# 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:** 7
**Page:** 9
### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2022, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/161 "2022-04-12T12:50:04Z")
So - why does he stay married?
As I understand it, he views himself as a “protector.” But does he not have enough support for someone to point out to him that his marriage is toxic?
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2022, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/162 "2022-04-12T14:33:34Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#):
>
> So - why does he stay married?
Why does anyone stay in an abusive marriage?
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2022, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/163 "2022-04-12T16:33:32Z")
Well, a lot of people lack the resources he has.
I imagine there are countless reasons.
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### Author:  [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2022, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/164 "2022-04-12T17:40:29Z")
My guess would be it’s more about psychology than resources. Ending a marriage is the ultimate failure in some circles. It also seems like Will had a pretty troubling childhood and is probably overly invested in making this marriage work, unlike his parents. If anything, the access to lots of resources can make it worse since it seems like he has everything available to him, so surely he can make it all work out. But it’s just making it harder for him to let go.
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### Author:  [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2022, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/165 "2022-04-12T19:56:09Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#):
>
> But does he not have enough support for someone to point out to him that his marriage is toxic?
Maybe his friends tried. Maybe he cut them off. Maybe Jada cut them off. It wouldn’t be the first time a controlling spouse cut their partner off from friends and family. Throw scientology into the mix and who knows what the hell is happening. Is scientology okay with LGBT stuff? I wonder if his kids took crap for being non-binary and bisexual?
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2022, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/166 "2022-04-12T20:04:05Z")
Yeah - all kinds of people remain in all kinds of relationships for all kinds of reasons. He dropped a prior long term relationship w/ the mother of his 1st kid. Jada - and his desire to appease her - is damaging his profession. His choice to make.
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### Author:  [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-rock-low-brow-humor-and-will-smiths-violent-reaction/961960/167 "2022-04-17T00:45:09Z")
I’m surprised over 50% would support Smith in any poll. My informal observations (which to be fair, this audience includes a lot of comedians as well as people who think any man would be a fool to violently stick up for a woman who appears to not respect him and publicly humiliate him) are that most either support Rock because of the idea of allowing “free speech” in comedy or feel bad for Smith due to the perception of his “cucked” relationship with his wife. But no one really thinks he was correct. There are some macho-posturing types who say they would have punched Rock and claim Smith is a wimp for “only” slapping him. But those same people are the ones who claim Smith is “cucked by 2pac” and all that kind of stuff. So that seems contradictory to me. The logical conclusion (to me) would be Smith basically laughing and shrugging “You’re on your own here, honey. Especially after all the Red Table entanglement stuff, talk about how you didn’t want to marry me. Using my private emotional moments for your social media promotion, etc.”
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