So Will Smith punched Chris Rock at the Oscars last night

I’m a level 3 Mall Ninja. Like I said, it’s behavior that is atypical for me as I am much more likely to deflect or deescalate where possible. But this was not a relationship I cared to salvage and I’m fine with how it turned out.

I think my problem here is not the defense of a shy or inarticulate person from humiliation, but the implication that women are emotionally helpless compared to men. Or that women should be aloof puppet-masters who raise an eyebrow and launch men into aggressive action.

Some might call the latter chivalry. I don’t.

As far as it being staged, people are still debating the streaker – even though by now it has been pretty much established that the whole thing was indeed set up, including David Niven’s “short comings” jab.

Really, all Will did was make it worse, if you think about it. If Jada herself had just smiled and gave a short laugh, and then waited until she was backstage to confront Chris, nobody would no, nobody would give a shit, and the whole thing would be over. It’s a total Streisand Effect.

It’s definitely not a look of that she needs my help. It is one however that says I am doing or not doing something wrong. I could misunderstand what that something is, often do, but am highly motivated to respond.

It could include that she wants my support rather than passively letting her get what she feels is being bullied. That would usually be in family situation where baggage comes into play.

Baggage is key. There is lots of potential baggage in this particular case. I am not in Mr Smith’s head so I can imagine some small bit to have empathy for him but I can only judge on what he did.

I do not think expecting our spouses to have our backs, and the ability to communicate that with a look, is 1950s. We are partners. YMMV.

Interestingly this is now in my news feed:

The earlier joke about his open marriage setting it up.

LegalEagle weighs in. Pretty much everything we’ve said here.

Someone once threw a nearly full large slurpee
out a car window at my girlfriend, who was riding her bike at the time. It hit her, and caused her to crash. It was very scary. I seemed to yell by reflex – it was immediate and without thinking, “Fuck you asshole!” after the car. As soon as I yelled it, I was scared that they would come back. And I wish my reflex had been to immediately check on my girlfriend.

So I could have more understood – not excused, but slightly understood – if Will Smith had been standing right by Chris Rock and hit him immediately after the joke. Sometimes we have impulses that are clearly wrong or not what we would rationally choose, and we are unable to control those impulses in certain circumstances, in time to stop ourselves from acting.

What makes this even more egregious though is that Will Smith had time and distance to control his impulse. He made a decision to do this. He had time to get himself under control.

And of course, for real adults, words alone don’t provoke violence. In my example, I responded to violence with unwise words. I have never attacked someone for just saying something since I was, like, 7 or 8, I think.

It’s an amusing observation that I wouldn’t consider particularly insulting. Any time an actress shaves her head for a role (Sigourney Weaver in Alien3, Demi Moore in GI Jane, Natalie Portman in V for Vendetta, Danai Gurira in Black Panther), it’s usually to play a character who is pretty badass.

Imagine the reaction if Jesse Plemons punched Amy Schumer in the baby-maker for “mistaking” his wife for a “seat filler” during her little bit? (His wife is actress Kirsten Dunst by the way).

This is pretty fucking funny, right here! :rofl:

Yes. The speech was an embarrassing window into the mind of a person who clearly needs help–help that he is unlikely to get, as some have mentioned in connection with Smith’s Scientology adherence.

Will Smith clearly found a way to justify his choice to respond to words with violence: it’s ‘from God’; it’s because he’s a Noble Protector of Women, etc.

People who enjoyed seeing someone respond to words with violence have been doing their own rationalizing, I think. One theme we’ve seen is ‘a slap isn’t really violence.’ I would guess that anyone who’s been the victim of domestic abuse would have something to say about that.

A second theme has been ‘a man has to do what a man has to do.’ People who want to believe that are going to go on doing so. But I’m more in agreement with those who’ve labelled the ‘can’t tolerate your words so I’ll hit you’ response as that of a weak person–a snowflake. Not what a grownup does at all.

A third major theme in response to this incident is to elevate Chris Rock’s joke to the status of having been a vicious attack on Jada Smith’s medical condition. I don’t think that’s reasonable. An actual attack on a person with a medical condition, disability, or other physical vulnerability has these components:

**‘Your condition is shameful (or disgusting)’
**‘Your condition is your own fault’
**‘Your condition means that you will (rightfully) miss out on good things like love, respect, or jobs’

Rock’s joke contained none of these elements.

Now if he had said, for example, 'Love you Jada, but you’re sure not going to be cast in the new Rapunzel movie, haha!’ then that would have been an attack on her condition.

As it was, Rock was simply validating Jada’s own chosen self-image (as others have noted).

A final point: some are scolding those who spend time thinking, talking, or writing about this incident. Supposedly such a choice is invalid because a horrific injustice is happening in Europe.

I don’t agree. The question of whether we see violence as being a valid response to words is vitally important. It has the potential to affect every part of our lives–even our various nations’ political choices about Ukraine.

This might be why security did NOT intervene with the whole Smith-Rock incident. The hosts do comedy bits with celebrities in the audience so they may not have realized what the situation was until Rock was actually slapped.

The Academy needs to review to how they handle security for this point forward and make other celebrities aware that security will intervene if they try come onto the stage uninvited.

Incidentally this how John Wilkes Booth was able to assassinate Abraham Lincoln— he was an actor and everyone assumed he was allowed to be in Ford Theater at the time.

What is the difference between what Rock does and what Rickles did?

Is there any chance that Will Smith will be persona non grata at every award show, tv show and movie set for the next, let’s say, 2 years as a “security threat”? That would be an awesome way for Hollywood to take a stand against violence against African-Americans.

Is it the Academy or the Dolby Theater that is in charge of security?

Don Rickles would have punched him back.

That’s good question and who ever is in charge needs to review the security procedures so this does NOT happen again

Yeah, and when the DA does not bring charges in a slam-dunk case like this (literally hundreds of witnesses not to mention crystal clear, high definition video evidence from multiple angles) it only reinforces that notion.

And the enablers on twitter supporting Smith as well.

No, he’ll be fine. At most, they will block him from the Academy Awards next year.

A year from now, he and Chris Rock will probably present together at the MTV Movie Awards.

A half a century