Slap happy

 Seems to me, that Will Smith probably needs to go into rehab or therapy big-time. 

When I first saw a clip of him slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, my immediate reaction was (sorry) somewhat amused, and thinking, "Well, Chris did have it coming a bit." And I know that's wrong: violence is never acceptable, and the joke Chris had made about Jada's hair, while in poor taste, didn't magically make it alright to hit him. Hitting people is bad, mm'kay.

But then I saw the longer clip, including the swearing from his seat afterwards - his face was just so stony and angry - it made it more real than the clip of the slap itself. You could only see Chris's face and he was trying to be professional as Will approached, and the strike itself looked rather theatrical, like that Batman slapping Robin meme. You can't see Will's face for that part, but when he sits back down and is yelling at Chris - well, he's that scary, enraged bloke down the pub who needs the bouncers to come for him. 

And then there was the weepy, bizarre speech when receiving his Oscar...

Pretty strange that he wasn't asked to leave and the ceremony went on regardless. Surely the organisers must have a protocol for this sort of thing? If they don't, they need one. He should have been asked to leave and someone else accept the award on his behalf. 

Some people are conspiracy theorists and saying it was all staged, which I guess would explain why they did fuck all about it but cut the mics, but I don't understand what Smith or Rock would gain from any of this. If the Oscar organisers wanted to spice up the ceremony for ratings, I don't understand why Smith & Rock would buy into it. What was supposedly in it for them? It wasn't a good look for either. Why would Smith want that to be the big story of the awards, when he knew he was pretty much bound to win his first Oscar? It makes no sense. 

I've read quite a bit about this today, and saw that Smith has written previously about feeling powerless as a child while his mother was beaten, and I feel sorry for him, and sorry that maybe he saw hitting Rock as a way of "showing up" to protect his wife? But if he's had therapy for that trauma, he needs a whole lot more. 

Finished (26/03/22):    The Kaiju Preservation Society - John Scalzi