There was a recent yearly media event wherein the culture of celebrity doubles and even triples down on itself creating a feedback loop of vapid, self-congratulatory bullshit that people who are into that kind of thing cannot help but watch. I’m talking about the Oscars. At said celebrity event, a wealthy celebrity smacked another wealthy celebrity in the face in response to an insulting joke aimed at the smacker’s spouse. This insult-and-smacking event wasn’t interesting or important as far as I can tell, and yet it’s basically half of what the internet was talking about yesterday; however, it did reveal some interesting things about the audience.
Some of the audience found it funny (based on the standards of comedy that Hollywood created, it was legitimately funny). Some thought it tarnished something that they believed was noble and good… because they have no perspective. Many, though, thought that the slap, specifically, was basically a war crime and, you know, how dare he use violence. The slap-as-war-crime contingent is shocked — shocked! — that such a pleasant, well-mannered fellow could do something so barbaric. Perhaps I can help you broaden your perspective a bit.
First off, I’m certainly glad that Mr. Rock was not injured. That’s a good thing, and we should always accentuate the positive. He definitely didn’t deserve to be injured. You may not appreciate that a slap isn’t that big a deal in relation to the full range of possible violence that Mr. Smith could have applied to Mr. Rock, so let me explain. Mr. Smith could have chosen to punch him (instead of just the slap). After punching him, Mr. Smith could have chosen to continue applying violence to Mr. Rock and before security could have intervened, Mr. Rock could have had some very serious injuries; it’s entirely possible that he could have died. Mr. Smith could have used a weapon; that would have changed things a bit. Thankfully, Mr. Smith didn’t do any of those things because…
Mr. Smith was never out of control. He was not experiencing a rage blackout. He evaluated the situation, and used his intellect to decide on the best course of action (in his opinion), which he then executed. This narrative that a person using violence has somehow lost the use of their faculties is a destructive one that takes the blame off the person who chose violence and makes it seem like it was inevitable. Even someone who is drunk and very angry is making decisions about whether or not to use violence and what type of violence to use. I’m not saying that Mr. Smith made the best decision, but he did make a decision. For evidence, I will point out to you that he executed the slap perfectly; as I noted before, Mr. Rock was not injured at all. For contrast, I present this unfortunate Nazi (that’s a brain injury you’re seeing there).
In terms of whether the smack was the correct response, I don’t have an opinion about this. I don’t feel like this is any of my business, and it also isn’t important, but let me refer you to this Tumblr thread for some very nice illumination and nuance. However, I will say that some jokes do deserve a smack upside the head, and if you don’t think a joke ever deserves something like that, well, Ben Shapiro agrees with you, so that’s the boat you’re in.
But moving on: Hollywood promotes violence. Every day, all the time. They glorify it. Constantly. You’d be challenged to find a single person in that audience that has never worked on a project that included a representation of violence as a valid solution to a problem. Moreover, the relative wealth and security that everyone in that audience and everyone in the TV audience enjoys is underpinned with violence, most of which is not ethical. Maybe, 90% of those two audiences have never “resorted” to violence in person, but they’re still responsible for the violence done to benefit them. These are the “violence is never the answer” but also “hire more cops to combat poverty” people.
I don’t have much respect for the career of “actor” but I also don’t think they should have to sit around debasing one another for our entertainment. Do you want to observe celebrities insulting one another? Is that your idea of a good time? Could this event — The Slappening — result in hosts for vapid awards shows improving their behavior including perhaps coming up with some actual jokes that are genuinely entertaining and not just cruel? Wouldn’t that be a good thing? I’m not saying that Mr. Rock should be canceled; I think he’s already considering coming up with some better material and that he’s going to rise to the occasion and become a better entertainer as a result of being slapped. It’s almost like the slap — which, again, did not injure Mr. Rock — might, in the long term, improve him as a person, and even make our whole society better. Not that I’m advocating violence.