The slap the world felt

When I saw actor Will Smith’s Oscar slap of comedian Chris Rock, I quickly thought, well, that too may well be another ten-day wonder and no point in turning a molehill into a mountain.

Not so: it eventually became a mountain that turned into a bigger mountain. This Oscar-award incident was extensively broadcast across the world, attracting reactions from as far as Europe, India and even here in Trinidad.

It just couldn’t be ignored. In Technicolor: the picture of 53-year-old Smith slapping 57-year-old Rock was as compelling as that of the Minneapolis police officer mercilessly kneeling on 46-year-old George Floyd’s neck. They were different crimes of sensational magnitude.

On that controversial night, Will Smith sat, legs crossed, alongside his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, seemingly enjoying Chris Rock’s earlier jokes. Then, when Chris jokingly referred to Jada’s baldness, Smith walked up to the smiling Chris and packed a stiff slap against Chris’s face – in full view of the richly-dressed Hollywood audience. Many thought it was a staged act. Not so.

With a grimacee, Chris Rock calmly exclaimed “Wow! Wow!” And standing like a rock, he made a remarkable declaration: ”That was the greatest night in television history.”

As of now, Chris remains a celebrated victim “still processing the incident.”

Smith had angrily warned Chris: “Keep my wife's name out of your f---ing mouth.”

The slap was bad enough, but it was more so the time, place and who was who. As of now, Will might have won his early battle, but is losing the war.

The psychology of the incident and the consequences remain very important. There was no emotional intelligence there. There was a fatal lapse in impulse control, a personality disposition directly connected to many of our crimes – domestic violence, physical assault and even murder.

Aroused by the trigger of impulse-control lapse, is it possible for a person to stop and count to ten, or take a deep breath, look away and quickly think about something else? Remove all provocation? Or does the impulse to attack drown all reason at the time?

With his best-actor Oscar clenched in his right hand, Smith tearfully apologised to his friends, Hollywood audience and family. But not yet to the victim, Chris.

This is what usually happens after the impulse lapse, after the temper explodes, and cools. It sometimes looks like a genetically-programmed disposition in need of detoxification. But how, given the action is so emotionally embedded? No time for a calming pill or verbal counselling.

Beyond anger, our motor reflexes often bypass our reasoning. This is what happens when a dog rushes across the road in front of your car. Without thinking you mash brakes, only to find out afterwards what really happened.

Of course, we don’t really know Smith’s psychological history, except that his mother said it was the first time she ever saw Smith "go off so.”

In his apology, Smith curiously referred to the character he victoriously played in the movie, King Richard (father of tennis champions Serena and Venus) He said: “Richard was a fierce defender of his family. We do what we have to do, not take abuse and pretend to say that’s OK.” Remarkably, too, he recalled what former Oscar-winner Denzel Washington earlier remarked to him: “At your highest, that’s when the devil comes for you.”

With a Mahatma Gandhi-type message, Smith added: “Violence in all forms is poisonous and dangerous.”

An eternal pity, though, people don’t practise what they preach. A fatal weakness in humanity that even neurologist Sigmund Freud had difficulty explaining.

All these elements and more make this Oscar-slapping incident an indelible part of the Oscar records.

Given the reputation of both men, mixed reactions followed, with many fellow actors and comedians expressing great displeasure against Smith.

“That was physical assault, Chris should sue him for US$200 million and send him to jail,” said comedian George Wallace. “Sickening,” remarked Jim Carrey, while condemning the standing ovation Smith got for his Oscar.

Feminist comedian Wanda Sykes said it “was sickening” and aggravated by Smith’s refusal to leave the ceremony as advised by the sponsoring Academy of Arts.

The academy promises disciplinary action in a few weeks. With this and Chris’s promise, there is more to come.