Uncensored video of Will Smith and Chris Rock at the Oscars

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In highly charged emotional situations people can behave in all sorts of unexpected ways. My friend laughs when he delivers bad news. I emotionally shut down and barely show any emotion at all, even though I'm someone who is so highly emotional I cry over songs and movies multiple times a week or even day.
Right, and you can't ignore that this happened onstage at the Oscars, and on TV. Nothing about this was "normal", so why would their reactions be? If you slap me at a backyard barbecue, my response is going to be much different than when I'm on stage in a room full of my peers in tuxedos, knowing there's a TV audience of millions watching, and I'm the guy in charge of keeping the show on the rails.
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This is a good line I've somehow never heard before that I'm sure I'll use in the future.

Anyway, I get his impulse. While my rule is basically "yeah, no, you don't use physical violence for words," I have to admit there is some point at which someone could say enough about someone I loved that I might have to make an exception. And I think that's true of lots of people. It's just that point is way, way higher than one joke, particularly in the context of "we're all rich and famous and in the 98th percentile for attractiveness already so we get made fun of a bit." The pedantic philosopher in me wants to note that there's a limit to even "just words," I just don't think Rock came within 20 miles of it.



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That's a good point, I hadn't thought that maybe it was less "oh she's upset, I should defend her" and maybe more "oh she's upset, and I'm part of the reason." That can create a feeling of obligation to not just stand up for her, but to do so in such a strong way that it makes up for that initial reaction.



He was laughing to maintain appearances, like he referred to having to do often in this business. Once it became apparent she was genuinely hurt, he threw professionalism to the wayside and reacted truthfully.
What does Chris Rock have on his face right now? Fresh Prints.



Right, and you can't ignore that this happened onstage at the Oscars, and on TV. Nothing about this was "normal", so why would their reactions be? If you slap me at a backyard barbecue, my response is going to be much different than when I'm on stage in a room full of my peers in tuxedos, knowing there's a TV audience of millions watching, and I'm the guy in charge of keeping the show on the rails.

Very much so.



I spent a lot of years as a bar rat. I've been in many heated confrontations. I've said bad things to people, people have said bad things to me, and I've engaged in an awful lot of shoving and threats when I was younger. I've behaved in ways that aren't very much in line with my stance in this thread. But in a bar, these things sort of come with the territory. It is more likely you act like expected in such a situation because bar and fight go together like hand in glove.



But I'm also someone who has had fights in classrooms when I was younger (never provoked by me, for the record), and those are a completely different kettle of fish. Because of your surroundings, its like you are fighting under water. You keep thinking 'I'm not supposed to be doing this, something doesn't make sense, I'm doing something I shouldn't be doing'. There is a lot of stunned silence and staring at eachother. Sometimes its not like you are even really fighting at all.



Now just magnify this so that it isn't just twenty classmates looking at you, but a large segment of the world. And you are in tuxedos.


No one knows how they would behave in that kind of situation. And Chris Rock's shocked expression reads as completely authentic to me. As Yoda mentioned, just listen to his choice of words when he first speaks. He is completely lost in the moment. He is just trying to say something to keep the show going, but it is a weird and mangled thing he says. One thing it doesn't read as is something that had been scripted or rehearsed. Not even remotely.



If we have a society which allows people to hit you when you say things they don't like (or worse, I don't know what you mean by 'as seems fit'), isn't this at least right next door to censorship, if not actual censorship?
I understand your point, but to me these are different. People will react the way they’ll react, but no one/nothing is preventing the thing from being said (I would only really see the latter as genuine censorship, though I agree that it’s not far off).

…All things which may have garnered more universal sympathy for what a bad taste joke that was. But instead he hit Rock. Which will be an action likely to be hung around his neck for years. Which will almost certainly make him the butt of even more jokes. And which will cloud the inappropriateness of Rocks joke, possibly having the opposite effect of having Pinkett-SMith the butt of even more alopecia jokes, at least through association.
I think you’re right, but again, the point of hitting Rock isn’t to “garner sympathy” or, to put it crudely, “look good/ be in the right”. To me it’s about an emotional reaction; I think it’s kind of impressive on that level alone in a profoundly fake world. In an ideal scenario, yes, he could have come up with a brilliant impromptu freestyle that would wittily annihilate Rock, but we don’t really expect that, do we? That would have to be scripted (and even if it hadn’t been, it would look scripted enough to equally take away from the actual offence, which as we’ve agreed is not necessarily the point). There’s no winning here if you’ve been insulted. And I think once one understands that, pretty much anything goes.



Anyone recall that other Will Smith slap from 9 years ago



“He’s lucky I didn’t sucker punch him” we believe you now Will..



You ready? You look ready.
Imagine how much differently this would have gone if he had just walked up and said right into Rock's lapel mic.

"Please apologize. That is not cool."

And then walked back to his seat visibly upset. Like they told me in grade school: use your words.
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Imagine how much differently this would have gone if he had just walked up and said right into Rock's lapel mic.

"Please apologize. That is not cool."

And then walked back to his seat visibly upset. Like they told me in grade school: use your words.
Yes and no. I definitely see that, but this relies on the other person having the decency to feel bad, which, I don’t know… Rock may well have gone, “Pah, you snowflakes”.

PR-wise, of course he should have done what you’re suggesting, there’s no denying that.



You ready? You look ready.
Yes and no. I definitely see that, but this relies on the other person having the decency to feel bad, which, I don’t know… Rock may well have gone, “Pah, you snowflakes”.

PR-wise, of course he should have done what you’re suggesting, there’s no denying that.
That’s what I’m saying. PR wise it’d be Rock in the hot seat, and Will would be getting a parade right now for his display of new age masculinity. But it’s “high” society. They too baked from getting lost in the tall grass.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
If Smith had done as Mc - two C - Clane describes, and then Rock mocks Smith for the effort unable to recognize his place in the moment, then Rock would be the one getting the ugly coverage today. Smith would be lauded a hero one a few levels. First, for defending his wife. Second, though he laughed at the joke initially, one could argue that he then recognized HIS role in the ugly and chose to rise above it. Finally, by not literally assaulting another person (as a role model, whether he deserves it or even wants it or not), he would have honored for showing restraint and measure beyond baser emotions.

Oh well, Will.


Edit. I forgot the quote, but McClane landed it sooner.
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To me it’s about an emotional reaction; I think it’s kind of impressive on that level alone in a profoundly fake world.

While I get what you are saying about the world being profoundly fake (and it is), I still view what Will Smith did as little more than a different kind of posture. It's a posture to the world that he stands up for his wife. It's a posture to his wife, that he has her back. It's a posture to himself that he isn't some wuss and he's a real man (whatever the **** that means)



We can get super philosophical on this if we like, but nearly all human behavior, particularly in social situations, is a front. How we walk is a posture. The language we use is a posture. Our politics are a posture. We try and transmit who we believe ourselves to be, or who we want to be seen as, through gestures which are symbolically encoded to make others see us the way we want to be seen. Me writing this response to you is a front. Society itself is a front. This isn't to say we can't have important and deeply held beliefs beneath these postures, but the way we peacock them to the world is always deeply suspect.



Are the nice dresses and pleasantries of an awards ceremony where elite people pat themselves on the back nauseating formalities? Yup yup yup yup. And do I kind of like things that disrupt that a bit. Sure, as much as the next misanthrope. But regardless of any of this, I'll take the society that is full of stupid, nauseating formalities that doesn't slap people in the face just because some empty sense of honour was infringed upon. By a comedian. On a stage. Making fun of a bunch of rich people and all of this pompous nonsense.



Ultimately, Jada Pinkett will survive. Will Smith will survive. And yes, even Chris Rock will survive. But what is being learned from this kind of behaviour, moves us one step closer towards a society that might not be all that much fun surviving in.



I've deleted a few posts. This situation bears no relationship to Ukraine and I can't think of a single reason to use such a provocative example for something as simple as a simile.



I've deleted a few posts. This situation bears no relationship to Ukraine and I can't think of a single reason to use such a provocative example for something as simple as a simile.
Thank you! Exactly.



Yesterday I kept asking, if this was fake then what was the point?
The only thing I could come up with was... to create media buzz?
Now, if it WAS fake, and the goal was to create media buzz... then it turned out to be a wildly successful venture!



I find "to create buzz" as an explanation a lot more plausible when a) the people involved clearly need the buzz and b) the people involved have a plausible chance of coming off well.

Neither is coming off well (and it's hard to imagine how they could've expected to), and both of them are already insanely rich and successful and at the top of their respective professions. So apart from the various ways in which it doesn't look scripted, I don't think even the standard "you're talkin' about it, aren't you???" motivation exists here.