The Romanticised Violence Of Will Smith Assaulting Chris Rock & Why He Did It For His Ego, Not Love

Like most people, I didn't bother tuning in to watch this year's Academy Awards ceremony. But some time in the middle of the night, social media exploded with memes of the now infamous slap. TLDR: actor Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock over a cruel joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

The whole thing seemed pretty hilarious at first. But after delving into the full story, I felt downright disturbed. Turns out, Smith was not only allowed to swagger back to his seat and stay there, he was given an award accompanied with a standing ovation, and was surrounded with smiling faces as he danced and caroused at an after-party.

The most disconcerting thing of all was that people were justifying or even championing the violence.

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Some argued that the slap was well-deserved as Chris Rock had poked fun at Jada Pinkett Smith's baldness which was due to alopecia, an autoimmune disease. Nonetheless, is retaliating against verbal abuse with physical abuse the right thing to do?

In my opinion, the answer is no, but I've come across countless people's comments on social media lauding Will Smith for 'defending' his wife. Even celebrities are showing their support for the violence; actor and comedian Tiffany Haddish said: "As a woman who has been unprotected, for someone to say, 'Keep my wife's name out your mouth, leave my wife alone,' that's what your husband is supposed to do, right? Protect you."

And for a brief moment, I thought we had gone back in time to the 1900s, or even earlier to less civilised times.

Will Smith slapping Chris Rock and then screaming "Keep my wife's name out of your f*cking mouth" exuded caveman energy, at best, and I cannot fathom how anyone would feel protected and loved in Jada's place.

Jada was not a damsel in distress in need of protection from a big strong alpha male. Will Smith slapping Chris Rock was not an act of love or protection, it was a display of ego.

He admitted to his ego issues himself in the episode of Jada's Facebook Watch series, "Red Table Talk," titled "Our Unique Union,". Recounting the time when his daughter, Willow, was trying to tell him that she wanted to stop touring, Will Smith said: "I saw for the first time what Jada had been saying the whole time about hiding behind my ego and my dreams and my desires and pretending like it's love." In the same video, he also revealed the events that followed his break with Jada. After an elaborate birthday bash that Will planned for Jada, she said that the party was "the most ridiculous display of [Will's] ego", and Will admitted that he "was crushed because it was true. It wasn't a party for her."

There it is. Will Smith has shown a pattern of doing things to create an image of himself and his family, and claiming it to be for their sake. This slapping incident seems like it's yet another one of them. He slapped Rock for himself, not his wife.

And not to mention, the slap was an indirect insult to Jada. If he had truly wanted to stand up for her, there were many non-violent ways to do so that would be respectful to her. He could have simply walked out of the room and addressed Chris Rock in private. Considering he was in an emotional state, sure, he could have still gone up on stage, but used words instead, perhaps something along the lines of bringing awareness to alopecia and stating his support for Jada. But by assaulting Chris Rock and making that profanity-laced outburst, Will was implying that Jada was incapable of defending herself against words.

That said, I sympathise with Will Smith. He has endured public ridicule and speculation over his marriage for years, and witnessed someone mocking his wife for her appearance which was affected by health issues. But condoning his actions, saying that he was right to instigate violence, that he did it to defend and protect his wife, is dangerous.

The whole situation screamed toxic masculinity and is highly problematic.  Those who justify his behaviour are glorifying and romanticising violence, period.