It was a nasty slap.
It spun the head of the victim sideways such was its force.
The assailant strode back to his seat amongst the bejeweled women with the calm confidence of a man who knows he is untouchable.
Some suggest his celebrity status was his iron clad armour.
His fame was what prevented security from rushing to the stage and pushing him to the ground with violent aggression as he was cuffed and dragged away from public view.
Others suggest it was the complexion of his skin which provided him with his comfortable certainty as he settled back into his seat and bellowed more threats at the man he had abused.
But they are wrong.
Had Will Smith performed the very same vicious assault upon Chris Rock but for an entirely different reason, his celebrity status, skin colour and woke credentials would never have spared him the ridicule and criticism which would have been spewed online and in the very room where the assault took place.
Let’s imagine Will was outraged by a Chris Rock barb aimed at his acting ability or his ears which do stick out in rather Shrek like fashion.
Perhaps a joke about a mate’s stature or bald dome could cause Will to stand in rage and issue the same retribution.
It would ultimately lead to ridicule and accusations of thin skin, oversensitivity and overreaction even from the pathetic hypocrites who had gathered for another afternoon of narcissism and mutual masturbation.
But Mr. Smith rose from his seat and strode purposefully up onto the stage with the righteous bearing of a man exacting a most just retribution. A revenge no civilized, thinking person could ever consider anything other than just and appropriate.
Mr. Rock had made a very mild joke about a woman.
The woman was Mr. Smith’s wife.
Compare Rock’s joke to this one spoken only a month earlier by a female host of an award show.
Earlier this month, when he missed the BAFTAs to stay in Los Angeles for the Critics Choice Awards, host Rebel Wilson quipped that his “best performance in the past year was being OK with all his wife’s boyfriends”.
Rebel Wilson calls out his wife’s promiscuity — no outrage regarding this very personal barb. But a comment about his wife’s hair. That demands a good physical assault.
Smith’s woman is renowned for teaching her compliant husband that it is her right to fuck whoever takes her fancy whenever she feels the desire and it is his duty as her husband to support her stated needs unquestioningly.
Now, Smith’s wife has alopecia. For some, it is a rather disconcerting affliction which can cause embarrassment and self-consciousness for sufferers. I draw the line at the oft repeated observation that it is far more devastating for a woman or girl than for a man or boy.
This game is a very tired one.
Females are apparently more badly affected by:
Natural disasters.
War.
Starvation.
Poverty.
Climate change.
Homelessness.
Violence.
Jokes about their appearance.
Alopecia.
You see the thinking is women are not used to the idea of losing their hair and it is not a common occurrence for females particularly at a young age, whereas young men have endured this affliction since Adam was a boy.
Yet nobody explains why this makes it any easier for a teenage boy or man in his early twenties to watch his hair slowly recede or indeed quickly reveal his bald skull and always to the great amusement of his friends, work colleagues, sport teammates and the media.
The fact that hair replacement therapy, spray on remedies and wigs are all a part of this multi-billion-dollar hair restoration industry gives a thinking person a clue as to how much this hair loss impacts a man’s self-esteem, self-consciousness and sense of worth.
The only difference is society’s attitude.
Men must accept the jokes and insults and at times simply cruel comments from both men and women with a smile and good grace. They have no choice. To display the slightest sign of embarrassment or hurt will only lead to an increase in the frequency of the cutting observations and cruel comments.
This is just another form of male privilege of which women have no earthly comprehension.
To even think about passing a comment on a woman’s thinning or patchy hair would be sheer insanity in any social circle. The joker would be attacked as a cruel, unthinking, callous brute and made to understand in no uncertain terms that he (or she) is in fact the one who deserves to be mocked and shunned for stooping so low.
Men, as in most things, must grin and bear it.
Whether alopecia or inherited genes, the result is still the same.
Perhaps the only arena where a woman might be a target would be when a comedian is at work.
There is an implicit understanding when one sits before a comedian that he or she will say awkward and embarrassing things about people in general and even about people who may be sitting in front of them.
Some truly cutting remarks have been made by both male and female comedians over the years.
Chris Rock’s comment about Mr. Smith’s wife’s buzz cut ranks as one of the least spiteful words to ever pass from a comic’s lips at an award show.
In this day and age many women (as do many men) attempt to tackle nature head on at the first sign of a thinning thatch. They take a razor to their hair and shave it.
Some men and women get away with this look. In fact, some men and women look very stylish with a shaved head if they have the right shaped skull.
Jada Smith happens to be one of those people.
She knows she looks cool and that is why she chooses to appear in public with her shaved skull on show. Women with her wealth can wear the very best and most expensive wigs which are impossible to detect as fake.
Many famous women wear extensions all of the time.
Clearly, she is very happy with her look.
For her to claim to be deeply insulted by Chris Rock’s reference to GI Jane is laughable.
He did not say she looked stupid or ugly. He said she looked like the actress in GI Jane. She does. There was no malice.
In the scheme of Oscar jokes it was one of the mildest, least offensive to be uttered.
Mel Gibson was called an alcoholic and anti-semite by Ricky Gervais yet when he walked on stage he smiled and embraced Gervais. Was he happy? Nope.
The slap delivered by Will Smith was all about female privilege.
Almost every women who was asked about the blow defended Smith’s actions by suggesting mean comments about a man’s wife demand a response. In fact, a real man and a real husband would do nothing less than violently assault the man who dared poke fun at his wife.
There was no suggestion from any woman that such a response would be just as appropriate had a man been eviscerated by a comedian’s words.
This blow took place amongst women who loudly and proudly proclaim at every opportunity that they are in the business of being and promoting, strong, independent women. Is there any other kind in Hollywood?
Why was Jada incapable of speaking up for herself if she felt deeply wounded? What did she say to Will? What look did she give him that prompted such a quick change in attitude?
All of the strong, independent women were standing and applauding- dewy eyed and perhaps a little moist in another region as the batterer stood and accepted his Oscar while continuing to defend his assault on a much smaller man who had his hands behind his back when he was attacked.
He did it for his woman. And for all women. He’s the man!
This is the very same attitude Hollywood would call toxic and a sign a man thinks he possesses or owns his woman if the action had been performed by a non-actor from the amongst the great unwashed.
Whether left or right in their political world view, the general consensus was that Smith’s assault was perfectly understandable though not perhaps the best way to respond. Piers Morgan made this sickening observation and suggested he may have done the same.
Even when some conceded it may have been an over the top reaction there was much smirking, laughter and barely concealed joy on show amidst those who made comments about men standing up for their woman being a good thing to see.
Watching that mob of sycophants cheering and applauding an unhinged psychopath who forty-three minutes earlier viciously assaulted another man for making a mild joke about his wife, one could see the sheer impossibility of fighting to have violence against men taken seriously.
Had Smith slapped a woman, no matter how vicious and cutting her words, he would never work in Hollywood again. Mind you, it was an open-handed slap. There were many women in that room who are bigger and possibly stronger than Chris Rock who would have survived a slap just as Rock did.
Yet even a lesser slap on the cheek of a woman, or even the simple grab of a shoulder or angry finger in her face would end Hollywood careers.
Why? Why is the sting of a woman’s cheek so much more offensive, immoral and shocking than the sting of a small, innocent man’s face?
I’ve often argued that the argument about not hitting a woman being based upon size and strength differentials is a lie.
Tiny men can be beaten by huge men and nobody expresses the slightest concern about size and strength disparity. Such a disparity existed at the Oscars the other night.
That was perfectly acceptable.
We have created a culture where women are considered higher beings-morally, spiritually and physically.
If a white actor had struck Rock we might have another issue too. That is certain. But the overriding, unmistakable message being sent out to all who watched that moment is that there are many justifiable reasons to hit another man but none when it comes to any form of violence against a woman.
I felt despair as I watched news hosts and celebrities, including conservative John Voight voice their support for that abominable assault on Chris Rock.
And Rock let men down by deciding not to bring charges. This is not admirable. It is a gutless, weak response from a man who is scared he will be attacked a second time for calling out his abuse at the hands of a psychotic cuckold.
Read the following statement from a retired LAPD deputy Chief and just imagine him saying these same words had Will Smith slapped a woman. There is a sickening two-tiered justice system in the west which is far more pronounced than the skin colour justice gap we hear so much about.
Stephen Downing, a retired LAPD deputy chief, said a case could be brought. But he said it was reasonable not to waste resources when Rock apparently wasn’t injured or ruffled enough to file a complaint.
“Rock carried on as if nothing happened to him,” Downing said. “He didn’t even put a hand to his cheek. There didn’t appear to be an injury. If he had knocked him to the floor and rendered him unconscious, I think action would have been taken.”
So, because Rock accepted the nasty slap with grace and dignity there is no case to answer. This is beyond disgusting.
Again. The law is as sexist as Hollywood. Would Mr. Downing say the same of a woman who had been slapped? I believe charges are pressed by the police even when the female victim refuses to bring them and begs the police to drop them.
Chris Rock’s head was spun by the power of the blow but because he didn’t fall to the ground there is nothing to see here?
Think of the endless lectures from the scum that gather for these awards. Lectures about the poisonous, vile nature of a certain politician. Think of the hideous comments made about him, his wife and children. Nobody said they were offensive and disgusting. Not one person called them out as highly inappropriate. They laughed and cheered every vile word and threat of violence, be it spoken by demented De Niro, the killer Baldwin, Cher or Bette Midler.
Hollywood must die. It is an idea passed its used by date. Its narcissism, stark hypocrisy, sexual corruption and vile violent politics are a shit stain on the soul of America.
