By now you’ve read and heard every single permutation of opinions on Will Smith’s transgression, and there is really no reason for me to write this. But I will (Smith) anyway, because like I always say: this is a free website and if you don’t like it you can click X. My thoughts on this tragedy are scattered, so this one will have to be a list instead of an article. In no order, here goes:
Rich People Are Unhinged
First of all, anyone who is still saying anything like, “_____ makes the whole _____ community look bad,” in 2022 is a fucking moron. The only people who would connect one thing to a whole group of people are dumb, and this is an archaic way of thinking. I know people who say this kind of thing are really commenting on the other ignorant people who would think it, but to even worry about it at this point is dumb and shouldn’t even be said anymore IMHO.
What I really think this thing speaks to is how unhinged and insane rich people are. To be honest with you, I don’t even look at the Smiths as a black family. They’re a different type of person now, they have transcended race, they are now in the world of super really rich people. To me, super really rich people are not white or black. They are not humans. They are fucking aliens. They do not live by the same rules you and I live by, they are living in a different world. As much as they try to pretend they are normal, guess what: they’re very talented actors, and good at making it seem that way when necessary. But it’s no different than Hillary Clinton going around during election time and pretending to like whatever group she happens to be with.
I think doing stuff like banging your son’s friend is something a rich person would do. And then talking about it on some weird internet show is another example of this odd display of rich people behaviour. Jada using spirituality to get out of accountability for her actions is rich people behaviour. Her using words like “entanglement” and “healing” is rich people behaviour. The thing about people with money is they have to keep upping themselves. They have so much, and can do so much with ease, and it’s a regular part of their lives. So when that’s not enough, they have to do more weird shit. This is what the Smiths have become, they’re not satisfied with simply being rich and successful, they have to constantly “choose chaos” as Will Smith captioned one of his Instagram photos recently.
And the fucked up thing is that when you become rich, that comes with a whole new world of rules. The regular laws and rules do not apply to you anymore, and you can get away with a whole lot more. It is the perfect recipe for devious behaviour: they keep upping their weirdness, and the laws are going out the window simultaneously. This is the reason why there’s shit like pedos in Hollywood: they get so rich they lose their morals, and they keep going. In the Dostoyevsky novel Demons, about nihilism hitting Russia, there is a very dark passage that was removed from the final version of the novel by censors at the time. In this “deleted scene,” Dostoyevsky writes about a man who has adopted nihilism to the point where he becomes a pedophile, molests some girl, and she later ends up killing herself as a result. I am reminded of this when I think of rich people and where their morals end up taking them: having money can be synonymous with nihilism and a lack of principle. When there is nothing stopping you or holding you back from doing whatever you want, you could end up doing anything. The slap was really about a rich dude who has had a great life for a long time, and thinking he can do whatever he wants. So far he hasn’t been wrong about that or doing too badly. He got to get an award, give his speech, and get applause. He had to resign from the Academy, but he’s still pretty much getting jiggy with it haha.
Colorism and Chris Rock
I know this one might sound like a stretch to some people, but I don’t think it’s an exaggeration at all to say that Chris Rock is being unfairly treated here. Last week I heard so many people shit on the “what if it was Betty White?” argument, as if it’s not totally valid to ask these types of things. The truth is: the reason why people don’t want to answer or think about this hypothetical is because they’re fucking afraid they might find out what they think. This question is kinda like that scene in A Time to Kill where Matthew McConnaughey says, "I want you to picture that little girl. Now imagine she's white!” What if this shit happened to Tom Hanks? Or Seinfeld? Or Larry David? There is no way in hell Will Smith would have slapped them, because he would not get away with it. Or better yet, what if it was a woman? Where is the line? What if I was famous and some woman comedian said something about my height, and my wife Sydney Sweeney in this hypothetical scenario goes up to the comedian and punches her in the face? “KEEP MY SHORT KING’S NAME OUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH,” she’d yell, defending my honour😂. That would be absolutely ridiculous and still wrong. Cool to see for sure, because it’s always awesome and kinda hot to see women fighting, but still wrong haha.
I think one reason why so many people are able to brush Chris Rock getting hit aside so quickly is because he is a black man. I know that Will Smith is too, but I also think colorism is a real and true thing that exists. I’ve experienced it, witnessed it, etc, so I don’t think this is wrong to say. Racism is so ingrained in everyone that I think the darker a person is, the worse they get treated overall. I mean, this fucking slap is 2 years after George Floyd. Some of the shit I’m seeing people post is absolutely insane to me: where is that energy from 2 years ago when a black dude was so publicly humiliated? I’m not saying it’s the SAME THING, for you literal minded people that might read this, I’m just saying the principle of it is still there. You have a black guy just trying to go about his life, and someone coming along and ruining his whole day and acting like he is allowed to treat him a certain way so publicly and brazenly. Will Smith did this partly because he felt he could get away with it. You have to wonder why that is. Let’s not pretend that if this were a white woman being smacked in the face security or some buff celebrities wouldn’t all come immediately rushing in to save the day. But why is it when it’s a black dude everyone just expects him to carry this shit on his shoulders like he’s good at it and supposed to and shit? It’s fucking disgusting. The message it sends is not just that it’s okay to hit comedians if you’re unhappy with what they say, but that people of color get treated like absolute garbage and no one gives a shit. What does it say about society that a successful black man can make it to the Oscars, and still get treated like he’s an open mic comic in some shitty nightclub?
Aside from the racial aspect of it, the other thing that truly sickened me about this was the age factor. Chris Rock is almost 60 years old, Will Smith is younger than him by a couple years. It’s not by much, but it’s still gross to think about physically hurting another person older than yourself. That would be like me going up to an uncle or my father or some shit like that, and slapping him. What kind of crazy ass behaviour is that, man? Not just disrespectful, but downright wrong if you think about it. What ever happened to respect your elders?
What Would Patrice Say / Women Should Not Be Leaders In Relationships
I don’t think there’s ever been a more, “I wish Patrice O’Neal was alive right now,” moment. I have no idea what he’d say, but one of the things I am reminded of: Patrice stressed the importance on The Black Philip show that women should not lead how a relationship should go. One example of this he gave was the story of his girlfriend starting a fight with someone else, and then expecting him to step in to fight the other person if necessary. Patrice said he ultimately walked away, and asked her what he was supposed to do, why she would expect such a ridiculous thing of him, etc.
I agree with this, and I don’t think people really understand the nature of what men are dealing with here. A guy can’t go around slapping everyone he wants, or he can lose his livelihood. Do you really think I would’ve made it to 30 if I went around slapping everyone I wanted to in my 20s? Hell no. Everyone has a couple people we’d love to slap, I know I do, but it just simply cannot be unfortunately. It’s just a sad reality of life. It’s one of those things you have to accept when you grow up, like the fact that I’ll never be a cowboy or an astronaut or some other insane thing. I will never get to bang Sydney Sweeney. I will never get to be a famous successful rich writer probably. There’s reality and then there are limits. I’m sorry, but we’re all adults here. This isn’t high school lmfao. It’s easy to be a woman and sit there and expect someone to fight for you, because you’re not the one that has to go to fucking jail afterward. You get to chill at home and fuck August while the dude goes to jail and gets fucked by September😂😂😂 (that made no sense, who would be named September).
Free Speech Is Still a Thing
I’m sorry to people smart enough to understand this, but it bears repeating for the folks making this about the joke itself. It doesn’t even matter if Chris Rock knew about if Jada had alopecia or not, that is totally besides the point. Firstly: the joke wasn’t hurtful or disrespectful at all. Secondly: he should be allowed to say whatever he wants if it’s comedy. Just like how people seem to incorrectly think a guy can do whatever he wants if it’s under the guise of “protecting his family,” (illegal), a comedian can do whatever the fuck they want if it’s under the guise of comedy (legal). I don’t want to live in a world where comedians feel they can take less risks, and can’t make whatever jokes they want. Would you tell any other kind of artist not to do certain things in their work? It makes no sense to me that people feel they should have a say in what a comic can or cannot say. The fact of the matter is: even if one person laughs at a terrible joke, that joke is now funny by default.
This slap is exactly in line with how the culture has been shifting in the past few years with regards to comedy; there’s so much anger around jokes and comedians these days, and it’s been this way since like 2015 or so. Some people have commented and seem to think that it’s acceptable to hit another person if they don’t like what they say. Just to remind you: it is legal to say stuff with words, but it is illegal to hit another person. It’s always been that way, nothing has changed about this. If the Smiths are angry about being made to look like clowns by people like Chris Rock, they should consider not doing clownish shit. (I don’t believe Jada and Will Smith boycotted the Oscar for their cause and fighting racism in Hollywood in 2016, it was entirely due to their own narcissism and not getting nominated that year).
Some people have said stuff like, “Okay, if you’re allowed to say whatever you want, be prepared to be hit in the face.” To that, I’d say that you should be prepared to be sued, because not everyone is as lenient as Chris Rock. As already mentioned, someone could also fight back and that could be a whole thing. There is not much good that comes from hitting someone else, if anything, Will Smith should have used his words as well. I honestly think if he had just heckled the keep my wife’s name shit, and didn’t go up there, that might have been slightly more acceptable. Not cool, but it would’ve been less egregious, because we know what heckling is. At most, Will Smith would have had to apologize for a disturbance, but he wouldn’t have had to resign. This, however, was different and unacceptable.
Bullying / The Internet Did It / Celebrity Culture is Dead
This is a thought I’ve been having for a couple reasons. I’ve talked about being bullied before, and Chris Rock has been bullied, so there’s that factor there that makes this terrible. But the other thing I’d say, and the only way in which I feel sorry for Will Smith, is that I feel Will Smith is the victim of bullying as well and may not even realize it. I don’t think he was prepared to put his business out with his wife like that, and shouldn’t have done that in the age of the internet. The thing about being a celebrity is that, in 2022, it doesn’t mean what it used to. In the 90s, Twitter didn’t exist. The internet wasn’t a daily part of our lives. Shit just happened with celebrities, and they felt further away from us. Above us, even. There was less of a specific consensus about a given person, and more of an overall vibe: certain people were famous, and they were deemed cool by the culture automatically. If Pete Davidson was famous in the 90s, for example, he’d be more of a lovable Adam Sandler type of figure. But he’s famous in the 2020s, and everyone is broke and bitter and has the freedom to vocalize how much they hate him and people like him. Being a celebrity doesn’t mean what it used to: despite money and status and fame, you are not really “above” anyone anymore. Just hop on Twitter and name search yourself if you’re a celebrity and think you’re special; there will always be at least one person out there with some kind of valid criticism.
Today everyone can have a voice in a way they never got to have before. Literally anyone, there is no law saying you can’t pick up your phone right now and go on a tirade against any celebrity you want on YouTube. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have an audience and you’re some guy living in the Deliverance areas of your country, you can still do pretty much whatever you want online and talk shit about whoever you want. I’m sure Will Smith is aware he became a meme in the summer that weird interview dropped (BTW, I’m remembering now: I wrote about it haha. I am too lazy to find it, but it’s in The Fall of Masculinity / Sopranos post I think). I don’t think Will Smith was prepared for the vitriol coming at him from everyone, and that definitely sucks. No one deserves to be constantly shit talked online, and it’s probably awful for your mental health. He shouldn’t have taken part in that stupid ass interview and made things so public, but I also gotta say: I do feel bad a little about some of the stuff I saw about him. Will Smith must be the only motherfucker in the world to bang Margot Robbie, win an Oscar, get applause, and still somehow be a total loser. I’ve never even had a long-term girlfriend, I got much less money, I live with my parents, on paper I guess you could say I’m something of a loser myself, and yet I’d still rather be me than Will Smith.