29 Mar Why Now? Why Not?

It has been a long time, Gentle Reader(s)—longer than I care to reflect—since I last posted any ruminations regarding whatever the heck has gotten stuck in my thinky-thing. Perhaps the reason for this hiatus, or at least part of the reason, is that there’s just so much… stuff. Personally and otherwise. Another day, another challenge, another outrage to decency, common sense, humanity—whatever. Where does one begin? 

 

Personally and otherwise, I have been stunned and horrified by Russia’s brutal and inhuman invasion of Ukraine. Of course it’s not extraordinary to see suffering, suppression, oppression and horror in this world—there’s more than enough to go around. But being who I am, with all of the innate socio-cultural baggage that being Me entails, I find my response to a land war in Europe to be particularly visceral. I’ll admit: When the horror is taking place in Africa or Asia or Latin America or wherever it’s easier for me to maintain some sort of intellectual and emotional distance from it all. It’s sort of a ‘Oh my God, that’s so awful, but…’ response. The ’but…’ being that my prejudice, to some degree, is that the people being murdered in Ukraine look more like me. I’m not proud of that. I know it’s not an excuse, but I’m just trying to be truthful here. I do what I can with the resources available to me to try and make the world a slightly better place. I could certainly do more. We could all do more.

 

Having said that, why in the world would I be moved to write something about the spectacle that unfolded at the 94th Academy Awards last night? The reason might be because of the immediacy of it. Because I saw it right there in my living room on the ol’ Sony idiot box—live, give or take nine seconds. Like a lot of folks—including people right there in the Dolby Theater—at first I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Was this a scripted ‘bit’? Will Smith—the smiling, perpetual good guy, mainstream feature film actor—smacking the shit out of Chris Rock?? That can’t be real, right? 

 

Turns out it was pretty real. Of course I didn’t realize this until later in the evening, after the broadcast, when I got online, caught wind of the full story, and tracked down the un-expurgated clip of the incident. WTF??? I mean, seriously—WTF????

 

I don’t have anything against Will Smith or Jada Pinkett Smith. Why would I? I don’t know them and will never know them. I know who they are inasmuch as I recognize their faces when I see them. I’ve watched some of his movies. I don’t know shit about their private lives and I don’t care to know shit about their private lives, anymore than any other random celebrity couple. I was not aware that Ms. Pinkett Smith was dealing with alopecia—why would I be?

 

I enjoy Chris Rock’s comedy. I usually get a kick out of his routines and have been known to quote a few of his lines, but I don’t know anything about the guy beyond what I’ve seen on TV or in a few movies. I was aware that, a few years back, he had produced and narrated a well received documentary film about Black women and their hair, titled Good Hair.

 

So, the Chris Rock joke that sparked the incident was a reference to G.I. Jane—the undistinguished 1997 Ridley Scott film for which Demi Moore shaved her shapely head. G.I. Jane was a box office and critical flop, so Rock’s joke about G.I. Jane 2 was sort of a Hollywood insider thing—not quite a Heaven’s Gate or Ishtar reference, but still a movie biz non-zinger. Rock tells his joke and the camera on Ms. Pinkett Smith reveals that she is obviously offended. Her husband is laughing. At first.

 

Now, I think Ms. Pinkett Smith looks strikingly fabulous with a close-cropped head, but seeing as how it’s not a look that she is sporting by choice, making a joke about it is in questionable taste, at best. Beyond that, it just wasn’t very funny. The audience gives it a mixed response and a few moments later Will Smith is up out of his seat, striding up the stage towards Chris Rock. Whack. Loud. Very Loud: Rock is wearing a wireless mic.

 

Will Smith is a pretty big guy—6’2” and well built. Chris Rock isn’t exactly little—5’10”, but slight. If Smith had hit Rock with the same force and a closed fist he could have hurt him badly. Rock seems stunned more than hurt. Smith turns and strides back to his seat, looking smugly satisfied with himself. The audience remains unsure as to what the fuck just happened until Smith starts screaming ‘Keep my wife’s name OUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH’ at Rock, loud enough to hear it echoing around the now eerily silent theater.

 

Wow.

 

The immediate aftermath of the assault is bizarre. Rock somehow manages to recover his composure and soldier on with his presentation. The broadcast goes to commercial. Rock disappears backstage. During the break a bunch of Hollywood A-list dudes (Tyler Perry, Denzel Washington, Bradley Cooper) close ranks around Smith. A short while later Smith wins the Oscar for Best Actor and launches into a rambling, weepy acceptance speech—the full implications of which are still incomprehensible to those of us watching the ABC broadcast. The audience rewards him with a standing ovation. Co-host Amy Schumer appears a bit later and makes some cryptic comments about the atmosphere in the theater having changed. Still unaware of what has transpired I can only assume she’s referring to Smith’s weird acceptance speech, but something seems off…

 

All the sensation aside, this was a very ugly incident. First of all, regardless of how inappropriate or tasteless Rock’s joke might have been, there is no way that violence can be construed as an acceptable response. Absolutely no way. Smith’s violent assault was completely beyond the pale and he should be held to account for it. In just about any other scenario Smith would have been in handcuffs and on his way to jail within minutes. Other Black men have ended up lying in the street with a cop’s knee on their neck for less. Did the fact that Smith is wealthy and famous and committed the assault so brazenly in front of an audience of millions indemnify him in some way? How the fuck does that work??

 

Secondly, on a night where there were numerous other things going on, things of possible significance as regards the Academy opening up to under-represented communities, Will Smith made it all about him. From now on, Smith attacking Chris Rock will be ALL anyone will ever really remember about the 2022 Oscar broadcast. The fact that Questlove’s film Summer of Soul won Best Documentary—the award that Rock was onstage to hand out—simply disappeared because of the incident that immediately preceded it. Whatever its merits, the film that Smith won his Oscar for is now tarnished by association. A film about a deaf family won Best Picture—yeah, okay, that’s cool, but no one is talking much about that. Everything else regarding the evening of March 27th will forever be little more than a footnote.

 

Later in the evening Tiffany Haddish apparently made some comment to the press about how it was good to see Black men standing up for their women. Really? Is a violent outburst the kind of support Black women need? What if a sudden, violent outburst such as Smith’s, precipitated by nothing more than a stupid joke, was directed elsewhere? At a woman or a child, perhaps?

 

Janai Nelson, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund tweeted that ‘the way casual violence was normalized tonight by a collective national audience will have consequences that we can’t even fathom at the moment.’

 

Jaden Smith, son of Jada and Will, tweeted ‘And That’s How We Do It.’ Forgive me for being a bit of a dimwit, but does that suggest that violent outbursts are the norm for solving issues within the Smith household? 

 

On Monday Will Smith apologized for his actions—to the Academy, to his fans, to the Williams family, and, belatedly, to Chris Rock. He did everybody a disservice at the 94th Academy Awards, his own self not the least. There’s more than enough ugliness afoot these days. An entire country is getting the shit smacked out of it. No one needed to see this additional bit of inhumanity on a night that should have been an enjoyable return from two years of Covid isolation.

 

Will Smith has some reckoning to do.