When Will Smith stormed onto the Oscar stage to strike Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife’s short hair, he did a lot more damage than just to Rock’s face. With a single petulant blow, he advocated violence, diminished women, insulted the entertainment industry, and perpetuated stereotypes about the Black community.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
This year’s Oscars might be the tipping point for America’s $42.5 billion film industry, and the career of actor Will Smith. An entire industry has forgotten its raison d’être is to entertain a broad market, not produce “social justice” infomercials. Shame on Hollywood, which used to air dazzling distractions for a nation weary of civil disorder, recession or war. Now, it allows deeds and words that would get most of us fired or jailed. It’s no wonder viewership has plummeted.
The sad highlight of the 2022 Oscars was when Smith “smacked the s–t outta” Chris Rock on live TV, returned to his seated family, hurled two angry f-bombs at Rock, got his Oscar, made a defensive speech, and danced at the after-party. Social media immediately lit up with “influencers” defending the “victims” or promoting their cause. Where’s the “glamour” in that?
While most of us thought I’d face ruin if I did that in such a prestigious and public forum, the famous practiced identity politics. Tiffany Haddish tweeted Smith “made me believe that there are still men out there that love and care about their women.” Abdul-Jabbar blogged Smith “perpetuated stereotypes about the Black community.” David Spade podcasted the slap would painfully remind Rock of his “bullied childhood.”
Sadly, they miss the point entirely. Smith’s a middle-aged celebrity, who lost his temper and broke the law. He’s not a “victim” of systemic anything. Getting “cancelled” is the fate of conservative teachers, not actors worth $350 million. His apologists embarrass themselves, because America stopped feeling sympathy for rich-and-famous reprobates in 1978, when Ohio State fired Woody Hayes for punching a Clemson football player.
Americans – of every race and religion – know Smith must be disciplined. Because…
- Adrian Peterson was suspended by the NFL in 2014 for bruising his 4-year-old son
- Al Franken was ousted from the Senate in 2018 because of his lecherous pose over a sleeping woman.
- Juwan Howard was suspended by the Big Ten in February for hitting another team’s coach.
American institutions have been tightening “equal treatment” standards for almost a half century. Being old, black, or Jewish does not entitle a transgressor to special consideration. It’s obvious Smith and his publicist realize this (Smith apologized Monday and resigned from the Academy Friday). Of course, he’s entitled to a second chance, but an actor’s reputation and prospects are for consumers to decide.
Will Smith works in a for-profit industry that depends on mass consumption of its product when 61% say “Hollywood has too much influence on American politics and social values” (source: CBS News). It gets worse: 54% of Democrats and 84% of Republicans “don’t trust” Hollywood today (source: Morning Consult). Hollywood has a “wokeism” problem they ignore because global theatrical and home entertainment revenues topped $328 billion in 2021. That’s a false positive reading of customer loyalty.
If Hollywood looked at only their US discretionary consumption, they’d stop taking 311 million heterosexuals, 236 million Caucasians, or 230 million Christians for granted. All discretionary spending must pass the “is it me” test; the root explanation of why US box office revenues hit a 20-year low ($4.5 billion) and the Oscars hit a record low (10.4 million viewers) last year.
It’s a simple point. Entertainment companies can ignore the cultural mainstream because of subscription-based revenue models. At the end of 2021, there were 213.5 million Netflix, 175 million Amazon Prime, and 118 million Disney+ subscribers. I have all three, and they are “opt out” subscriptions, meaning (in industry parlance) they are very sticky (I’d never buy tickets to Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, but it’s streaming on Amazon right now). Disney is a great “wokeness” case study.
Disney is a for-profit company and family-values brand that’s tacking recklessly into culture war to placate a sliver of America that’s not above propaganda. Its CEO is at war with a Don’t Say Gay law in Florida, despite the word “gay” not appearing in the bill, its immense popularity with parents of school-age kids, and opposition from only 33% of all Americans (source: Politico). In fact, the bill actually states, “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur” before fourth grade.
Shame on Disney: the clear intent of the bill is to protect students from age-inappropriate lesson plans – no different than “you must be this tall” to ride the spine-rattling rides in Disney’s theme parks. But, Disney has an agenda: leaked company videos reveal future content will have a majority of characters that are either handicapped, LGBTQIA, or non-white. This is true, and three obnoxious women opened the Oscars by mocking “you people in Florida.” Is it even OK to say “you people” anymore?
Back to the “is it me” test. Disney’s new standards would prohibit an authentic Miracle On Ice (1980 US hockey team). Who cares about historical accuracy when cultural indoctrination is the goal? This is why parents in once-blue Virginia tossed out Democrats in 2021 and the hope here is for Disney to make authentic social justice films that help good parents raise good kids. It’s not like Hollywood would have to re-invent the wheel.
When Hollywood released To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, A League of Their Own, Schindler’s List, and Remember the Titans, the subliminal message in theaters was go buy a Coke – not take a walk on the wild side. The stars back then did not call out states or face-slap to make a point, trusting open-and-honest stories to bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice.
And this Hollywood? It’s just CEOs terrorized by social activists into narrow political positions and celebrities acting shamefully on live TV. That’s why I watched the UNC game last Sunday night. At least, they knew what they were doing (and kept politics out of it).