Rounds One To Twelve With Will And Chris

Littlechild@emperorsnuclothes.com/ April 2, 2022/ Uncategorized

Not wanting to be the only commentator in the entire Western Hemisphere NOT to comment on the Will Smith/Chris Rock donnybrook, I’ve decided to throw my two cents in. In the unlikely event that the reader has not yet heard of the controversy, during this year’s Academy Awards telecast, actor Will Smith stormed the stage and slapped Master of Ceremonies Chris Rock for a joke that Rock directed at Smith’s wife. The interested reader can view the incident on You Tube:

For convenience, I will divide my commentary on the incident into “rounds,” just like a prize fight.

Round One: First, it should be said that Chris Rock telling a joke about female baldness in front of someone that is thusly afflicted is in very bad taste. Round One goes to Will.

Round Two: Although some Chris Rock apologists have suggested that Chris didn’t know that Will Smith’s wife, Jada’s, baldness was caused by a medical condition, that excuse is very hard to believe. The condition that caused Jada’s baldness is called alopecia. She contracted it in 2018 and has appeared countless times sans coif in public and even went on a talk show, Red Table Talk, to discuss her condition. It’s extremely unlikely that a razor sharp member of Hollywood’s Illuminati would be completely unaware of the circumstances behind her tonsure. Round Two goes to Will.

Round Three: In days of yore, it was commonly expected that a woman’s consort would step up and defend his lady’s honor if besmirched. The defense could be verbal or it could be a physical assault or a duel or some such thing. True, BUT… Chris did not impugn Jada’s HONOR. He may have hurt her FEELINGS, but that’s a far cry from disparaging her character or virtue. Round Three goes to Chris.

Round Four: We next can ask, “how bad was Rock’s insult?” Although the humor in Chris’s joke alludes me, many audience members DID find it funny, AS DID WILL SMITH, at least initially. Given that even Smith himself laughed at the joke, should he have taken such umbrage? Hardly. Round Four goes to Chris.

Round Five: We can ask, was Jada’s reaction sufficient to justify physical assault? Since when is ROLLING YOUR EYES, evidence of grave emotional trauma? Tears maybe. Choking up maybe. But, rolling your eyes? Hardly. Round Five goes to Chris.

Round Six: Along similar lines, we can ask if a verbal slight, of and by itself, is grounds for physical assault? What ever happened to “sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never harm me?” Round Six goes to Chris.

Round Seven: Chris Rock was exceedingly gallant in how he handled the slap. The natural response to Smith’s slap would have been an immediate right cross. To Will’s face. Quick. But he didn’t do that. I imagine that part of the reason is, first and foremost, that Chris was ASTONISHED by what had just taken place. But also he was a gentleman. The “bigger man,” if you will. Round Seven goes to Chris.

Round Eight: Next, even if we assume that the joke WAS in poor taste, and that Jada’s feelings were really hurt, what is the appropriate response? We can answer that question in a straightforward fashion: the correct response would have been to take Jada’s arm and quietly LEAVE THE THEATER. That would have registered the couple’s disapproval, and would have chastised Rock for his insensitivity. If a response to Chris’s perceived insult was that important to Smith, he could have picked up “Oscar” on Monday morning. Round Eight goes to Chris.

Round Nine: To make matters worse, upon taking his seat, Smith shouted a crude expletive twice. Since 1999, when the show was moved to a 8:30 time slot, it was supposed to be suitable for family viewing. Round Nine: Chris.

Round Ten: A legalistic phrase that one hears often these days, “lack of remorse,” applies here as well. In Smith’s subsequent and incongruous Oscar acceptance speech, he had the gall to profess an apology to the Academy, but NOT TO ROCK. And, photographs of Smith “partying hardy” later that night were even more unseemly. Round Ten goes to Chris.

Round Eleven: We might next ask the obvious question: If Jada was that sensitive about her alopecia, which is certainly understandable, why not do the obvious? Why not do something that is practiced by millions of women (for a variety of reasons, including alopecia) every single day: WEAR A WIG! Round Eleven is a draw.

Round Twelve: One of the saddest repercussions of Smith’s escapade involves the harm it did to race relations. Such a violent outburst unavoidably gives fodder to the prejudice of cultural cynics that might have reservations about the bright multicultural future advocated by liberals, progressives, leftists and ALL of the entertainment industry. Although Smith grew up in rather cosseted surroundings provided by his professional parents, he did spend several years in the clutches of the rap music industry. Although his own rap offerings were tame by industry standards, Smith could not have failed to notice that the rap demimonde is rife with profanity, aggression and violence. Some of which might have “rubbed off.” The cultural cynic will invariably conclude something like: “you can take the kid off the street, but you can’t take the street off the kid.” While this prejudice is demonstrably untrue (just consider neurosurgeon Ben Carson who grew up on the very mean streets of Detroit and who, nonetheless, went on to become an accomplished and polished leader), it remains a tenable conclusion for, as I say, the cultural cynics. Sad. Round Twelve goes to Chris.

So, ladies and gentlemen… the letter please… the big loser is… The Academy! In my opinion, the Academy was remiss in not ejecting Smith IMMEDIATELY. The fact that they didn’t do so, does nothing more than support the suspicion among cynics that Hollywood “A-listers” are, to some degree, above the law. Had you or I run up and slapped Rock, we would STILL be incarcerated. A breathtaking double standard, isn’t it? Shame on the Academy.

And… letter please… the big winner, ladies and gentlemen, by eight to two, is… CHRIS ROCK. Not a knockout, but pretty close.