Everyone has their opinion of the Chris Rock/Will Smith bust-up – What the hell happened to lead to Will Smith punching Chris Rock at this year’s Oscars? Now, before we start, we didn’t watch the event as we stopped caring about it after The Hurt Locker crushed James Cameron’s Avatar at 2010’s ceremony. Yeah, we know. We hold a grudge.
Anyway, back to the point. From what we saw on Twitter, Chris Rock had made a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith regarding her hair loss from alopecia, essentially calling her “GI Jane.” Moreover, this understandably set her husband, Will Smith, off leading to him getting up, walking up on stage, and punching (or slapping) the comedian across the face.
Chris Rock was able to keep his composure throughout the whole thing. The audience present and the viewers around the world were shocked at Smith’s reaction to the joke. However, there is something need to ask ourselves. Who was in the wrong?
Will Smith Or Chris Rock – Who Was In The Wrong?
Violence is never the answer. Neither is joking about someone’s medical condition. We’ve seen a vast array of opinions on the situation. These ranged from it was a joke, and Will took offence to Chris overstepped.
Now, Chris Rock should NOT have said the joke at all, in our opinion. But, we have to ask whether he knew Jada had alopecia. The answer is, we don’t know.
To clarify, Jada did take offence to the comment made about her. This is why her husband jumped in to defend her as he should have. It has been suggested, Will did laugh at the joke. His wife rolled her eyes at it. Whatever the case is, it shouldn’t matter. You don’t make fun of a medical condition, period.
Chris was in the wrong for making the joke, regardless if he knew all the facts. Will is also in the wrong for punching him. In the end, it will be up to those involved and the Academy to sort out where it goes.
It Could’ve Been A Racism Debate
Before we end this post, we want to point something else out. The situation could’ve ended up much worse if Chris Rock was a white dude joking about a black woman. There would’ve been outrage, and the whole situation dubbed racist. Also, if Chris were caucasian and Will had attacked him, it would’ve been seen as a racial attack against a white man.
The metaphorical theory also presents the idea of double standards. If two people of the same skin colour attack each other, it’s not racist. But, if someone of one skin colour attacks someone who has another skin colour, it’s racist. Please explain to us how that makes sense.
