Will Smith: From Fresh Prince to Kungfu Prince?

I wish I was writing about anything else but this. I wish I didn’t have to contribute to the media noise: All of a sudden, everyone is saying: “Here’s my take on the Will Smith incident. “Alas, there’s no talking about the 2022 Oscars without talking about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock. Especially as I watched it happen. I can’t remember the last time I watched the Oscars live and this year’s event was strange in many other ways. Unlike previous years, I only knew a few of the nominated films and when I say ‘knew,’ their names only just sound familiar like Encanto, Coda, King Richard. At least in the past, I’d make effort to see a few. Well, thanks to COVID 19, going to the cinema is not high on my list of to-do.

All of this to say that I was happy to catch the Oscars live. As I watched, I was already taking notes on what I considered the high points of the event, like Troy Michael Kotsur becoming the first Deaf man to win an Oscar, in a supporting role for CODA, and me learning the sign version of applause. Or the many milestones that were marked: James Bond’s 60^th anniversary, The Godfather’s 50^th, Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, and Uma Thurman reconnecting on the stage after 28 years of starring together in Pulp Fiction. Perhaps, I would’ve led with the three female hosts after two years of the Oscars being host-less: Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer, and Regina Hall.

All of what I wanted to write vanished after it happened. By ‘it” in case you’ve been hiding under a rock or just returned from your space ride to Mars, I’m referring to the slap (or dirty slap a la Bianca Ojukwu) actor Will Smith landed comedian Chris Rock a slap because the latter had made a joke about his wife Jada’s lack of hair. Chris Rock said something about G.I Jane. G.I Jane is a war film featuring Demi Moore as Lt. Jordan O’Neil a crew cut. As picture evidence show, Will Smith had initially laughed at Chris Rock’s joke about his wife until he noticed her reaction, call it body language or whatever, then the Fresh Prince actor saw red. His walk to the stage was anything but aggressive.

 In fact, until he went back to shouting “Keep my wife’s name out of your f—king mouth, I was sure it was a stage-managed stunt. I keep replaying the many choices.  Chris Rock could have given about Jada. One second Will Smith’s ‘cat walking’ to the stage, à la Ebele Obiano, the next Chris Rock was ducking a little too late. Meanwhile, my TV provider momentarily blocked sound but it was easy to read Will Smith’s lips. Still, the entire thing was confusing as I was asking myself whether Will Smith just did a Bianca Ojukwu. But it was for a brief period as it soon became obvious what had just occurred.

Will Smith’s actions are very wrong and indefensible. For such an occasion, such a place, Will Smith should’ve resisted the temptation. It’s against things like this that we pray ‘Ak’ob a ada ba prayer to God to not let us fall into temptation. For what it’s worth, Chris Rock was a little far from Will. Give or take, in 3 minutes, Chris Rock would’ve been done and left the stage. Also, no one was looking to Will Smith to act as the avenging defender for his wife. So, no one would’ve been disappointed if he’d just laughed it off. Speaking of laughing, up till the slap, Chris Rock’s jokes were going over my head.

Now, What’s Next?

There have been reports that the Academy is looking into this incident. And there are also some people who are salivating at the possible recall of Will Smith’s Oscar. Not so fast. The Academy can decide to do whatever it wants, punish Will however it deems fit, ban him for life from attendance, make him apologise to the world, whatever

But to recall an award he won for a film? That’s where I draw the line. And if the Academy were to begin recalling past awards over acts that have nothing to do with film or acting, something tells me there may be a fairly long list of names to start from. Off the top of my head, reports say about Harvey Weinstein has 81 Oscars.

Yet…

All the same, more than anything else, beyond anger or condemnation, I am truly sad. For one, anytime a Black person commits an offence, the entire race is put in the dock. I’m convinced Donald Trump is half human and half orangutan. No one is saying he represents his whole race. The other reason I’m sad is how Will Smith managed to self-sabotage and cast a shadow over his Oscar.