# Chris Rock Low-brow humor and Will Smith's Violent Reaction
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [March 30, 2022, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960 "2022-03-30T06:52:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 7
### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2022, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/121 "2022-03-31T17:17:10Z")
Six security guards? Apparently, the Academy took security a lot more seriously 50 years ago than they do now.
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### Author:  [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2022, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/122 "2022-03-31T17:19:18Z")
Or since 2002, when Lawrence Tierney died
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### Author:  [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2022, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/123 "2022-03-31T20:00:41Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> Six security guards? Apparently, the Academy took security a lot more seriously 50 years ago than they do now.
Especially when you consider that, in 1973, John Wayne was 65 years old!
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2022, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/124 "2022-03-31T20:40:03Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#):
>
> I don’t think there’s any way that Chris Rock went into that joke unknowingly.
Agreed. His performance is based on background knowledge of the people he was roasting and if not explicitly rehearsed, will have at least been planned in some way. He won’t have just walked up there and ad-libbed the whole thing.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2022, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/125 "2022-03-31T20:55:13Z")
> [@Moriarty](#):
>
> Especially when you consider that, in 1973, John Wayne was 65 years old!
And down a lung.
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### Author:  [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2022, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/126 "2022-03-31T21:56:12Z")
> [@Galactus](#):
>
> Do you have an example of Ricky Gervais crossing the line?
He did call Joe Pesci “Baby Yoda” but then immediately followed up with “Don’t whack me, man!”. Also, it was at the Golden Globes so alternating insults between the attendees, the network, and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is basically the only way to keep the attention of viewers, and indeed the people attending the ceremony.
The big difference is that Ricky Gervais is generally well liked while Chris Rock has basically worn down the last nerve of everyone in the entertainment industry, and making him host the Oscars was probably a punishment someone bestowed upon him in exchange for someone other than Tyler Perry casting him in an honest-to-got not direct-to-video production. That doesn’t excuse they physical altercation but the collective gasp of Rock being slapped was probably followed by a large portion of the audience saying, “About time!” under their breath.
Stranger
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### Author:  [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2022, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/127 "2022-03-31T21:58:34Z")
He didn’t host
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2022, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/128 "2022-03-31T22:34:06Z")
People still like Ricky Gervais?
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### Author:  [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2022, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/129 "2022-03-31T22:55:32Z")
I used to admire Smith for the way he represented his culture so well and wasn’t prone to the popularized violence and swearing and acting out in public. Now I see that it was all a cover-up; he’s been just like that this whole time and has been hiding it.
I remember a Fresh Prince episode he did where he went back to his hometown and was ashamed of being a coward years earlier. In that episode he over-reacted and tried to start a fight with his old bully, who had matured and just ignored him. Weird to see Smith’s real life has mimicked that episode for decades. I wonder who wrote it.
I guess his lesson to the world is if you’re rich and famous it’s ok to avenge childhood traumas and assault people for doing everyday things you yourself have done countless times (don’t tell me Wil hasn’t cashed a lot of cheques for insulting countless people in his comedy shows over the years). Being a former comic himself he really made an ass of himself for not being able to take what he dishes out.
And he’s also made it clear he thinks women are too weak and dumb to defend themselves… or maybe just the rich ones… guess he never clarified that part.
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### Author:  [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2022, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/130 "2022-03-31T22:58:39Z")
> [@mmmiiikkkeee](#):
>
> I wonder who wrote it.
According to [IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0583052/fullcredits), it was [Maiya Williams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maiya_Williams) and [Eddie Gorodetsky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Gorodetsky).
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### Author:  [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2022, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/131 "2022-03-31T23:32:09Z")
> [@octopus](#):
>
> The bottom line is that Will Smith needs to worry less about what comes out of Chris Rock’s mouth and what goes into his wife’s.
What do you mean?
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### Author:  [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2022, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/132 "2022-03-31T23:42:38Z")
> [@mmmiiikkkeee](#):
>
> I used to admire Smith for the way he represented his culture so well and wasn’t prone to the popularized violence and swearing and acting out in public. Now I see that it was all a cover-up; he’s been just like that this whole time and has been hiding it.
When you say “culture” and “that”, what do you mean, exactly?
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### Author:  [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2022, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/133 "2022-03-31T23:44:41Z")
He’s making an oral sex joke.
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### Author:  [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2022, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/134 "2022-03-31T23:45:26Z")
He’s talking about Black people, and how he believes they have a propensity to violence.
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2022, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/135 "2022-04-01T00:10:27Z")
> [@orcenio](#):
>
> Like get out there and face the public for a pay check. His life will be substantially more difficult now (that he’s been dragged into the Smith family reality TV mess).
He received multiple standing ovations Wednesday night at a sold out show. Chris Rock fans are going to continue paying top dollar to see a great comic do his thing.
He did briefly note the incident but said the audience wasn’t going to hear any Oscars jokes because “I already wrote an hour of material for this show.”
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### Author:  [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2022, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/136 "2022-04-01T00:37:09Z")
> [@Galactus](#):
>
> Do you have an example of Ricky Gervais crossing the line?
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jxjdQ6QJ1w)
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### Author:  [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2022, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/137 "2022-04-01T01:48:57Z")
That was funny, thanks. The audience seemed to find his jokes funny, too.
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2022, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/138 "2022-04-01T01:57:20Z")
I’d say the one really excellent dig was the one about us all knowing whom Mel Gibson blamed for everything.
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### Author:  [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2022, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/139 "2022-04-01T02:08:06Z")
Ricky Gervais hosted the Globes 5 times. I guess nobody too powerful thought he went too far.
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### Author:  [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2022, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/140 "2022-04-01T03:00:01Z")
Cite that Chris Rock has gotten on every last nerve of everyone in the entertainment industry?
This is the first I’ve heard that. Not disputing you, but I’d like to read up on it myself.
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