The Slap Heard Around the World
Will Smith Goes From Violence As a First Resort to "No Place for Violence"
Sensitive <=> Stoic
Chris Rock may not have known about Jada Smith’s hair loss, but it’s generally frowned upon to make fun of someone’s medical problems. Will Smith reflectively laughed, but he got angry when he saw how it hurt his wife’s feelings. We live in a snowflake culture where celebrities in particular aren’t used to being made fun of to their face as they’re usually surrounded by “yes men” and adoring fans. They’re also paid to tap into their sensitive side so for Will Smith he may not have as much of a “stoic muscle” to brush off such light work as “Jada. I love ya! G.I. Jane 2… can’t wait to see it!”
Violent action <=> Non-violent inaction
Will Smith: {S L A P}
Chris Rock: Will Smith just smacked the sh*t out of me.
Will Smith: Keep my wife’s name out of your f*cking mouth!
Chris Rock: Wow dude. It was a G.I. Jane joke.
Will Smith: Keep my wife’s name out of your f*cking mouth!
{10 minutes later}
Will Smith: I’m called in life to love people.
Will Smith later “publicly apologized” to Chris Rock on Instagram where he concluded, “Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive” and “There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness,” which is a bit hypocritical when you consider how he’s made millions of dollars glorifying violence as a legitimate way to resolve conflict.
Real <=> Fake
To Will Smith’s credit, he showed his real feelings, which FYI if you think this encounter was “staged” then take that as a sign that you need to get out more because Will Smith is a good actor but he ain’t that good. Anyway, on a night of such fakery and at a time when so many people are afraid to presume a person’s gender it’s refreshing to see someone do something unpopular simply because they believe it’s right… even if in actuality they’re wrong. With that said, he probably wouldn’t have been so “courageous” stepping up on The Rock.
Ultimately, I believe he should’ve been a bit more stoic (a sign of maturity), and then if the joke really nagged at him to then take action by talking to Chris Rock during the commercial break to explain his wife’s situation rather than being so quick to assault him with a cheap shot before millions of people on live TV (if Hollywood wasn’t so hypocritical they would’ve kicked Will Smith out, but $$$).
In other words, give someone several chances, and then if that fails maybe politely ask them to step outside.