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Original poster

I'm going to say it: There's a class divide in the Will Smith incident

266 replies

blockbustervideo · 28/03/2022 20:10

I have a wide social circle.

What I've noticed today on social media is those from blue collar/working class backgrounds are defending Will Smith's actions, the women saying "he's a real man" "that's what men should do", "he was defending her" and those from white collar backgrounds/middle classes completely condemning Will's actions as pure unadulterated violence/assault.

Both obviously agreeing Chris' joke was in bad taste and not funny.

What's everyone else's experience been from their social media reactions?

OP posts:
Original poster
blockbustervideo · 28/03/2022 22:37

@stormswiftlysweetafton

Ah, and I should've said that I think a member of the working class might be more likely to not describe it as "assault", but maybe I'm wrong on that. It seems middle class to exaggerate it into something worse than it was.

I'd probably agree with this.

OP posts:
bakebeans · 28/03/2022 22:42

I’m working class. I’m not defending will smith. He didn’t need to resort to violence. He bit. He could have simply aired his views from his seat and spoke to him privately about it afterwards.
He didn’t.
He hasn’t publicly apologised to Chris rock either.

He’s an idol to millions of kids.
Not acceptable

ohfook · 28/03/2022 22:47

I think it's really interesting how divided opinions on this are. I think it was real but literally everyone I know in real life thinks it was staged. I just wish they'd kept the camera on WS long enough to see what made him go from laughing along to punching CR.

mrdarcyfan · 28/03/2022 22:47

I found Will Smiths acceptance speech nauseating.I can't stand the way these actors think they're saving the world .They get paid to pretend to be someone else.Meanwhile,people are being killed and forced from their homes.That isn't a film .It's real life.Let's stop fawning over obnoxious,self obsessed actors.

EarthSight · 28/03/2022 22:48

@VyeBrator

How do you know I'm not working class?

I've never heard a working class person refer to themselves or anyone else as 'blue collar'...

@VyeBrator The OP could be American I suppose. I don't know any Brit (except for middle class Guardian writers) who actually use those terms. I find the whole 'collar' to be a try-hard attempt to look faintly casual and American. It also obfuscates the very real class system that still exists in the U.K which is why middleclass people are increasingly fond of the 'collar' expression - it's because they're ashamed of being privileged, ashamed of being middleclass and and the American terms allow them to psychologically distance themselves from that privilege whist also being able to acknowledge some differences between themselves and others.
jytdtysrht · 28/03/2022 22:48

Me and dh same age same class
Differing views on this

Madrenetterhere · 28/03/2022 22:51

@ohfook I would bet jada said something to will or gave him a look that resulted in will stopping laughing and going on to do what he did. There's literally no other logical explanation for me in my mind...

ldontWanna · 28/03/2022 22:54

[quote Madrenetterhere]@ohfook I would bet jada said something to will or gave him a look that resulted in will stopping laughing and going on to do what he did. There's literally no other logical explanation for me in my mind...[/quote]
He laughs ,she rolls her eyes and looks mightily pissed off. Only then does he change his reaction.

Nomoreusernames1244 · 28/03/2022 22:57

I don't need a man to "protect" me or defend my honour from words. She was in no danger from him

This. If I were Jada I’d be fuming with Will as much as CR. Women can stand up for themselves and don’t need men resorting to violence to “protect” or defend them.

She could have got up and told him to apologise now, as easily as will got up to slap him. Or she may have preferred to deal with it later, call him out in the press.

As it is will has come out looking like a neanderthal arse, she looks like a weak woman who needs a man to hit people who insult her, and Chris Rock comes out of it the best taking it on the chin, laughing it off and not pressing charges or going to the press.

Kennykenkencat · 28/03/2022 23:07

ldontWanna

Are you one of those women who also thinks that catcalling,wolf whistling and horn beeping are "compliments

🤣🤣🤣

Wtf are you on about.

Fwiw I have only once been catcalled. I was heavily pregnant with Dd and hobbling down the street (didn’t know it at the time, I was walking around with a slipped disc and was in agony) A van went past and the passenger leant out the window and shouted “Lose some weight you ugly fatty”

Are you comparing being told you are an “ugly fatty” with being compared to Demi Moore.

Personally I would take a wolf whistle or horn beep. At least I would know someone had seen me. I am at that age where I seem to have disappeared.

Lurkerlot · 28/03/2022 23:10

Working class, and no has mentioned it to me or on medias. No thread started on local areas Facebook page either.

peachgreen · 28/03/2022 23:15

I don't think class has anything to do with someone's reaction to this but fwiw, I'm middle class.

This is not the first time Chris Rock has made jokes at Jada's expense. This one was particularly vile and obviously upset her. (I don't think Will got it at first.) Will did not punch or backhand Chris Rock. He slapped him with an open palm. He was not intending to seriously harm him - if he was, he would have done much worse.

I don't condone violence, but I also think the ableism and misogynoir Chris demonstrated was unacceptable, and I'm unsurprised that his "joke" triggered a reaction.

I suspect the two of them will have made up by now.

MangyInseam · 28/03/2022 23:17

I haven't heard anyone mention it.

I don't see why it's "classist" to ask, though - i think it's interesting to see where there are differences like that. It's hard to tell just with the people you know, though, which is why people ask on MN if other had the same experience.

reesewithoutaspoon · 28/03/2022 23:17

Only person on my SM who has mentioned it is a media lovey. No one else seems the least bit interested.
I dislike the American 'roasts' anyway. I don't find them funny , most are just plain nasty.

notacooldad · 28/03/2022 23:17

Nobody on my social media has mentioned it

Mine neither
Nothing on mine either!

MangyInseam · 28/03/2022 23:19

Anyway, I am middle class, but I think I am with Will Smith on this. It's not like he punched him. I think it would have been reasonable for JS to have slapped him too.

hamstersarse · 28/03/2022 23:19

All i know is that WS is going to have years of 'waking up in the night' moments with that gut-wrenching feeling of shame and embarrassment.

i know we have all lost it at times, but imagine doing it at the bloody Oscars in front of billions. Sends shivers down my spine

flyingdream · 28/03/2022 23:21

I thought it was staged and a pretend slap. Didn't look real.

LadyEloise1 · 28/03/2022 23:22

Did Chris Rock know Jada was suffering from alopecia ?
I didn't but I don't live in the US and know little about US celebrities.
I thought it was just a "hairstyle" she chose to wear.

RhymesWithBouquet · 28/03/2022 23:22

@turfsausage

She's not exactly bald though is she... I mean, I have alopecia (patchy) and have family members who are fully bald and um she is not that bald. Her shaven head look is a choice. If she had longer hair she could probably cover up her bald spots like I do. Not sure if that's relevant, but the way I look at it, Chris was actually mocking her for a poor hair style choice, not alopecia.
OMG.. "Her alopecia doesn't look like my alopecia, so she can't have alopecia" She actually posted a video and showed close ups of her scalp. And mine is the same as hers. I have patches where my scalp is shiny. You'd have to look closely to realise it but yep I am "that bald" And if you don't have long hair all around it, particularly if you have natural, afro hair, you can't cover it up, you have to shave it, or it looks bloody ridiculous. I had to shave 10 years worth of locks off for this reason so please don't call it a "poor hairstyle choice" when she, and I, did it because we had to and shed tears over it.
Abouttimemum · 28/03/2022 23:26

No one I know has mentioned it. DH and I were just watching it on YouTube and we have the same opinion, that Will Smith is an idiot.
And my DH was a working class ‘brawler’ in his youth.

WrongWayApricot · 28/03/2022 23:30

I don't think he thought the joke was funny, I think he was on autopilot and wasn't listening properly.

Anyway, I come from a background where I've been threatened with death for saying the wrong thing and causing offence. So, it didn't look that bad to me. The way people are talking about police and assault, attack, violence. These all seem like OTT words to use. WS shouldn't have slapped Chris Rock, but I don't think talking about it like CR was left for dead in the alley behind the pub is accurate either. I also think it's easy for me to be judging from my armchair. I have no idea what his day/week was like before the show, how he felt during the show, and I didn't have to process all of that interaction in front of the world... Live... 'one take'. As soon as he stood up he really only had two options, he could have walked out or carried on with the impulse to slap him. He carried on toward CR and slapped him, it's quite human to fuck up under all that pressure.

It felt a bit weird watching it too, because I was slapped for real in a school play where it was supposed to be a fake slap. Because it was a 'show' nobody knew what was real or not, I had no idea how to react. Everyone heard it was real, and there was such a long pause before a teacher said anything. I imagine Hollywood and the Oscars are 100 times more surreal than my school play, people don't make great decisions in that weird and unnatural environment I'm sure. People don't react the right way in those places.

Robinni · 28/03/2022 23:34

“Bernardine Evaristo: 'What a thing to wake up to. Only the fifth black man in nearly 100 years to win an Oscar for male lead, and the first in 16 years, resorts to violence instead of utilising the power of words to slay Chris Rock. Then he claims God and love made him do it.'”

So sad, black on black male violence is so normalised in many regions of the world. He’s just gone and reinforced negative patterns of behaviour. When he had a chance to be such a strong source of inspiration…

Apparently they may strip him of the Oscar now.

theton · 28/03/2022 23:37

It was a complete overreaction. Everyone knows you get a roasting at these shows hence the earlier open marriage jibe by Regina. Plus he wasn't do it for Jadas honour, it was his ego.

Robinni · 28/03/2022 23:42

Oops posted wrong thread, erm on the class thing.. not on socials but discussed with DH and laughed as I was unpacking the social and moral implications, while he was commenting on his technique and saying good on him basically. We are of different social backgrounds, so perhaps there will be differences of opinion due to this, but unfair to generalise for the masses.

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