I have now officially seen tweets directly and indirectly calling for Will Smith to be cancelled for his behavior at the Oscars, and I've had...enough.

Not "had enough" like I'm angry - if anything, I'm annoyed that fewer people are as indifferent as I am about this situation.

They're TRASH? Really?!

Like...am I going crazy, or was this not that big a deal?

Hot take, unpopular opinion, whatever: A slap is different than a punch. Slapping someone with an open hand is - historically, at least - a much more symbolically weighted gesture than most. It's used to signify disapproval, insult; a righteous slap with a glove was even even an expected response to an insult at one time.

I'm not saying all historically symbolic gestures should be honored today - we've all seen the first season of Bridgerton, we know dudes used to duel each other for something as simple as an inappropriate kiss with a sister. But even still, knowing what we know about the open-handed slap, it's surprising the number of people who are acting like Will Smith went up on that stage and fully beat the shit out of Chris Rock.

Seriously, am I losing it? Why are people crying "assault" and calling for The Academy to do something, as though they planned this? And as though Will Smith hasn't already apologized? And as if Chris Rock is pressing charges - which he isn't?

It seems to me that all this discussion is serving to do is to keep everyone's attention on an issue that we're sure literally everyone involved would rather see resolved quietly.

And just to be clear: No, I'm not condoning the tasteless joke Rock made in the first place. The joke at Jada Pinkett-Smith's expense was mean, even if Chris Rock really didn't know about her alopecia. If she and her husband were upset by it, that's reasonable. (Even if Will laughed at first - haven't you ever started to laugh at something, then fully processed it and realized it's not funny at all?)

Also definitely not condoning the violence. Symbolic or not, it's obviously not okay for a fully grown adult man to hit someone - but that's a fact we've known for literal decades, and it unfortunately still happens. Why? Because we're human. We're sometimes run away with our emotions and we make mistakes. We know hitting someone is one of the worse mistakes you can make, becuase you can literally physically injure someone and really mess up their life...but that's the whole reason context is important in situations like this. (Chris Rock was not injured.)

And some of you may be thinking, "well, I would never make THAT mistake." To you I say: Good for you! You're clearly not given to the same vices Will Smith is. But all the same, I'm sure there's something shameful you WOULD be drawn to do in the right situation, so maybe don't go casting the first stone.

The point is: We all know that Chris Rock should not have made that joke, and that Will Smith should not have hit him for it. They were both wrong. If neither of the celebrities involved want to turn this into something bigger, than we should leave it alone too. It happened on live national TV, so I can't say it's none of our business...but it probably should be.

Tags
Chris rock, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett-Smith