppressive discrimination of the past—and for good. Going anti-anything is a bad idea unless you’re going anti-something that’s universally accepted as bad, such as pedophilia.

In short: in this delicate 21st century, you have to be exceedingly careful about what you say online as an influencer. Because now, it’s all up for scrutiny.

How to Avoid Being “Canceled”

One great way to ensure you aren’t saying anything offensive is to partner with a true social media influencer of the 21st century. An influencer who is young and tech-savvy can help bridge the generation gap between you as a businessperson and your target audience. And if you don’t know where to find these influencers, we suggest you sign up with Afluencer today. It’s a platform that brings together some of the best social media influencers and businesses—here’s more about us.

Oh, and do yourself a favor, and go watch The Irishman already!