Will Smith “Defends” His Wife: A Story About Toxic Masculinity
How does that work exactly?
At this point, most people know about the slap that was heard around the world the night of this year’s Oscars. For those who do not, Chris Rock was presenting the Oscar for best documentary feature and made a joke about Will’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith’s lack of hair. Apparently, she shaved her head recently because she has Alopecia, a health condition that has no cure and causes hair loss, which her representatives say she’s been very transparent about. The joke was, “Jada, I love you. ‘G.I. Jane 2,’ can’t wait to see it,” making reference to the movie, G. I Jane starring a bald, Demi Moore playing a soldier.
After the incident, Chris said he did not know Jada had Alopecia. If that is true, and we do not know if it is, then Chris, like millions of other people who did not know she had it because contrary to popular opinion, not everyone is enamored with celebrities’ every move, Chris may have thought he was just making a joke about a beautiful woman who still looks beautiful even with very little hair, which she does. Most women would kill to look half as good even with hair.
If Chris is being dishonest and knew Jada had Alopecia but made the joke anyway, okay, we can say it wasn’t the nicest joke he could have made but he is in fact a comedian. He is not the first and won’t be the last comedian to make a joke people think is in poor taste. Just ask comedian, Ricky Gervais who wiped the floor with Hollywood’s elite when he hosted the Golden Globes which celebrities probably hate that he has done 5 times. People cringed while listening to him rip celebrities for their arrogance and wealth. Chris’s joke was child’s play compared to what celebrities in the room had to endure listening to Ricky. Chris, Ricky, and all comedians entire careers and how they support themselves and their families is by making jokes. Chris was hired by Oscar producer, Will Packer, to make jokes and be funny. More specifically, he was hired to make jokes and make fun of the celebrities in attendance at the Oscars like every single host and comedian whoever worked at the Oscars before him and even that same evening, for that matter.
Actress and comedian, Regina Hall, who was co-hosting with fellow comedians, Wanda Sykes and Amy Schumer, poked fun at Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s marriage during a skit about being single herself, and about Hollywood’s most desirable men.
The Girls Trip star began by stating that she needed to round up a number of good-looking male actors for Covid tests, before naming Timothée Chalamet, Bradley Cooper, Tyler Perry, and Simu Liu.
She also called up Javier Bardem, before retracting his name due to the fact he is still married to Penélope Cruz.
“Oh wait, you’re married…” she said “I mean, negative.”
She went on indirectly referencing Jada’s infidelities or perhaps her control over Will by saying: “Will Smith… you’re married but you know what, you’re on the list and it looks like Jada approved you so get on up here. Get on up here!”
Was Will not offended on his wife’s behalf when she was being mocked in a rather long skit, for being unfaithful or controlling? If he would have slapped Regina, would that have had the same support from people who thought “a man should defend his wife’s honor” even during a comedy skit? It would still be defending his wife. Wouldn’t it? Does it matter if Will smacks a male or female comedian?
We have no idea what kind of relationship Will and Jada Pinkett Smith have, nor do we care but it is worth pointing out that during Regina’s joke, Jada laughed. During Chris’ joke she looked annoyed. Will Initially, laughed until he saw his wife’s face and only then got so angry he leapt from his seat and smacked a shocked, Chris, while a shocked audience in the auditorium and around the world, looked on. Was the slap across Chris Rock’s face for Chris, the audience or his wife’s benefit? Did anyone happen to catch that Jada appeared to laugh after her husband hit Chris Rock? This story gets better and better or is that more and more disturbing…
While we know not all people are defending Will Smith’s behavior and agree it was an act of violence, there are many who praised him for “defending” his wife saying that a man should defend a wife at all costs. If they were just sleeping together and not married, we assume Jada would be on her own?
Some of the people who declare all men, no matter how gentle, are roaming the earth with their toxic masculinity, just waiting to blow up given the right circumstance, are the very same people defending Will. How does that work, exactly?
To recap what we are being told by perhaps a minority but a not so silent one, is that Toxic Masculinity generally includes these themes:
Male babies are born with an aggression that needs to be curbed from the get go no matter how gentle some if not all of them may seem and be by nature.
All males have a propensity to be aggressive and even violent.
Misogyny is the word of the day.
Chauvinism is a given.
That sounds pretty awful. doesn’t it? It is also confusing when you consider that those particularly in the elite like everyone in the Oscar audience that evening, proceeded to give Will Smith an Oscar, and a standing ovation after demonstrating some of the things they have been saying are so toxic. He is clearly a chauvinist and misogynist if he thinks his wife cannot stand up for herself and slap Chris herself and that she must just sit there and look pretty while he defends her honor. And he used his hands instead of his words, to do it. TOXIC MASCULINITY if we ever saw it. He has clearly been aggressive since the day he was born. But wait! There is more…
His aggressiveness is kind of hot to men and women alike who think only real men defend their women, even if they need to stop the whole show and use violence to do it. So shhh. Don’t mention Toxic Masculinity to those loving Will’s Toxic Masculinity. You will just confuse them.
By the way, as can be expected, Will Smith, a role model to young people since he arrived on the scene years ago in Fresh Prince of Bel Air, has already begun to influence what young people think is a good way to defend a family member, starting with his own son. After his father slapped Chris Rock, Jaden Smith Tweeted, ‘And That’s How We Do It.’ Will Smith should be proud. He is not only an outstanding husband. A role model to young men and women around the world, he is also an outstanding father.
There are two ironies that we see in this whole experience. The first is that contrary to popular or unpopular opinion, the elite are wrong. All men are not born with a propensity for aggressiveness and violence any more than all girls are born to play with Barbies and babies. Will’s behavior is on Will, his own issues and the relationship and issues he may or may not have with his wife. It has nothing to do with being a man or Will’s having been born a baby boy. The second, all this drama stems from what Chris Rock said and he wasn’t even funny, nor was a lot of the supposed humor at the Oscars. What we needed was Ricky Gervais who was tweeting a fictional monologue in the background while the Oscars were getting their second lowest viewership in history.
Here is a taste for those of you who could use a laugh just about now:
“I’d start with ‘Hello,’” wrote the 60-year-old creator of “The Office.”
The comic continued, “I hope this show helps cheer up the ordinary people watching at home. If you’re unemployed for example, take some comfort in the fact that even if you had a job, your salary probably wouldn’t be as much as the goody bag all the actors have just been given.”
Ricky was of course mocking the display of wealth at the Academy Awards where the gift bag to nominees was reportedly worth $137,000 and included a $12,000 liposuction operation, $25,000 in home renovations and a small plot of land in Scotland, along with the title Lord or Lady of Glencoe. Did you know you could give a title as a gift?
Keep in mind, this is a lean year because of inflation. Imagine what these self-congratulatory celebs, whose gowns and tuxedos cost so much that each person’s attire could feed entire families for a month, receive in years when gas isn’t pushing $5 a gallon, and food bills aren’t causing people to go without certain necessities?
Later on, the “Afterlife” star made fun of the Oscars’ emphasis on diversity and all the celebrities who don’t hesitate to criticize everyone for not being diverse enough in our own lives, by snarking: “I’m proud to announce that this is the most diverse and progressive Oscars ever. Looking out I see people from all walks of life,” he added. “Every demographic under the sun. Except poor people, obviously. F–k them.”
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