This was very satisfying video of Will Smith punching Chris Rock at the Oscars. Straightforward and heartfelt. I'll bet he didn't stop to agonize about whether it was woke or fashionable.
You expect a certain amount of roasting when you are famous, and should tolerate it. But Rock went well beyond the bounds, making fun of her for a medical condition she has. It was not a serious insult, but the amount that should be even ventured for a medical condition should be zero.
That said, I think Smith badly overreacted. You or I wouldn't get away with anything like that at a large public event.
And yet it used to be a standard response to a deadly insult, the chastising slap across the face. I'm not at all sure that today's required response is the right one. Rock was out of bounds.
The woman was traditionally allowed a chastising slap across the face. For a man to strike another traditionally required a duel to follow. No duels are going to be forthcoming.
Hollywood being in the business of make-believe, I would guess that this was all scripted. I didn't watch the Oscars (or any of this year's movies except Dune), but in reading about this incident this morning I discover that Will Smith and his 'wife' are in an open relationship in which she cuckolds him with other men. That has to have been interfering with his Leading Man persona.
So here, in one movement, he can restore that persona with some 'alpha' behavior; in his choice of 'keep her name out of your mouth' language, he can also remind Hollywood that he was once a hip hop artist. For Rock, the feud with an A-list Hollywood star can only enhance his career. The joke was likely a plant; the response agreed upon; no charges will be pressed.
It actually is a nice bookend with the Super Bowl halftime show. It's the moment when the 90s hip hop movement finally captures and dominates traditional institutions like the NFL and Hollywood. This kind of thing didn't happen in the 90s because the old (white) mores still held, and a black star might have been terrified for his career to act in such a way. Now it's career-enhancing because it proves authenticity to the street culture -- the street culture as it was three decades ago, but which these institutions are only now willing to accept into their highest circles.
The woman was traditionally allowed a chastising slap across the face. For a man to strike another traditionally required a duel to follow.
This!
A slap is an insult, not an attack. It's not even a defense upon being attacked. It's communication. Sometimes the duel does NOT follow, if the original offender retracts or makes apparently sincere gestures of contrition and apology.
I didn't see any sincerity in the slap at all. It...smacked...of a carefully worked out and rehearsed publicity stunt in an effort to recoup some of the collapsing Oscar ratings.
A slap is an insult, not an attack. It's not even a defense upon being attacked. It's communication.
Yes, exactly; and in the context of 90s street culture / hip hop, this is made explicit in Ice-T's "Bitches 2" off his "Original Gangster" album. You can read the lyrics here if you want; but in the penultimate verse, he says of a weak man, 'I wouldn't even hit you with my fist, I'mma smack the **** out of you...'
https://genius.com/Ice-t-bitches-2-lyrics
Sometimes the duel does NOT follow, if the original offender retracts or makes apparently sincere gestures of contrition and apology.
In the context of 18th century dueling, giving a slap or blow was the one insult that generally could not be resolved with an apology. If someone 'gave you the lie,' i.e. called you a liar, you were all but obliged to slap them -- and it was up to them to apologize for calling you a liar if they didn't want the duel that would otherwise follow.
A remark about a lady's hair cut is almost as humorous as Shakespeare's jokes about a man's beard:
... Sir: I did dislike the cut of a certain courtier’s beard. He sent me word if I said his beard was not cut well, he was in the mind it was. This is called “the retort courteous.”
If I sent him word again it was not well cut, he would send me word he cut it to please himself. This is called “the quip modest.”
If again it was not well cut, he disabled my judgment. This is called “the reply churlish.”
If again it was not well cut, he would answer I spake not true. This is called “the reproof valiant.”
If again it was not well cut, he would say I lie. This is called “the countercheck quarrelsome,”
and so to “the lie circumstantial,” and “the lie direct.” ... All these you may avoid but the lie direct, and you may avoid that too with an “if.” ... as: “If you said so, then I said so.” ... Your “if” is the only peacemaker: much virtue in “if.”
Everything is Fake & Gay: Pfizer sponsors Academy Awards, stage manage fake slap over “alopecia joke”, Pfizer getting ready to release alopecia drug Etrasimod, DEATHJABS CAUSE ALOPECIA – autoimmune-induced hair loss I was able to give a young lady in my neighborhood Ivermectin and dandelion extract who was experiencing significant hair loss (alopecia) and grinding fatigue as a result of being jabbed. It straightened her out for the moment, thank God.
But the angle on this that everyone is missing is that the DeathJabs, as autoimmune poisons, cause alopecia which is an autoimmune condition (Pinkett-Smith’s is said to be the rarer mechanically-induced hair loss, from extremely tight braids and hair weaves), hence Pfizer’s foaming at the mouth to bring the term “alopecia” to the forefront of global awareness. With a massive percentage of the planet poisoned by their autoimmune DeathInjections, and with hair loss set to go through the roof- especially in young women- Pfizer just bought, paid for and stage managed the single most effective mass marketing campaign event for a drug launch, ever. It literally bumped nuclear World War Sodomy from the headlines for DAYS. The drug is called Etrasimod. Get ready for every other teevee commercial and sponsorship bumper (“brought to you by…”) to be for Etrasimod, as vaccine-induced alopecia skyrockets.
But remember, hair loss is pretty much the least of these people’s worries. The irreversible heart damage, the permanent vascular abrasion and clotting, and the irreversible damage to the immune system makes going bald seem like nothing. But to a twenty-something American female? They will pay ANY PRICE, or bill ANYTHING to their insurance, that will keep them from having their hair fall out… COINCIDENTALLY.
“If you’re suffering from alopecia, ask your doctor if Etrasimod may be right for you….”
I’ll let Mr. Rock explain it himself. I guess every man DOES have his price.
I discount the Pfizer/alopecia/Oscars angle. I've only found one reference, freely repeated across several search engines, and that only cites or repeats Pfizer's press release claiming Phase III progress with its alopecia drug. Pfizer isn't even, apparently, yet asking the FDA for approval.
The better bet IMNSHO is the sagging ratings effort.
Smith's apology to Rock only closes the loop with the vignette's coda.
Not necessarily; it might have been planned, but the reaction underestimated. Hollywood is largely made up of cowards, but statist cowards; they might have expected a cowardly response, only to find that some colleagues really like the idea of the state monopoly on violence.
You expect a certain amount of roasting when you are famous, and should tolerate it. But Rock went well beyond the bounds, making fun of her for a medical condition she has. It was not a serious insult, but the amount that should be even ventured for a medical condition should be zero.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I think Smith badly overreacted. You or I wouldn't get away with anything like that at a large public event.
And yet it used to be a standard response to a deadly insult, the chastising slap across the face. I'm not at all sure that today's required response is the right one. Rock was out of bounds.
ReplyDeleteThe woman was traditionally allowed a chastising slap across the face. For a man to strike another traditionally required a duel to follow. No duels are going to be forthcoming.
ReplyDeleteHollywood being in the business of make-believe, I would guess that this was all scripted. I didn't watch the Oscars (or any of this year's movies except Dune), but in reading about this incident this morning I discover that Will Smith and his 'wife' are in an open relationship in which she cuckolds him with other men. That has to have been interfering with his Leading Man persona.
So here, in one movement, he can restore that persona with some 'alpha' behavior; in his choice of 'keep her name out of your mouth' language, he can also remind Hollywood that he was once a hip hop artist. For Rock, the feud with an A-list Hollywood star can only enhance his career. The joke was likely a plant; the response agreed upon; no charges will be pressed.
It actually is a nice bookend with the Super Bowl halftime show. It's the moment when the 90s hip hop movement finally captures and dominates traditional institutions like the NFL and Hollywood. This kind of thing didn't happen in the 90s because the old (white) mores still held, and a black star might have been terrified for his career to act in such a way. Now it's career-enhancing because it proves authenticity to the street culture -- the street culture as it was three decades ago, but which these institutions are only now willing to accept into their highest circles.
The woman was traditionally allowed a chastising slap across the face. For a man to strike another traditionally required a duel to follow.
ReplyDeleteThis!
A slap is an insult, not an attack. It's not even a defense upon being attacked. It's communication. Sometimes the duel does NOT follow, if the original offender retracts or makes apparently sincere gestures of contrition and apology.
I didn't see any sincerity in the slap at all. It...smacked...of a carefully worked out and rehearsed publicity stunt in an effort to recoup some of the collapsing Oscar ratings.
ReplyDeleteEric Hines
A slap is an insult, not an attack. It's not even a defense upon being attacked. It's communication.
ReplyDeleteYes, exactly; and in the context of 90s street culture / hip hop, this is made explicit in Ice-T's "Bitches 2" off his "Original Gangster" album. You can read the lyrics here if you want; but in the penultimate verse, he says of a weak man, 'I wouldn't even hit you with my fist, I'mma smack the **** out of you...'
https://genius.com/Ice-t-bitches-2-lyrics
Sometimes the duel does NOT follow, if the original offender retracts or makes apparently sincere gestures of contrition and apology.
In the context of 18th century dueling, giving a slap or blow was the one insult that generally could not be resolved with an apology. If someone 'gave you the lie,' i.e. called you a liar, you were all but obliged to slap them -- and it was up to them to apologize for calling you a liar if they didn't want the duel that would otherwise follow.
A remark about a lady's hair cut is almost as humorous as Shakespeare's jokes about a man's beard:
ReplyDelete... Sir: I did dislike the cut of a certain courtier’s beard. He sent me word if I said his beard was not cut well, he was in the mind it was. This is called “the retort courteous.”
If I sent him word again it was not well
cut, he would send me word he cut it to please
himself. This is called “the quip modest.”
If again it was not well cut, he disabled my judgment. This is called “the reply churlish.”
If again it was not well cut, he would answer I spake not true. This is called “the reproof valiant.”
If again it was not well cut, he would say I lie. This is called “the countercheck quarrelsome,”
and so to “the lie circumstantial,”
and “the lie direct.”
...
All these you may avoid but the lie direct,
and you may avoid that too with an “if.”
...
as: “If you said so, then I said so.” ...
Your “if” is the only peacemaker: much virtue in “if.”
The latest news is forensics had to dust Chris Rock's face for Fresh Prints.
ReplyDeleteI'll show myself out.
DeleteBINGO, We got a winner! Eric you win a Chicken dinner!
ReplyDeleteYes Eric, it was a rehearsed publicity stunt ( to sell drugs for Hair Loss) and I will let Anne Barnhardt Explain. and No, she is not crazy.
Greg
https://www.barnhardt.biz/2022/03/30/everything-is-fake-gay-pfizer-sponsors-academy-awards-stage-manage-fake-slap-over-alopecia-joke-pfizer-getting-ready-to-release-alopecia-drug-etrasimod-deathjabs-cause-alopecia/
Everything is Fake & Gay: Pfizer sponsors Academy Awards, stage manage fake slap over “alopecia joke”, Pfizer getting ready to release alopecia drug Etrasimod, DEATHJABS CAUSE ALOPECIA – autoimmune-induced hair loss
I was able to give a young lady in my neighborhood Ivermectin and dandelion extract who was experiencing significant hair loss (alopecia) and grinding fatigue as a result of being jabbed. It straightened her out for the moment, thank God.
But the angle on this that everyone is missing is that the DeathJabs, as autoimmune poisons, cause alopecia which is an autoimmune condition (Pinkett-Smith’s is said to be the rarer mechanically-induced hair loss, from extremely tight braids and hair weaves), hence Pfizer’s foaming at the mouth to bring the term “alopecia” to the forefront of global awareness.
With a massive percentage of the planet poisoned by their autoimmune DeathInjections, and with hair loss set to go through the roof- especially in young women- Pfizer just bought, paid for and stage managed the single most effective mass marketing campaign event for a drug launch, ever. It literally bumped nuclear World War Sodomy from the headlines for DAYS.
The drug is called Etrasimod. Get ready for every other teevee commercial and sponsorship bumper (“brought to you by…”) to be for Etrasimod, as vaccine-induced alopecia skyrockets.
But remember, hair loss is pretty much the least of these people’s worries. The irreversible heart damage, the permanent vascular abrasion and clotting, and the irreversible damage to the immune system makes going bald seem like nothing. But to a twenty-something American female? They will pay ANY PRICE, or bill ANYTHING to their insurance, that will keep them from having their hair fall out… COINCIDENTALLY.
“If you’re suffering from alopecia, ask your doctor if Etrasimod may be right for you….”
I’ll let Mr. Rock explain it himself. I guess every man DOES have his price.
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2022/03/28/will-smith-steps-up-with-an-actual-apology-to-chris-rock-n458585
ReplyDeleteI discount the Pfizer/alopecia/Oscars angle. I've only found one reference, freely repeated across several search engines, and that only cites or repeats Pfizer's press release claiming Phase III progress with its alopecia drug. Pfizer isn't even, apparently, yet asking the FDA for approval.
ReplyDeleteThe better bet IMNSHO is the sagging ratings effort.
Smith's apology to Rock only closes the loop with the vignette's coda.
Eric Hines
I'm thinking that resigning from the Academy kind of negates the "It was planned" narrative.
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily; it might have been planned, but the reaction underestimated. Hollywood is largely made up of cowards, but statist cowards; they might have expected a cowardly response, only to find that some colleagues really like the idea of the state monopoly on violence.
ReplyDelete