For any that didn’t dig into this …
Talk about your classic Rorschach Test. I think the drill-down numbers are pretty interesting.
I meant to mention Richard Pryon and Gene Wilder. Truly great comedians.
I agree with the OP. Smith punching him was over the top, but American humor - and Oscars humor - really isn’t funny. I think back to Seth McFarlane singing some song about Jennifer Lawrence’s breasts and about how John Wilkes Booth got in Lincoln’s head in the 2013 ceremony and like…is that supposed to be funny?
American humor has nothing to do with what happened.
Each country and each subgroup within it has it’s own sense of humor, they’re not objectively measurable in terms of ‘funniness’.
I agree with your first sentence, I disagree with your second.
The main thing that bugs me about all of this is the lack of consequence.
If I were in a theatre, and some a$$hat made a tasteless, offensive statement about my date and I got up and slapped him, then I would be asked to leave at a minimum. And more than likely the police would be called, I would be arrested and get a bail hearing in the morning. If I ultimately pled guilty, then I’d probably get a fine or some community service (I would be a first time offender).
Will Smith sat back down and was given a Best Actor award.
Interesting indeed. The majority hold my opinion in every category except race and age. Don’t know what that means, though. Am I right, or horribly out of step?
Without even getting into how speech is (rightfully) protected and violence is (rightfully) criminalized in our society…The thing is, what Rock did has been done hundreds of times at the Oscars in the past. In fact, jesters have had license to make fun of the rich and powerful for hundreds of years. What Smith did is unprecedented at the Oscars and extremely rare in any ceremonial setting. And it is a dangerous precedent.
I disagree. His jokes about fat people are extremely malicious.
I wouldn’t quite describe Chris Rock’s joke as “lowbrow”. There’s a tradition for comedians to be insulting; think of Don Rickles or the old Dean Martin celebrity roasts. To me, that’s different from someone like Benny Hill, who was occasionally vulgar, but good-natured.
Not that that excuses Rock’s joke. Just trying to get a clearer distinction of what sort of comedy tradition led to the joke.
I wonder what would have happened if Smith had expressed his displeasure, but not hit Rock. Suppose he stays in his seat, but just yells “hey, man, that was over the line.” Smith gets to be seen as standing up for Jada, and it gives Rock the opportunity to apologize without looking like he’s knuckling under.
Chris Rock really should have responded, “I accept.” And then the duel would commence at dawn the next day.
It was not a punch, it was not intended to cause actual harm or damage. It was a slap that let Rock know he was out of line. If Smith had wanted to hurt Rock, Rock would have been laid out on the stage, rather than coming back in seconds with a quip.
Not saying that Smith was in the right, but at the same time, I think that the anti-Smith faction are making the slap out to be far more than it actually was.
That slap (and the people who defend it) emboldens the next entitled asshole who doesn’t like what a comic says on stage to use a closed fist…or a knife, or a gun. What Smith did was open the floodgates for people of influence to use violence against anybody who so much as pokes fun at them.
Smith did slap Rock, and he also threatened him with further force. Rock took that threat seriously enough to shut up.
This is by no stretch of the imagination a particularly American thing.
Here’s my extremely limited take on this. I am a middle-aged white guy that pays no attention to celebrity news or gossip. I couldn’t at gunpoint tell you what Jada Pinkett Smith was famous for before marrying Will Smith. But somehow, despite all that, I knew she had alopecia. I’m sure it was once a headline I scrolled past on some news website.
My wife, who does like the Hollywood gossip, especially when it intersects Scientology, said that her condition is widely known.
I don’t think there’s any way that Chris Rock went into that joke unknowingly.
His jokes about Caitlin Jenner were pretty malicious, too.
Ah, a slippery slope argument.
Well, on that note, that’s where I get off.
Huh, I thought that Rock went on with the awards show.
Yes, he continued within the boundaries that Smith outlined for him (to be clear).
So, do you think that Rock had a bunch more jokes to make about Smith’s wife’s medical condition?
It’s entirely possible that he did, but I think that, even without Smith’s action, the rather nasty response that Rock got from the entire audience may have set those “boundaries”.
And personally, I do think that people’s medical conditions should be outside of boundaries, even if they have agreed to be roasted (and I don’t know that she did).
Had Smith not reacted the way he did, the only talk would be about how out of line that Rock was, and what a shitty thing he said. But somehow, Smith’s reaction makes what Rock said okay to some people.
Dude. Smith slapped Rock, threatened Rock with more/further attacks. And Rock obeyed. That’s all I’m saying. Let’s be honest. This is what happened.