Chris Rock’s Mistake Doesn’t Make Will Smith Right

Maybe you've heard about the trending news. Will Smith's slap to Chris Rock, for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, has set tongues wagging.

I agree that Rock's joke was not okay. It's hard to watch someone be picked on by another person just because of something that is not their fault. And Will Smith resorting to violence, especially in front of a crowd and worldwide television, was out of line too.

So who is at fault?

Both of them did wrong. Yes, they both did a mistake so I am not on anyone’s side here.

Making fun of the way someone looks is never okay. Jokes about hair can sometimes be fine, but this was not one of those times.  Rock is an old friend of Will and Jada's, and they should have known better than to let such a weak joke stay in his set in the first place. But Will? He should have just said something and didn’t let himself fill with rage, especially during one of the biggest moments of his life.

If someone I love is making a public appearance and someone else makes a joke about them in passing that I think is offensive, then I'm going to say something. I know it can be awkward to do so, but I'd rather risk being uncomfortable for a few moments than do something unnecessary.   If you are in a situation where someone has insulted you or someone you love, and you think a physical response is necessary, then you're actually making things worse—not better. In fact, it's even possible for you to come out of the situation looking like the bad guy, no matter how funny or clever you might believe your comeback was.

So if Will Smith is so clearly wrong, does that make Chris Rock right?

Absolutely not! Okay, so maybe Will Smith was out of line. But that doesn't make Chris Rock right.

There's nothing funny about making fun of someone's natural appearance. I don't think Chris Rock was trying to be malicious, but that doesn't make the joke any funnier. Jada Pinkett Smith is a gorgeous woman with beautiful black hair. He should know better than to say something so ignorant and offensive about her looks, especially because she's been very vocal about how much she loves herself and her hair and doesn't appreciate people making fun of it.

You see, this wasn't just a joke at Jada’s expense; it was also a joke at the expense of all those people who have had their hair judged as unprofessional and therefore unworthy of being in the workplace. And that is never funny.

What can we learn from this?

What happened is the best example of "A wrongdoing that cannot be corrected by another wrongdoing."

Jokes at the expense of people are usually not funny. Comedians get a free pass to make jokes, but they need to know when and where to do it. Of course, in this case we don't really know what else happened between these two actors or whether this really was just a joke gone wrong.

And while the instinct to correct a wrong is human nature, violence should never be an option. Will Smith could have responded or handled things differently, but he didn't. At first glance, you might be thinking to yourself, "Well, that's understandable." But the correct response isn't to counter that negative action with a more intense negative action. Violence is never the answer. It isn't a force for positive change. So even though Chris might have deserved punishment for making fun of Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head, two wrongs in this case still don't make a right. 

The good thing here is that both men admitted their mistakes and sent public apologies. Much like how Will Smith should never have hit Chris Rock, Chris Rock should never have made those jokes about his wife's hair. It just shows us that both man didn’t want to hurt the other, and they are both committed to reconciliation. Hopefully these actors will use this situation as a learning opportunity in the future.

That said, the real takeaway from this incident is how damaging these kinds of situations can be for human beings like us. So we should all try to be more understanding when someone makes a mistake and give them a second chance rather than piling on more criticism and making things worse.

You don't correct a mistake by committing another one. You don't cover a mistake by trying to top it in attention or force. You correct it by making things right and moving on. We all make mistakes, but it's how we address them that defines us as people.

Always remember that everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about so always choose to be kind!

Lead image source: https://www.themovieblog.com/2022/03/will-smith-slaps-chris-rock-at-the-academy-awards/

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Thank you and be kind always!

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