First of all, let me clarify: This is not a comedy post, it is a post about comedy. It will be a great start for a series I am planning to do here teaching comedy and explaining it, however, don't expect to laugh here.
Quck Background
Obviously, everyone knows this already. While hosting the Oscars, Chris Rock quipped at Jada Pinkett-Smith likening her bald head to that of G.I Jane, a fictional Navy SEALS lieutenant played by Demi Moore in 1997 in the movie with the same name. That joke prompted Will Smith to get off his seat, walk onto the stage, and slap Chris Rock.
Jada of course suffers from Alopecia. So her baldness isn't a choice.
In this post, I aim to prove that the joke wasn't even offensive in the first place. But I would like to take a quick detour first.
A Joke Is A Joke
It seems that whenever someone doesn't like a joke it turns into so much more than that. I have seen terms like bullying, humiliation, insult, and a hundred different terms just to avoid saying that it was a joke. You do realize you could call a joke bad or in horrible taste, right? It doesn't have to be a hundred other things.
I have recently interacted with someone on Twitter who said about the incident to justify Will Smith's actions "I could be taunted within an inch of taking my own life, but if I reacted physically, I was the bad actor. That's shit". Strong words, but not, that's not what happened. What happened is, again, Chris Rock quipped at Jada. It has nothing to do with your high school bullies.
Conflating your life experience with someone else's 2 minutes of actions isn't really a justification for their actions. Again, it was a quick quip. Stop demanding so much from a joke! It's a joke, after all. This leads me to my next point.
Researching A Joke
At first, people seem to insist that Chris Rock knew of Jada's condition. Those who believed he didn't, insisted that he should have done his research. I am sorry, what? Thousands of people were at the event. Let's just say there were a hundred. Should Chris Rock have read the medical chart of everyone?
People wanting comedians to do deep research are just unrealistic. In this case, especially, it's quite laughable because they expect the research to lead everyone to find out that Jada suffers from Alopecia and just ends there.
Ironically, actual research would lead to videos of Jada talking about it and being okay with it. With a rather statement that really didn't age well
At this point, I can only laugh
And many where she expresses how she accepted it. Chris Rock didn't know about her Alopecia. But if he "did his research" he'd reach a similar result that would actually be more encouraging to make that joke. Especially when we talk about what the joke actually is. This leads me to my final and main point.
The Joke Isn't Offensive
This to me the most hilarious part of the whole debacle. Lots of people seem to want the joke to be horrible and worse than what it really is. It's mild at best. At the end of stretching it to its worst, it would still be mild. Now I am going to do what everyone dreams of doing as a comedian, and that is explaining a joke.
"Can't wait for G.I Jane 2 next year", is a joke where Jada is compared, again, to a female Navy SEALS lieutenant. The joke wasn't only because of Jada's lack of her but also mannerisms and clothes.
Jada was compared to a strong character, a literal soldier and fighter, played by one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood's history, Demi Moore. The question is; where is the insult? G.I Jane, by the way, was literally the name we gave a friend of mine when she was fighting cancer. Her father called her that and we stuck to it, it was literally a compliment and encouragement until she beat cancer.
It wasn't an offensive joke, so Chris Rock has nothing to apologize for.
In Conclusion
It will take a lot of spinning facts and conflating personal trauma and of course, blaming "White outrage" as per The Guardian to make the joke actually insulting enough to justify an act that wouldn't have been justified even if the joke is as bad as everyone hopes. It is rational thinking attempting to explain an impulsive, irrational act.
With that being said, I understand why Will reacted that way. I still think it is wrong, and no, I don't Chris Rock should react as well. And I don't even think Will Smith owned up in his apology, but I understand.
Will Smith's life has been center stage in the last few years more than ever. He's been mocked for having a marriage that isn't really traditional, his daughter even recently came out as being suicidal after her song "I Whip My Hair" while she wasn't even a teenager yet. I know people want to say "I'd be okay with those problems if I had his millions", but that's not how life is.
Add to all of that, Will Smith has been deserving the Oscar since 2001 in his film "Ali". It has been an accumulative point for him. He has his own history with the Oscars. There was just too much going on. You'd know more about it if you read his book "Will". In a way, Chris's quip was just the straw that broke the camels' back.
Will is still wrong, Chris doesn't owe an apology, the joke was mildly offensive at best. That's my take, what is yours?
My take is: Is anyone going to speak about the disgusting, not funny at all sexualization going on on stage at various points during the so-called show? 😬 Or the fact that it was women doing it to men makes it a nice joke rather than something to frown upon? Hmm...
I think the whole thing was a tasteless joke. But I choose to hold on to the incredibly beautiful speech that Troy Kotsur gave when accepting his award.
That's my take 🤪 #rantover
Honestly, I agree. But, I can't really speak for it. I stopped watching these awards many years ago. I only know one winner and it's because of this slap.
I remember when Regina Hall mocked LeBron James's hairline, and that was straight-up mockery and not like what Chris Rock did which was essentially a compliment. No one cared.
I also remember a video of Gaga interacting with Lisa on stage which was beautiful.
Thank you for sharing your take.
I tend to think the whole thing was staged... I mean it happened between two ACTORS, literally ON A STAGE.
If it were real it would have happened differently - if it were real Chris Rock would have fought back (or ran) and security would have rushed the stage or at least approached Will Smith at his seat. Instead, Chris exclaimed what we all saw happened (or did we?) while Will walks back to his seat. No security, nothing. Will yells at Chris from his seat and things get genuinely awkward, but it's all part of the show folks.
Will Smith then goes on to win the award for 'Best Actor'. Can't make this up!
I don't know really. I still see it as real, but as I mentioned below, I have no proof either way.
I couldn't agree more. Everything I've seen and heard about this incident reinforces my belief that it was staged.
good to see us talking about this.i agree with some of what you say.. but i do wonder how you understand why Will reacted in this way.. bearing in mind his wife was in NO danger and did not need any physical intervention.. perhaps a heckle i could have understood.. also, its worth noting that will himself laughed at it so that makes him a pretty big hippocrate. Women dont need men to stand up for them, they are allowed to speak in public these day, we have come a long way since 1 the 1800's. I must admit it makes me a bit sad to hear people say that they UNDERSTAND.. and alst that joke was about GI Joe not even her.. bearing in mind he began it with the words " I love you"..
anywys.. clearly WIll has some pretty significant issues to deal with, not least his view that we should use violence in the name of Love..
nice post though!
Just me following his story and reading his book. I still called it an irrational action in the end. My understanding wasn't a compassionate one as much as a technical one. I understand it the same way I understand someone being late because there was traffic, it's all technical as that person could have left earlier to beat the traffic. Just wanted to clear that up.
I started this entire piece because the joke wasn't even offensive and how people were seeing too much in it.
Will does have an issue. It's too bad because I have been waiting for the day when he wins the Oscar, and I don't even care about that part now.
ok! thanks for that!
how about this for a laugh! oh what a world!
There is too much dissecting into what was improv and oversensitive over reaction to it. Maybe comedians will be one of the 21st century's martyrs. !LOL
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I agree, to be honest, I just wanted to focus on the joke itself to the people seeing it as offensive. But, wanted to beat people to the "But did you know... Blah blah blah" reply to avoid side discussions. I even called it "an impulsive, irrational act"
I also wanted to write an easy post before going to sleep lol!
!LOL
Honestly is humorous.
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It always amazes me what becomes Worldwide news. I am just glad that it was two gentlemen of colour so that the race card did not need to be flipped. I admire the talents of both actors and think it is just a cloudy day for them. Like all things, this too shall pass. We just need a new event to overshadow it.
That didn't stop people from calling the outrage "White outrage".
To be honest, I don't really care about it. Just figured it made for an interesting subject.
This is the second excellent analysis of the situation that I have found via Listnerds in the space of ten minutes. Thank you for filling out the background a bit more as I don't follow the ins and outs of Hollywood - well, except when something like the bitch-slap pops up on my YouTube channel! LOL!
Yeah, I wasn't really planning to talk about it, but it was everywhere. I figured I might as well get it out of my system.
Jokes are the way to create fun and one shouldn't mind. In the start, Will Smith was also laughing but in a moment when he reacted overly. I know this was a personal joke, one's illness shouldn't be included in a comedy. But if this happened it wasn't the right act and place to slap someone. Chris Rock controlled everything nicely. Just imagine everyone starts slapping comedians for this. To be honest I was sad after this.
Yeah, I forgot to talk about how well Rock handled the whole thing. I actually wonder if Will Smith would have stood up and done the same if someone like The Rock or Hardy or anyone who could fight back was on stage instead of Chris Rock.
I think there is a line where comedy is no longer comedy. Joking about someone's physical condition due to an illness crosses that line.
The joke interpretation is literally a comparison to someone else who is beautiful and played a character who is strong. It's more of a compliment than a joke.
Part of the work of comedy is crossing lines. 'Lines' aren't the same for everybody, and they move around. Getting people to look outside the lines is the only way to make them think outside of themselves.
Ok, here's my take.
I'm a cynic. The Oscars have been tanking in the ratings for years.
It was staged.
It was a simple publicity stunt to breathe life into a dull and uninspiring awards ceremony that lost its relevance twenty years ago>
Told you I was a cynic.
I don't think it's a cynic as much as a result of many staged events, fights, and rivalries of which we have seen plenty.
I don't think it is staged, but I can't prove that just like it can't be proven otherwise.
Yeah, that's it. We'll all see what we want to see
I wondered what G.I Jane 2 meant and how it translated to an insult on Jada's illness but reading your explanation here, it seems more rather like a compliment to me than an insult.
Anyways I do hope Will offers an apology.
It's my understanding that Will apologized in his acceptance speech for the Best Actor award.
Since I first heard of this event, I thought that it was probably staged. Chris Rock's media flame has been fading for years, and something like this is exactly the kind of easy set-up that will get a lot of media attention.
The more I learn about it, the more I think it was staged, but now I think it was for more reasons than just giving Chris Rock's career a jolt with a defibrillator. I'd forgotten that NOBODY watches the Oscars anymore, and it seems this little incident jumped their ratings by over 50%. That is a HUUUGE payoff for a 10 second stunt...
But all of that aside, I approve of everything that happened in this altercation. Comedians tell offensive jokes, knowing that someone will get offended. Maybe Chris Rock didn't think anyone would get THAT offended, but it's a risk every comedian is going to take, if they ever take a stage. Some people are going to get violent when offended, so comedians should learn to either duck, or take a punch. Will Smith didn't sucker punch anybody... he telegraphed that punch from the time he got out of seat. Chris Rock should have seen that coming, and just ducked, if he didn't want to get hit.
Will Smith defended his wife's honor, in a somewhat shocking, but completely harmless way. Chris Rock took it like a man, and went on with the show. Everyone got everything off their chests, and life quickly went back to normal. As it should.
I think that slap, and Chris Rock's reaction to it, were the best example of normal, healthy behavior that I've seen on television in decades. I'm a fan of both gentlemen, and have been for years. Chris Rock is one of my top 5 all time favorite comedians, and Will Smith is one of the best entertainers Hollywood has ever lifted up. I applaud them both for showing us how sensible people behave.
😉😁