Could the Will Smith-Chris Rock saga have unfolded differently if one of them were white?
The Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, was on Monday witness to high-strung nerves and enough drama to make it worthy of being used as a proper action sequence in a Hollywood potboiler. The setting was the giving away of trophies to winners at the 94th Academy Awards to honour the best talent in films released between March 1 and December 31, 2021. However, away from the performers and technicians, what stole the limelight was a spontaneous slap which actor Will Smith let fly swiftly and which landed on the jowl of comedian Chris Rock, who was the presenter for the evening. Here’s how the incident unfolded in a series of fast-paced sequences: Rock was presenting the best documentary prize at the awards gala with a short comedy routine when he cracked a joke comparing the tightly cropped hair of Will’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, to actor Demi Moore’s appearance in the film GI Jane, suggesting that she appear in a sequel. For the record, Jada, who is also an actor, suffers from alopecia, and publicly revealed her diagnosis in 2018. Will stormed up the Oscars stage and struck Rock across the face for the joke.
The moment immediately went viral and left stunned viewers questioning if it had been scripted by the Academy bosses or genuine. Will, a nominee for the best actor award for the biopic King Richard which he subsequently won, immediately returned to his seat alongside Jada, shouting profanities along the way. However, the clamour and suspense for clarity was only growing until it dawned upon those present in the theatre that it was not a put-on show since whatever the situation, the Academy wouldn’t have allowed swearing at its ceremony that was being telecast live to millions of viewers across the globe. The audiences were dazed, of course, but the million-dollar question remains that would the incident have passed off as coolly had one of the participants in the sequence been white, and the other of colour? But the show went on after a bit of fumbling by Rock and a few seconds of pontification during a commercial break by Denzel Washington, Tyler Perry and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs. It’s this kind of reverse bias, discrimination and prejudice that turns on its head the entire argument of being equal and civil to fellow humans. Hopefully, all parties will learn from the episode.