I’m so tired of being surprised in negative ways by some of my favorite celebrities.
I guess I got spoiled rotten knowing DeForest Kelley up close and personal, because he was the quintessential gentleman at all times, even when it was nearly impossible to remain one (had I been in his shoes).
To be clear, I didn’t watch the Oscar telecast live, so I didn’t see the Will Smith Slapping Chris Rock Incident until the next day, but then, after having seen it, it left me me feeling like I needed a immediate bath.
I felt slimed.
I felt betrayed.
He may as well have slapped me.
That’s how much it has affected my mood for the past couple days.
On the other hand, the way Chris Rock handled it made me a fan. He didn’t press charges. (I definitely would have. A powerfully delivered slap has the potential to break someone’s neck or to paralyze them.) After the show, it was Chris Rock who apologized to the co-hosts and technical crews for being involved in an incident that derailed the wonderful night they had all been delivering, as if he’d had any real agency in the matter. Had he known that his off-the-cuff (surely not scripted?) remark about Jada Pinkett Smith starring in a sequel to GI Jane would have been a deal breaker for Will Smith, I’m sure he wouldn’t have uttered it. He’s not an unkind or cruel comedian. The people who know him adore him.
I think Smith did a lousy job of “apologizing” if, indeed, that is what he was trying to do during his nearly ten minute acceptance speech for winning Best Actor. (“Love makes people do crazy things.”) He didn’t mention Chris Rock, or apologize to the people who worked so hard to produce a great show for the way it lost its mojo from the moment he assaulted Mr. Rock until it ended, or the fact that he ruined what had been — up until then — one of the best awards ceremonies ever produced (according to experts in the field). It was all about poor little misunderstood Will Smith, who is really a good guy when he isn’t slapping people around as acts of crazy love.
The (self characterized) crazy part is correct. What he did was crazy, and he did it for all the world to see, feel, and reflect on.
He will never cease to be Crazy Will Smith after this incident. No one will ever look at him the way they looked at him before.
Nor should they.
In my opinion, the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences should throw the book at him and take away his membership in their organization with all of its rights and privileges. People who assault people on stage before a global audience don’t deserve the platform or the praise. I think the powers that be were in dereliction of their duties not to escort Smith from the gathering the moment he endangered a co-host and horrified our nation and the world.
Why they didn’t is another thing that continues to concern me. Do rich famous people indeed have privileges that none of the rest of us have? Can they do no wrong?
This is an excellent test case to find out. So is the ongoing Donald Trump saga.
It’s time to call an outrage an outrage and do something serious about it.
