The Media Manipulation of What We All Saw on The Oscars

Despite how you felt about what took place on the Oscar stage, media outlets are here to convince you otherwise.

Why have a genuine human reaction to a visceral display of raw emotion, when you shouldn’t react at all, or think about something else completely unrelated entirely?

After all, Popsugar would like to remind you; “Will Smith Isn’t a Villain — He’s Human.”

Yes, technically that’s true. Unless he’s actually one of those shape shifting lizards Hollywood is known for. But let’s go with human. A human who behaved in a completely irresponsible way, shattering a long standing decorum for the event he willingly participated in, and resorting to violence in the most non threatening environment.

There are several words for those who use unprovoked violence against others, then normalize it as; a fierce defense of your family. Hero isn’t one of them. I’d go as far as saying it’s the opposite of heroic. What’s that person called, you know the antihero? Will Smith was that, on that night at least.

But it wasn’t just some celebrity journal defending Smith. The Guardian had a far deeper message for those of us who felt a certain way about the incident: “White outrage about Will Smith’s slap is rooted in anti-Blackness. It’s inequality in plain sight.”

The author goes on to site the hypocrisy of the Academy, true; criminal behavior by members and previous honorees, ok; then calls your reaction, (provided you’re white) performative pearl clutching reserved for black men who mess up. She goes on to call alopecia a disability. Half the world is disabled, ok. But are you sure Rock was mocking hair loss — or comparing Pinkett’s look to a movie character? You know, when Rock replied through Smith’s profanity laced screams, that; “It was a G.I. Jane joke.”

The Guardian was hardly alone, along comes the oldest newspaper in America, The New York Post with: “The true horror is urban violence, not Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars.”

Again, yes, bigger issue. Should someone else pen an op-ed saying; the truer, truer horror is the war in Ukraine? Or war in general? Look, we get it, there are far bigger issues in the world than one rich famous guy slapping a less rich famous guy.

Mocking disabilities is a problem, racism is a problem, urban violence is a problem, but what happened on that stage had nothing to do with any of those things.

Why are you trying to convince people it was?

It was an irrational, overreaction to a joke, and an act which sets a dangerous precedent for anyone who makes their living telling jokes on stage.

Comedy legend George Carlin once said; “I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.” Yet in this case, I didn't feel Rock was crossing any line, let alone deliberately.

I’m sure some of this has less to do with what actually happened, and serves more as damage control. After all, Smith isn’t just human, he’s a brand: An economic engine worth hundreds of millions in past and future production. Hollywood likes to protect their assets, even when they break from character.

In an industry that thrives on “the willing suspension of disbelief” it remains a series of mind bending juxtapositions.

But What About?

None of those headlines can change what you and I saw and how we felt about it.

Despite that, some of our media outlets have fallen into the logical fallacy of whataboutism. You’ve likely heard this term, but if you haven’t, whataboutism is a tried and true Russian propaganda tool.

Here’s the textbook definition; “a conversational tactic in which a person responds to an argument or attack by changing the subject to focus on someone else’s misconduct, implying that all criticism is invalid because no one is completely blameless.”

Can we stop doing that? Please.

Can we allow people to have a genuine reaction, a human emotion to an event without quickly bombarding them with how they should feel, or how you want them to feel?

We are human after all. Yes, so is Will Smith. And humans, even the best of us, make mistakes. We shouldn’t deflect, or have others come to our defense by pointing out societal ills or the wrongdoing of others.

We should take responsibility. It’s been said Smith and Rock settled this matter privately. I hope that’s true. Even heroes make mistakes.

Will Smith wants to be a vessel for love. Announcing that a few hours after assaulting a colleague may have been an inopportune time to bring that up. Nevertheless, the stage is set for redemption.

Maybe that’s the story here.