Ten Actuallys You Can Use To Discuss The Will Smith Slap
Looking for a way to talk about the Oscars controversy that allows you to demonstrate to your friends your superior intellect and sensitivity to important issues? Look no further than this handy list of ten talking points that are bound to show you as the deep and socially responsible thinker you’ve always wanted to be.
“Actually, this is all about toxic masculinity. Anyone who justifies violence by claiming to be ‘defending his woman’s honour’ is almost certainly an abuser. This really shows how far we have to go in stamping out male violence against women.”
“Actually this is all about the historical oppression of black women based on their hairstyles. For centuries black women have had their hair judged, ridiculed and marginalised, and it’s extremely telling that when an ally fights back against this marginalisation he is condemned by the very people who created this climate of hairism in the first place.”
“Actually this is about white supremacy. Nobody would’ve minded if a white man had hit Chris Rock.”
“Actually this is about white supremacy. Will Smith would’ve been arrested or shot if he’d hit a white man.”
“Actually this is just a demonstration of how speech has consequences. Chris Rock is free to make whatever jokes he wishes, and anyone is free to slap him. That’s what people don’t understand, except me.”
“Actually this is about Ukraine. Will Smith and Chris Rock were deliberately trying to divert the news cycle from revelations about atrocities committed by the Azov Battalion in order to support the US-NATO narrative of Russia’s evil empire and the nobility of the west. The Academy is complicit in prolonging this war.”
“Actually this is about the Williams sisters and how their big night was ruined by thoughtless men. They give so much and ask so little in return, it’s tragic that their one chance to be celebrated on a public stage was so overshadowed.”
“Actually this is about the hypocrisy of Hollywood. They condemn a slap but give awards to all the rapists?”
“Actually this is about the hypocrisy of Hollywood. They cancel rapists but allow a slap?”
“Actually this is about a wide and complicated intersection of race, class, gender and sexuality playing out in a variety of forms throughout history that has been exposed in the starkest possible fashion via this incident, and it is naive verging on wilfully racist to attempt to dismiss the significance of the slap in terms of the long struggle against oppression that myriad marginalsied identities have always waged. As a white person I have absolutely no right to any opinion on the matter, and if you would take the time to understand the issue you’d see that neither do you.”
Have fun!