Was Will Smith Being Violent? Or Was He Standing Up for Black Women?
By now, I am sure that many of you have witnessed the intense moment between actor Will Smith and comedian Chris Rock. For those who missed it, let me quickly recap for you all. When presenting the Oscar for “Best Documentary” on Sunday, Rock had introduced his presentation with a few jokes. One of the jokes Rock had made referring to Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith’s wife, as “G.I. Jane 2”. For context, G.I. Jane is a movie about a woman who is required to shave her head to join a navy program, Jada Pinkett suffers from alopecia, a disease that involves sudden hair loss. This has left Jada Pinkett Smith bald.
So the joke had left Will Smith angry, to which he responded by getting up from his seat, slapping Chris Rock, and then yelling at Chris Rock to “KEEP MY WIFE’S NAME OUT YOUR F****** MOUTH!”. Will Smith then won the Oscar for “Best Actor”, and during his speech apologized for his actions and then basically said that he did it for the love he has for Jada. Unfortunately, Smith’s apology was not enough because many people, including different celebrities, are saying that Will Smith was the one in the wrong. Additionally, the Academy has even discussed revoking Will’s award for his actions during the ceremony.
First of all, why is nobody holding Chris Rock accountable for his misogynistic joke? I will start by saying, I may not be a comedian or know much about comedy. As a writer, I feel like I can say that if your content is offensive without any point to it, then it is not good content. Rock’s joke was not only misogynistic by putting down Jada Pinkett, but to put her down for something that she can not control is just straight-up ableist. Now Rock’s justification was that he did not know that Pinkett had alopecia, but not knowing is more reason why you should not use someone’s physical appearance as the center of your humor. I always say, if it can not be fixed in 10 seconds, do not bring it up, and making fun of someone’s condition that they can not control is just ableist.
But unfortunately, black women have always been the butt of the joke, and the best example I can think of this is Tyler Perry. Maybe I am oblivious because I have never seen a Madea movie (I know, shocker). However, the idea of a man dressing as a stereotypical and over-the-top black woman in the name of comedy is ultimately using black women as the butt of a joke. Yet this movie has been so successful, that it has been remade time and time again. It is almost like the idea of the black woman has just become humorous.
The worst part about all of this is that black women are gaslighted when they try to stand up for themselves or react to wrong treatment in any way. Like in 2018 when Serena Williams got frustrated during the U.S. Open 2018 and broke her tennis racket out of frustration. This was then turned into an over-the-top racist comic that went viral. Even in my personal experience, I have seen that when a white girl gets upset or reacts to an inconvenience, they are immediately empathized with. But when I have reacted or gotten upset to similar inconveniences, I have just been told that I am “overdramatic”. My point in saying all this is that black women are not taken seriously.
So yes, maybe Will Smith could have reacted to Rock’s joke more professionally. Maybe he could have pulled Rock to the side and had a conversation or whatever. However, it is clear that despite everything, Will loves Jada and cares for her very much and ultimately, he was just standing up for his wife. And given the way that black women have been treated for centuries, even by black men, it is very refreshing to see a black man stand up for his wife. It provides the hope that there is someone out there who cares enough about women, especially black women, enough to fight for them. Instead of making Will the villain in this situation, we should be holding Chris Rock accountable for his very poor joke and it is frustrating that is not the case.
