If you haven't spotted this drama that happened during the recent Academy Awards then this was quite a shocker! This was a very surprising event that happened just a few days ago, and brings up many issues that I think is worth talking about. There is plenty to unpack here as I delve into the many questions raised by a very famous and prominent actor, Will Smith, using violence to 'protect' his wife after a joke made by comedian Chris Rock on stage and in front of millions of people live on TV! If you haven’t seen the uncensored clip yet then please do watch it below so you can see exactly what happened.
I watched this clip with great surprise, not least because the last thing I had expected to see Will do when he approached Chris on stage was to give him a Hollywood style slap on the face. His proximity to Chris's microphone left us in no doubt that this was a proper slap with no acting. I would like to start by saying that I give Chris Rock full props for taking that beating on the chin and barely reacting to it it at all! He barely stopped smiling afterwards, did not even touch his face or rub it, and also did not retaliate in any way. Chris is a real hero and star if just for that reason.
After watching this crazy clip, i proceeded to watch many other youtube videos from various other actors and TV personalities to see their response. I was quite surprised that the majority of people were at least in part, quite defensive of Will's actions because in their view he was protecting his wife. My personal view on this has a few layers to it. I would like to start with a very ponient point, which is that we clearly still live in a patriarchal world where men feel that it is their role and job to protect their female partners from any kind of attack, be it physical or even verbal. This sentiment was echoed by various people and clearly demonstrated that we have a long way to if we ever wish to live in world of non violence. Let it be said that Will wife Jada Pincket Smith was in no physical danger, and was simply the butt of a very innocuous joke aimed more at the movie G.I. Joe than it was at her. Also its worth noting that Chris has no idea that his wife suffered from Alopecia, which was a criticism made by many people against Chris's bad joke in bad taste.
The biggest issue here for me is that Will is under the impression that his wife needs him to stand up for her, and that somehow she was incapable of looking after herself! This is the epitome of Patriarchy. Don't get me wrong here, if Jada was in some kind of physical threat then i do think there would be some justification for the use of violence to protect her, but clearly that was not the case in this situation. Also it was very obvious that Will himself found that joke quite funny himself as you could see by his genuine laughter and reaction to it.. unlike his wife who rolled her eyes and looked quite offended.
Will could have reacted to this in any number of ways! He could have let her handle it, which could mean her standing up and showing her disapproval, or walking out, or speaking publicly about the joke afterwards. He could have also just skipped the violent act and stood up and heckled Chris, but no he did not do that. Instead he impulsively got up and very quickly approached Chris and demonstrated the most knee jerk and irresponsible way to handle a challenging situation, to use violence, in front of millions of impressionable people instead.
People in a position of power have a responsibility to set a good example. They may not like that role, but it goes hand in hand with being rich and famous. The effects of influencers on the general public and our way of acting can not be disputed, and its clear that Will has some pretty serious mental and emotional issues. What Will did was inexcusable and yet very few people have berated him for it. He was not ejected from the proceedings, and even proceeded to pick up a huge award for best actor just half an hour later. I would have hoped that at the very least the audience would have shown their disapproval for his actions in some way, but instead the entire audience stood up and have him a standing ovation. This response of everyone else was, in my opinion, even worse than the act itself, and gave us all a clear signal to the world that it is OK to use violence to solve our problems What a shame! This only goes to show and reinforce the sad fact that today there is one rule for normal people, and another for those in a position of power or fame. Those in power have so much influence that others are literally to scared to say or do anything about for fear of retribution or somehow harming their own careers.
To make matters worse, Will decided to give a sermon to the audience and the world about why he did what he did. Although he did provide a small apology to the Academy (and not Chris at that time), i think its fair to say he only did so to save his own ass from any consequences that may lay before him. What was most disturbing about his sermon was that he tried to justify his actions by eluding to the notion that God had told him to do so, and he was doing it for love. Could he have possibly used a worse way to try to honour Love? I think its fair to say that we should never use violence to act in the name of Love unless the circumstances are so extreme and there is no other course of action. Will demonstrated that he is unhinged, emotionally unstable, and needs help. I hope his friends are able to guide him and give him that help, because the world needs to see that his actions were not OK and there is no defence for it.
I would like to mention just one lady who defended him because i used to think she was a wise and wonderful woman. I am speaking about Whoopee Goldberg, who gave a TV interview afterwards. This woman has, in my opinion, lost her way and is one of many of whom stardom and the effects of being in the limelight have taken their toll. I have heard her say quite a few very contentious things recently and it makes me sad to see so many people's mental health suffer so badly!
I think its fair to say that people are struggling to maintain their common decency in a world that is pervaded with lies, untruths, and of course great challenges such as COVID. I think this pandemic has taken its toll on people and that the world is still suffering the effects of two years of perpetual fear and isolation in a pretty serious way. Humanity needs to heal, and to learn how to foster positive mental health. Sometimes it seems like we live in a world where the blind leads the blind, and the people with the wisest and greatest gifts are still ridiculed and put down. Our media is responsible for so much war, hate, and an incredibly warped view of our world and what we consider to be responsible and acceptable actions.
This entire event has shown me that we still have a very long way to go, and the USA in particular cold use a drastic shake up in terms of not only how we act as individuals, but more importantly how we react when we witness something this is dishonourable. It is time that we all stood up and spoke out in truth at what we really think and feel, rather than continue to toe the line of what were told we should be saying and doing. I hope that this event marks the beginning of a total loss of confidence and respect for the establishment of Hollywood and the media in general. It seems that today those people who run this world are very worst people to be in that position. Perhaps that is just an unavoidable repercussion of being famous and powerful, as i know very well, power corrupts and the more power we have the worse and deeper the corruption becomes.
The academy is apparently considering what action they will take about this event as we speak. Until now they have demonstrated almost nothing to show their disapproval of this event, even honouring him with his award just minutes after he acted so selfishly and irresponsibly. I can only hope that they do decide to take back his award and ban him from future events as a clear show of what we as a society consider to be acceptable behaviour. I wont hold my breath, but i surely hope that happens, else i do think there will be further negative repercussions far any beyond the Hollywood stars and into the microcosm of our daily lives as we all take his actions and the acadamys reactions as a signpost to what we thing is OK or not!
Thanks for listening, and please do share in the comments what you think!