And these are solely among the intense reactions which were expressed and the sophisticated points which were raised.
Psychologists and consultants on violence aren’t shocked by the sturdy feelings generated by the incident, and their selection. “The complexity right now does center around the talks and discussions we’re having around race, gender and disability … and survivorship,” mentioned Apryl Alexander, an affiliate professor of psychology on the University of Denver. “All of those things combined impacted the lens in which we saw this unfortunate event.”
If you’re nonetheless making an attempt to wrap your head round what occurred, you’re most likely not alone, mentioned La Keita Carter, a psychologist in Baltimore. “I am still processing it. It’s a lot to take in. There are an incredible amount of layers to that situation.”
First, there’s the problem of the joke. Rock quipped about wanting ahead to seeing Pinkett Smith in “G.I. Jane 2,” a reference to a 1997 film wherein actress Demi Moore shaves her head that may have appeared benign, to not point out old-fashioned, to some viewers. But it was perceived by many others as “attacking or body shaming,” Carter mentioned. Underlying that, she added, is a protracted historical past of ladies, significantly Black girls, being disrespected publicly — usually about their appearances and hair. There’s a sense amongst many Black folks, she mentioned, that “Somebody’s got to stop it.”
Then, in Smith’s response, there’s Smith’s private historical past to contemplate. In his memoir, which got here out in November, Smith detailed witnessing home violence as a baby, together with one occasion the place he watched his father punch his mom “in the side of the head so hard that she collapsed,” based on the Guardian. Smith expressed deep remorse for not having the ability to do something on the time, writing: “Within everything that I have done since then — the awards and accolades, the spotlights and attention, the characters and the laughs — there has been a subtle string of apologies to my mother for my inaction that day. For failing her in the moment. For failing to stand up to my father. For being a coward.”
But whereas Rock’s joke could have “crossed a line,” Carter mentioned, “what [Smith] did is a crime” that evoked its personal sturdy and multifaceted reactions.
For many viewers, watching dwell or following alongside on social media, the slap was initially met with “genuine shock,” Alexander mentioned. They had watched in actual time as in entrance of cameras and Oscars attendees, Smith strode onstage and forcefully slapped an individual who was standing alone and had been laughing together with his palms clasped behind his again. (Only later did these exterior the theater see footage revealing that after returning to his seat, Smith yelled twice at Rock to “Keep my wife’s name out your … mouth!”)
“Oftentimes in our culture, violence is done behind doors,” Alexander mentioned. “You don’t often see people, unless it’s like a bar fight or something like that, actually engage in that degree of hostility unless you have been a survivor yourself. So, I think for a lot of people that was very shocking to them, that this was such a public display on an international stage of aggression.” (More than 15 million folks tuned in to look at the Oscars, based on Variety; uncounted extra watched clips on-line.)
Amplifying the shock was confusion about whether or not the slap had been staged. Many folks additionally couldn’t imagine Smith, who’s broadly beloved and recognized for his “good guy” persona, would lose his composure that manner, Alexander mentioned.
Less than an hour later, nevertheless, Smith addressed the incident throughout his rambling, tearful speech accepting the best-actor award for taking part in Richard Williams, the daddy of tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams. He spoke about portraying Williams, who he described as “a fierce defender of his family,” defending his co-stars, and desirous to be a “vessel for love.” He additionally mentioned, “Love will make you do crazy things.”
At some level through the night, Alexander mentioned, folks needed to begin considering, “’How do I now interpret this now that I know it wasn’t a stunt?’”
And the way people reacted to the slap and Smith’s speech was largely individual, said Beverly Kingston, a sociologist and director of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado at Boulder. “Depending on your life experiences, it just can hit you very differently.”
Even among the people who agreed that Rock’s joke was ableist, Alexander said, the question about Smith’s response remained: “Should it be a violent act, or could Will have spoken to Chris instead of slapping him?” Some, for instance, have argued that “this is a situation in which a husband was defending their wife,” she said.
Meanwhile, Alexander said, others may have perceived the moment as “a demonstration of toxic masculinity or patriarchal systems,” believing Pinkett Smith didn’t need a man to defend her. And all of that was overlaid with the issue of violence. “Depending on a person’s experiences, a person’s exposure to violence, I think people were reacting in different ways,” Alexander said.
In particular, many survivors of domestic violence and intimate-partner violence were unsettled by the incident and the emphasis Smith placed on love during his speech.
“There is a group of people who were triggered by watching an adult walk up to another adult and slap him across the face in a way that was clearly aggressive and violent,” said Carter, who works with survivors. The fact that the slap was also sudden and unexpected “could be extremely triggering for domestic violence survivors because that’s their everyday life.”
But, Carter added, there may be certain people who saw the slap and said, “I would have given anything for somebody to walk through my door and done that to my perpetrator.”
Some survivors also took issue with the line in Smith’s speech that “love will make you do crazy things.”
“That is a typical abusive person’s excuse for causing abuse,” mentioned Ruth Glenn, president and chief government of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “I by no means know or believe that Will Smith is an abusive person, but that choice of words solidifies culture about that, and it solidifies abusive person’s ideas that they can get away with this by blaming it on love.”
What happened at the Oscars, Glenn said, “sends the wrong message on two fronts,” particularly to younger men: “Love will make you do crazy things, and in order to protect somebody, you’ve got to act violently.”
However people feel about the slap, the varied reactions being shared have fueled “rich conversations” that don’t always occur in public spaces, Alexander said.
Experts mentioned they want these conversations to proceed. “You can see it as a one-time thing, but instead I see it as an opportunity for us to collectively say, what kind of behavior is okay or not okay?” Kingston mentioned. “And how do we want to handle situations where our emotions and our hurt and pain overwhelm us?”