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The bully's and the scumbags are usually the people demeaning you, for theirs and others amusement.
I had a lot of that as a 11 year old small Irish kid at an english school - until i got much bigger.
Agree 100% @Molgrips. There's lots of apologism for him in the national press today "oooh, I lived through domestic violence, and everything about me is making up for the fact that my dad hit my mum"...
...lets give anyone who had a sh1tty childhood carte blanche to slap people about a bit. They clearly can't help themselves eh?
Boo hoo for them eh? They're incapable of not being violent, despite millions of people who had really bad childhoods proving that non-violence is definitely a thing that can be done.
Violence is rarely the right answer to a problem.
But until people learn what the boundaries for "humour" about other people's race, gender, sexuality, culture, disability and medical struggles are, then it is likely to be a risk idiots need to accept.
Smith and his wife walking out and him not being there to accept the award would have sent a much better message.
richmtb
The audiences reaction is really strange, Will Smith sitting back down and swearing at Chris Rock seems to get a much bigger reaction than him walking on stage and smacking him in the mouth. But hey its America so violence is okay as long as you don’t have a potty mouth.
I think the point at which Will Smith started swearing, was the point that most of the audience realised that it wasn't part of the act, hence the atmosphere in the room changing.
Half of the audience probably weren't even paying that much attention until the potty mouth at the front started using cuss words.
it was a joke. it may have been in poor taste and all that but it was ultimately a joke. i found it pretty funny tbh, the ones close to bone* are! (*pun intended, boom) The reaction was terrible judgement. thump him after the show, use your speech to belittle him, anything but make a massive tool of yourself in front of a global audience.
Fair play to Chris Rock though, for not reacting aggressively, maintaining his composure and for hardly budging when he was bitchslapped!
Its the cast and crew of King Richard i feel sorry for, and the Williams family - and the cast and crew of CODA who's triumph has been completely overshadowed.
Firstly, I think it was staged, it just looked like a stage slap, or maybe I just assumed it was? When I first read the headline I assumed it was an act.
Assuming it was real, I doubt, or hope Chris Rock isn't upset about it. Lots of Comics at the moment are shining a light on 'woke' or 'cancel' culture. Setting aside anyone's feelings on how real, or right that it, it goes against everything Comics believe. Chris Rock feels he should be free to express his comedy as way he wants to, if people laugh then it can't be wrong? Will Smith took personal offence, real offence, we're not talking about millions of armchair moral arbiters taking offence on their behalf, Will gave him a slap and told him off, Rock has to accept that, and he seemed to.
Obvs being 2022, the whole virtual world will have to decide which of them is best suited to them morally, well once they decide which camp their chosen celebrity have jumped into.
From the reports the Oscars were a pretty missable event:
- against the backdrop of a major conflict in which millions have been made homeless and tens of thousands killed…
- virtue signalling audience who have told us they are taking a stand against hate and violence take their seats to congratulate themselves for their amazing achievements
- “celebrity” host makes tasteless joke about someone else’s wife
- wife’s husband laughs at joke
- husband then punches the celebrity host presumably to avoid having to have a word with himself at laughing at it in heh first place or apologising to his wife
- audience “takes a stand” by giving a standing ovation to man who just assaulted someone else right in front of them
- lots of jibes at “republicans” and virtue signalling
- little or nothing said about evil communists or the tragedy unfolding in Europe
- Guests leave with their $140k “gift” bags
The bully’s and the scumbags are usually the people demeaning you, for theirs and others amusement.
And I've been on the receiving end of huge amounts of that. But again - I stopped hitting back when I realised it was the wrong thing to do on principle.
Ooh, that was quite shocking to watch! Thanks for posting.
I, personally can't put myself in the position of a married, multimillionaire celebrity having the mild piss taken out of them in a public ceremony. I mean if you're pushing your wife around Tesco in her wheelchair and some moron has a laugh at her, yeah smack that ****. But Will v Chris. That's (the) entertainment (business). Real punch/smack though, for definite.
I am not a RG fan but the way he does it is perfection. Maximum insults but judged perfectly – doesn’t cross any lines. There’s a skill to it and I don’t think CR is that sort of comedian. Maybe if RG had said the same thing it may not have cause as much offence as it would be expected, but that’s not what you’d expect from someone else?
I like Gervais as well, but he crosses a line all the time, it's how he's pushed boundaries and made a generation of copy cats, Chris Rock has also done the same, he's the US version who does all the roasts, awards, etc.
It was an off the cuff joke, following another joke he'd made about Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz regarding both of them being up for an award, i feel he brought Jada into the joke as it was a couples style thing, but maybe he has some history with her, there does seem to be a bit of it going by their marriage, affairs, etc.
I do enjoy a good Will Smith movie though, he's a great actor, but he just always seems to come across as never stopping acting when doing interviews and always wants to be seen in a good light.
Lets be honest, if someone the size of Will Smith actually slapped you with the exaggerated back swing hat was evident in that clip, you wouldn't be standing there as composed as that and just carry on.
The man is 6'2" - compared to 5'8" of Chris Rock - and has been in the gym solidly since piling on the lock-down pounds, so it all points to a stage managed act to get a bit more publicity or the slightly maligned affair that is the Oscars.
Watched the Guardian version - so definitely real. I mean they are both good actors, but not good enough to have come up with those reactions. Staged version of that would've been quite different.
The bully’s and the scumbags are usually the people demeaning you, for theirs and others amusement.
Christ, i had that by the tonnage when i was a kid, but i knew the ones who were bully's, and the ones who were just joking, there's a big difference!
Yeah, I never found jokes about my ethnicity funny.
OK. So there’s a bird onstage and she makes the joke. Will Smith gets up there and tw4ts her.
You bunch of sexist idiots.
In your fantasy binary turnabout world wouldn’t the bird*female host get slapped by another bird female actor for having insulted her husband?
BTW ironing
I do enjoy a good Will Smith movie though
Funnily enough I tried to watch Gemini Man last night. It wasn’t a good film (although I’m not convinced this was the fault of Smith)
In your fantasy binary turnabout world wouldn’t the birdfemale host get slapped by another bird female actor for having insulted her husband?
I think the point he is making is that our reactions towards violence, either received or perpetrated, tends to be highly coloured by the gender of the people involved and is thus not consistent. I think that posts point is that this is perhaps hypocritical and problematic given that men are far more likely to be victims of violent attacks. That's how I read it.
The idea that this was staged is laughable. If they were going to stage something it would be to improve the image of the event, not to degrade it.
I thought it was great. We live in world where people have a mindset where they feel they can say & write what they like about people without consequence, even mocking someone's medical condition. Assault can be mental as well as physical, Chris threw the first punch imo.
Good on Will S.
Must say I thought Chris rock took that slap pretty damn well
I don’t particularly condone it, but if you take the piss out of someone’s wife’s Illness, you are always going to risk a kick in.
Try it down the local pub, 25% of the time I wager you’d get more than a slap.
Yeah, I never found jokes about my ethnicity funny.
But do you find parallels between what you experienced and what the Smiths experienced?
I read somewhere that quoted Jada Pinkett Smith as saying she was 'going to be friends with her alopecia.' To me it sounds like she was trying to accept it and maybe Chris Rock thought that meant it was OK to joke about. From her reaction I'd say he judged that wrong.
Will Smith apparently thought it was OK at first too. I wonder if his reaction came from guilt about laughing at it and then realising his wife was actually upset by it.
Wherever it came from, it was completely wrong. The fact he was then allowed to go and receive his Oscar was even worse though.
Comedy is always very finely balanced, and the best comedians practice a lot on smaller audiences and know when and where to deliver specific material. Sometimes it goes wrong and you misjudge things. I don’t think I’d be trying out any edgy roasts at the Oscars though, that seems prettt obvious.
Thing is, it's not 'Comedy' as such, it's an awards show. You can't really make it funny because it's just not.
I can't help thinking 'merican comedy, especially when their mainstream comics start trying to be "edgy" is just varying degrees of personal cruelty, like they've not quite gotten it yet. I reckon yank humour is about 20-30 years behind us, far more advanced, Brits.
Try it down the local pub, 25% of the time I wager you’d get more than a slap.
Sure but this is back to understandable versus acceptable. If you're saying that it's acceptable (I understand you might not be saying that) in some instances for one person to hit another in response to a verbal goading, then we are going run into some problems down the line.
He/she was asking for it is a deeply problematic defence that really shouldn't need to be either explained or debated.
perhaps hypocritical and problematic given that men are far more likely to be victims of violent attacks. That’s how I read it
That too is how I read it, only in Monday Morning Devil’s Advocate mode 😉
Next week - is the term ‘bird’ sexist?
Assault can be mental as well as physical, Chris threw the first punch imo.
That being the case then surely a proportional response could/should have been ‘mental’ also? A few choice words in a mic (from his mightily privileged platform) would have put things straight and may have arguably seated the offender down harder and more resoundingly than would any physical slap?
Next week – is the term ‘bird’ sexist?
Yeah I think the oringal point would have been better received had he not used that particular term!
Also, even if not pressing charges, would the Police not have to get involved anyway?
They split up long ago, and I'm not sure would be much use in a fight anyway. I'd rather have The Clash or someone like that on my side. Definitely not the Human League.
I've come full circle and decided maybe it wasn't staged. With Jusse Smollet recently going to jail for staging an assault, it seems a little too 'on the nose'.
(No pun intended?)
I reckon (sic) yank humour is about 20-30 years behind us, far more advanced, Brits
Whereas I estimate (with great sadness) that British culture (including what passes for ‘humour’) is of now roughly 20 7 years ‘behind*’ US culture and accelerating via the exponential spread of tinternets. Before long we’ll be laughing at ‘the homeless’ and applauding our own jokes/ourselves. Wait, do they applaud themselves or are they applauding the applause?
#whoclapstheclappers
*in chronological and entropic terms.
… thinking about it, Phil Oakey might actually be pretty handy.
If you're going to get violent, best do it properly.
I remember a story about Jerry Sadowitz getting punched out cold by an audience member at a comedy night in Canada by insulting them about the languages they spoke
recorded the live show last night, just watched it back. uncut, no bleeping - no way on earth its staged
Yeah I think the oringal point would have been better received had he not used that particular term!
I thought it was written deliberately using that language to emphasise the gender argument?
Imagine being that naïve that you think this wasn't staged. Terrifying.
Just watched it. Will Smith is clearly going through a tough time; that's a man cracking up right in front of the cameras.
I hope he takes some time out of the public eye; to work through things and get himself better.
I'd be surprised if Chris Rock hasn't experienced stronger reactions than this before.
I really hate the way these hosts 'comedy' is going which seems to basically be about belittling and insulting people.
Couldn't watch Gervais. Makes me cringe.
You can see the celebs chuckling away with it, but then they have cameras pointed at them and are under enormous scrutiny. They HAVE to go along with the joke.
I think that's what Will was doing here until it got too much and he could see that his wife was not taking it well.
It's not ok to attack someone physically, but neither is it to attack verbally, even if you say it's comedy, which seems to be something that's supposed to excuse almost anything.
Nobody looked good here, but, it was only a matter of time.
People are human.
Understandable and acceptable are two different things.
Absolutely this. It is possible to empathise with Smith, and understand what drove him to act as he did. But no, the manner of his response was not acceptable. Justified anger still shouldn't result in a punch in this situation. Demanding an apology would have made the point, while also giving Rock the chance to right the perceived wrong. Smith has power in this situation, he's not an unheard nobody, he could stand up and be heard.
If you watch the un-censored version (the Guardian clip on page 2 of this thread), it doesn't look staged. It also looks like Will Smith wasn't fully "seeing red", because we know he could probably have really flattened Rock if he was.
For all the "well he's laughing until he looks at his wife" people - have you ever been to a comedy gig? Or a show with audience laughter? Laughter is a collective thing, people in a crowd oftern instinctively do it when they hear other people doing it - and then think later about whether they _really_ found that joke funny. The timing doesn't look like Smith's going "ha ha, mocking my wife", he's laughing because the camera's on him, then there's a moment when he twigs and looks to his wife and realises that joke caused offence. Then he's angry.
Whatever your views on him, he behaved in anger (but not necessarily in all-out rage). He's way too professional to swear on live TV, he knows in the USA that's very career-damaging.
And as for them being actors, yes of course they are, but the timing and the language and the way Rock just stands there dumbfounded (and slightly wonky-mouthed) after being slapped for a few moments: it would have been much slicker if it was staged and they wouldn't have permitted any swearing. Watch any out-take reels, most actors swear a _lot_ when they know it's not going to be used. And they instinctively know when to switch it off, or stay in character. And the polished professional performance you see on film may well be the 200th time that that actor has been filmed to "nail" that shot.
The editing (or rather, vision mixing) also doesn't look like it was staged - each nominee would have had a camera on them, and if they knew Will Smith was going to get out of his seat in anger, they'd have _definitely_ planned to capture that moment, and track his march up to the stage.
I remember a story about Jerry Sadowitz getting punched out cold by an audience member at a comedy night in Canada by insulting them about the languages they spoke
Shortest comedy gig ever. 🙂
Iirc, he took to the stage, introduced himself to the audience with 'Hello moose ****ers!' and was then sparkled by a member of the audience.
I still crack up every time I think about it.
No one seems to have mentioned that Will Smith was laughing at the joke before he decided he wasn’t going to laugh at it.
...
It’s very weird.
It is weird. Watch the clip when it cuts back to them. Chris is making a joke, Will is laughing along with him, Jada looks seriously unimpressed with an "oh FFS" expression on her face. It cuts away so we don't see what happens next, then we see Will striding purposefully across the stage and then appearing to give Chris a slap.
Though, remind me again what Will Smith does for a living? I'm not wholly convinced he made contact at all. A grown man giving another a slap, who even does that? Someone the size of Will Smith so incensed that he's driven to violence in front of his peers, Chris Rock should've landed somewhere in the Lower Circle.
The only thing about that entire exchange that seemed genuine was Will effing and jeffing after he'd sat back down.
This is also a man who is apparently happy for his wife to have multiple affairs.
Really not seeing the relevance of that.
And having read Pierre's simultaneous posting, I'm now not sure again. Valid points all.
I can’t help thinking ‘merican comedy, especially when their mainstream comics start trying to be “edgy” is just varying degrees of personal cruelty
American culture is more combative and has a lot more toxic masculinity. This is visible in many films and TV shows, albeit far more pre 2000s. On top of that, there is a lot more hero worship, and those heros are consequently indulged more.
Can you imagine this happening at the BAFTAs?
Storm in a publicity fuelled tea cup.
He slapped him. Right? Few witnesses. Assault is assault. I'm more shocked noone ever ****ted Gervais tbh.
So, lots of people still think it's OK to assault people because of words they said.
Okayyy. Nice.
But not women though, right? We don't hit women.
Somebody call the 1950's. The decade wants it's attitudes back.
(It's clearly kept hold of all of the IQs).
He slapped him. Right? Few witnesses. Assault is assault. I’m more shocked noone ever ****ted Gervais tbh.
Yeah, Ricky Gervais went for the throat a few times with Hollywood, just watch his interactions with Mel Gibson from a few years back and the more recent stuff he's done.
I just see this as a bit publicity thing that's gone completely wrong for the Smiths, honestly, we're talking about a weird married couple who have had several Oprah style TV outings about their marriage troubles, Will has sat there quietly nodding his head for Jada, but he completely loses it over this, all we need now is the Smith kids to get back in the limelight now to sell something or other.
For all the “well he’s laughing until he looks at his wife” people – have you ever been to a comedy gig? Or a show with audience laughter? Laughter is a collective thing, people in a crowd oftern instinctively do it when they hear other people doing it – and then think later about whether they _really_ found that joke funny. The timing doesn’t look like Smith’s going “ha ha, mocking my wife”, he’s laughing because the camera’s on him, then there’s a moment when he twigs and looks to his wife and realises that joke caused offence. Then he’s angry.
Thank you, this has been bugging me (people saying 'he found it funny initially').
These actors live in this weird bubble of smiling for the cameras at all moments. Even if they don't find the jokes funny, they have to look like they're having a great time. To me it didn't look like he was actually laughing at the joke anyway, it looked like the kind of strained smile when he was expecting when being 'roasted' and he knows he's supposed to take it all in good humour.
It's going to take a couple of seconds to go from laughing / smiling politely to losing your shit.
Someone mentioned Sadowitz?:
If they wanted harmless controversy they'd have just mixed the envelopes up again. Not staged violence and profanity.
As if will smith would have wanted this to overshadow him winning an oscar. He ruined what should have been the best moment of his career.
Fair play to Chris Rock though, for not reacting aggressively, maintaining his composure and for hardly budging when he was bitchslapped!
Assuming it was all genuine, it'd would've been fair play to Chris Rock to apologise to her before desperately trying to seek a follow-on gag.
it goes against everything Comics believe. Chris Rock feels he should be free to express his comedy as way he wants to, if people laugh then it can’t be wrong?
There's just one flaw here though, and that's that this is bollocks. Cf: Borat in redneck America.
I'm pro-comedy and anti-censorship. I've watched far darker acts than snotty little pissants like Chris Rock. But a frankly wholly unfunny cheap shot publicly mocking someone's medical condition when their husband is sitting next to them... Yeah, I'm behind Chris Rock's right to make that joke, but I'm also behind Will Smith's right to put him on his arse for it. You'd have to be monumentally stupid or naive to make that sort of demeaning personal attack 'joke' without accepting that there might be repercussions (or concussions) from doing so.
If you're going to target someone and especially if you're going to do it personally in front of others, they have to be in on it, this is the difference between 'banter' and 'bullying'. Banter is what happens between mates when there's a tacit understanding that it's OK. If I were Jada and a best friend made an Action Man joke I'd laugh along (if, y'know, they'd at least made a slight effort, hey Jada I've got my Eagle Eye on you for the next award) but coming from a random stranger in the street I'd be seriously unimpressed. Coming from a stranger intentionally embarrassing me in front of a roomful of peers and potential employers, yeah, I'd probably have wanted to spark him out myself. How chummy CR and WS/JPS are, I do not know.
Can you imagine this happening at the BAFTAs?
I can totally envisage Helen Mirren decking Ricky Gervais.
I'm going for the 'it was staged' view tbh
However
Not sure if I'd resort to fists if someone took the mick out of my wife's medical condition - I've never thrown a punch in 50 years. They'd certainly get to know that it's not alright though
It wasn't a punch it was a flat open handed slap, because paper beats Rock.
....joke nicked from twitter
Was all a bit weird but won't harm anyone's career and Oscars would be made up with the publicity from it. Violence sells however twisted that seems....
it goes against everything Comics believe. Chris Rock feels he should be free to express his comedy as way he wants to, if people laugh then it can’t be wrong?
Ah, yes... the Jimmy Carr defence?
I absolutely agree that you're entitled to say whatever you like, with the proviso that you then have to be prepared to take the reaction that it provokes. You don't get to say whatever you like with impunity
It's funny. @Cougar's come out in favour of the violence is OK in response to words camp too.
Based on previous conversations I'm unsurprised. People seem to be falling on the sides you expect them to - and the anti-freedom-of-speech brigade (who, of course, believe in "free" speech - with "limits") are also a bit pro-actual-violence in the face of jokes they find off-colour.
Very interesting. (If predictable).
Yeah, I’m behind Chris Rock’s right to make that joke, but I’m also behind Will Smith’s right to put him on his arse for it.
It's easy to feel some symptahy for what Will Smith did but if you think about the logic of what you're saying here, you're ostensibly saying that if someone upsets or offends you then you have the right to hit them. That just cannot be right in any civilised society.
but I’m also behind Will Smith’s right to put him on his arse for it.
So you'd be cool if Will Smith gave Rebel Wilson a slap for making a joke about their marriage?
I am glad this is the virtual world when so many here think it is ok to hit someone
I am glad this is the virtual world when so many here think it is ok to hit someone
Lots of people think it's ok in the real world too.
There are very few people on here saying it was acceptable or "right".
You are right I was trying to keep away from naming names
There are very few people on here saying it was acceptable or “right”.
Coming from a stranger intentionally embarrassing me in front of a roomful of peers and potential employers, yeah, I’d probably have wanted to spark him out myself.
They're not strangers. Chris Rock and Jada both did voice acting for the Madagascar movies.
this. What?! Of [I]course[/I] it's not OK to hit someone (in a situation where you or no-one else is actually in danger)!It’s easy to feel some symptahy for what Will Smith did but if you think about the logic of what you’re saying here, you’re ostensibly saying that if someone upsets or offends you then you have the right to hit them. That just cannot be right in any civilised society.
The veneer of cool has slipped - although it clearly wasn't staged, the cynic in me thinks maybe it was calculated though. He's just come out with a warts-and-all autobiography where he admits that his public persona [I]is[/I] a facade... possibly because a run of flops has annihilated the "Mr Perfect" image... so he's trying to re-invent himself as Mr. Average Joe - look at me, I'm like you, I have problems and get angry, etc. Good way to promote that & get his point across! 😃
Smiths reaction was understandable IMO.
You can't go around insulting people's wives appearance or disability and then get all supprised when you get clocked.
I'm not saying it's right, and I think Smith came off looking the worse for the situation,buy I hardly blame him.
Acceptable? No.
Understandable? Completely.
Is there one of those long German words to express the boredom I'm already feeling about an event you know is going to drag on for ages in the media but is totally pointless, predictable and tedious
Is there one of those long German words to express the boredom I’m already feeling about a thread you know is going to drag on for ages on the forum but is totally pointless, predictable and tedious?
Yes, I appreciate the irony.
I'd like to think of far better ways of belittling someone who pokes fun at people with illnesses/conditions than hitting them but that said, I think if he'd made fun of my wife's MS then I'd have probably been up on that stage as well...
The veneer of cool has slipped – although it clearly wasn’t staged, the cynic in me thinks maybe it was calculated though
This.
Also, the nice middle-class acceptableness of the whole thing. 'It wasn't GBH, it was just a slap.'
If he had properly lost it and launched himself at Rock, got him down, and smashed him repeatedly in the face until he was dragged off by security I could have understood that. I've been there on both sides and I've woken up in hospital because of it.
What Smith did seemed to be almost calculated. Exactly the right amount of provocation, exactly the right amount of force, exactly the right speech to give after...
He did everything right to enhance his image but keep himself acceptable to Hollywood.
Misjudging audience is key. Edinburgh bfringe about 10 yeara ago a comedian was taking the piss out of an audience in a pub in Leith. One punter left came back 5 mins later and petrol bombed the bar.
Rule number 1. Smith's wife is not well (apparently) not cool
it goes against everything Comics believe. Chris Rock feels he should be free to express his comedy as way he wants to, if people laugh then it can’t be wrong?
Ah, yes… the Jimmy Carr defence?
I absolutely agree that you’re entitled to say whatever you like, with the proviso that you then have to be prepared to take the reaction that it provokes. You don’t get to say whatever you like with impunity
You've kind of misframed me there, but yes we agree. Chris Rock is entitled to say whatever he likes (incitement to violence etc aside) but, yes he also has to accept the consequences of his actions/words. So Will Smith "slapped the shit" out of him, Rock made a joke about it and life goes on.
There's no need for the court of public opinion to decide who was right and who was wrong and who should never work again in Entertainment etc.
Oh yes, in retrospect it would have been far more effective to walk out in disgust, especially as he would have empty staged his own Oscar.
But hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Smiths apologised and I think rock should too for stepping over the line,and that should be the end of it.
Watched it on GMB, as usual they made it in to some epic drama, it went on and on for the whole show, very dull, the reality is one guy was out of order and the other guy slapped him, I really can't get too excited about it bearing in mind what is going on at the moment.
I notice no one who has been 'understanding' has said if they would have still been so understanding if Smith had done the same thing to Rebel Wilson.
The follow up act will be an honest, authentic and deeply vulnerable interview with Oprah where he will make a full and honest apology, act in a sincerely contrite way and then pivot seamlessly into his wife's alopecia, exploring the psychological impact of that condition on their relationship, how he stands by her and how she is his, ahem, rock etc. For maximum points, he will also reflect on how hard it is for a woman (or indeed anyone) in Holywood to lose their hair given the way that that community tends to ascribe value and judgement based on looks. He will reflect that is this that most triggered him. £10 says he crys again in this interview.
His seat was handily placed for such an outburst, wasn't it?
I notice no one who has been ‘understanding’ has said if they would have still been so understanding if Smith had done the same thing to Rebel Wilson.
The Rebel Wilson episode was very different - she made a joke about Will Smith's well-documented open relationship and therefore fair game for jokes. What Chris Rock did was well below the belt (although Will Smith could have and should have dealt with it differently). I assume that CR knows about the medical condition and he hadn't just assumed that Jada hadn't shaved her hair for fashion reasons?
you’re ostensibly saying that if someone upsets or offends you then you have the right to hit them.
I'm not saying that, whether ostensibly or otherwise. Rather, acts like Chris Rock for whom being 'edgy' is something on which they've constructed a career do so knowing and accepting that their schtick comes with an amount of baggage. Live by the sword.
So you’d be cool if Will Smith gave Rebel Wilson a slap for making a joke about their marriage?
Is this a reference to an event I haven't heard about, or just random whataboutery?
The Rebel Wilson episode was very different – she made a joke about Will Smith’s well-documented open relationship and therefore fair game for jokes.
So if Rebel Wilson made the same joke you'd be cool with her getting a slap?
I’d probably have wanted to spark him out myself.
We all would. But then we (hopefully) wouldn't (we can't honestly know without going though it ourselves). The motivation and explanation and understanding for what drove him to act is appreciated by most people. It takes control to stop that turning that into violence. Smith lost control. That's understandable but it is not acceptable (or at least it should't be), especially as he has the power to be seen and heard and demand redress.
Is this a reference to an event I haven’t heard about, or just random whataboutery?
She made a joke about their relationship at the BAFTAs.
But even if it is random whataboutery, if she made the same joke and got a slap for it would you be cool with it?
Pierre above has it for me.
Not staged, WS is offended once his brain catches up what what he is hearing. His mouth is another couple of seconds behind. But it's a controlled offended/protective anger, not all out rage.
A slap not a punch. Which for me (once you make the step into the realms of violence being ok in the situation) was a better response. A more thesp response. It's a 'you're a tool' response rather than a 'I am so angry I want to do you damage' response. Again - the logic leap to violence is ok in this situation is needed first.
Rock made a poor choice but he comes from a pretty low rent culture so I'm not too surprised. Americans and their 'roast' humour is shite to a UK ear. It's not funny, it's not clever, it's not even particularly observant. See thing - point and laugh. But this is the nation that elected Trump - sophistication is endemically missing from their common personality.
In the cold light of day WS could probably come up with much better way of making a stand and humiliating Rock for his poor choice of gag. But he didn't. I've never had millions of people watching me on live TV watching for every nuance of my reaction, sat next to my wife, with whom my relationship is publicly complicated, who has just been unfairly insulted/humiliated; knowing in a few minutes times I was in all probability about to stand up and receive a career defining award. I can't say I'd definitely make a great spur of the moment choice in that high stress situation either - who knows.
But industry award ceremonies, no matter what the industry, are the shitest of shit inventions to be boycotted at all costs.
So if Rebel Wilson made the same joke you’d be cool with her getting a slap?
It would be for smiths wife to do the slapping in that scenario, I would say. I'd be equally cool with that.