Was it staged? Who knows, who cares? It blew up the internet anyway. Okay, so what trifle has captivated the world today?
Here we go.
Comedian Chris Rock improvised a joke on a televised awards show that few outside the Kardashian mindset watch. The joke centered on a lesser actress married to a putatively more prominent actor. Both the lesser and more prominent were in attendance. The lesser being Jada Pinkett Smith, the more prominent being Will Smith, who, coincidently, was awarded an award on the awards show so few watch.
Mrs. Smith, the lesser actress married to the more prominent actor, Mr. Smith, suffers from alopecia, we're told. I have no doubt the affliction is traumatizing, only more so for a woman. Perhaps for decency's sake, Mr. Rock should have held his tongue. He didn't. Instead, he invoked a joke that referenced a movie that no one watched that featured a woman protagonist with a shaved head. The joke was an obvious play on alopecia.
After extended contemplation, which involved an initial smile, Mr. Smith concluded his wife had been insulted. Mr. Smith, now indignant, lifted himself from his seat in the audience and strode upon the stage and slapped the offending Mr. Rock. Unfortunately, no duel ensued, but a lot of bellowing invectives from Mr. Smith did.
Most cisgendered males prefer to uphold their betrothed's honor because it means upholding our honor. We cisgendered males can do this only within reason, though, without risking our honor. None of us wants to be associated with the visage of the 26-year-old Robin Ventura rushing the mound on the 46-year-old Nolan Ryan. The offended Mr. Ventura endured a very public and humiliating ass-kicking.
Let's pretend it was all real in Hollywood. Mr. Smith was indeed offended. Mr. Smith strode upon the stage to defend his wife's honor. Did anyone notice he strode upon a slim, slight man, at least four inches shorter and probably fifty pounds lighter? What would our delayed-offended actor have done had Mike Tyson told the same joke, or to keep it within the comedy realm, Joe Rogan, a martial artist who has earned a black belt in Jujitsu? I suspect that Mr. Smith would have kept his seat and kept smiling and would have whispered to his wife that it was only a joke.
Someone lays a hand on our wife, we cisgendered males will fight until pulverized into hamburger meat to defend her honor and the preservation of her corporeal being (at least I will). That's the only honorable option. If, on the other hand, our wife is insulted only, we're more likely to respond in kind if we're convinced the odds of our pounding the offender into hamburger meat are low and our receiving the pounding are high.
Life, as so often the case, is rarely shaded in absolute black and white. The colors are nearly always blurred by the unique particulars of the situation.
Here we go.
Comedian Chris Rock improvised a joke on a televised awards show that few outside the Kardashian mindset watch. The joke centered on a lesser actress married to a putatively more prominent actor. Both the lesser and more prominent were in attendance. The lesser being Jada Pinkett Smith, the more prominent being Will Smith, who, coincidently, was awarded an award on the awards show so few watch.
Mrs. Smith, the lesser actress married to the more prominent actor, Mr. Smith, suffers from alopecia, we're told. I have no doubt the affliction is traumatizing, only more so for a woman. Perhaps for decency's sake, Mr. Rock should have held his tongue. He didn't. Instead, he invoked a joke that referenced a movie that no one watched that featured a woman protagonist with a shaved head. The joke was an obvious play on alopecia.
After extended contemplation, which involved an initial smile, Mr. Smith concluded his wife had been insulted. Mr. Smith, now indignant, lifted himself from his seat in the audience and strode upon the stage and slapped the offending Mr. Rock. Unfortunately, no duel ensued, but a lot of bellowing invectives from Mr. Smith did.
Most cisgendered males prefer to uphold their betrothed's honor because it means upholding our honor. We cisgendered males can do this only within reason, though, without risking our honor. None of us wants to be associated with the visage of the 26-year-old Robin Ventura rushing the mound on the 46-year-old Nolan Ryan. The offended Mr. Ventura endured a very public and humiliating ass-kicking.
Let's pretend it was all real in Hollywood. Mr. Smith was indeed offended. Mr. Smith strode upon the stage to defend his wife's honor. Did anyone notice he strode upon a slim, slight man, at least four inches shorter and probably fifty pounds lighter? What would our delayed-offended actor have done had Mike Tyson told the same joke, or to keep it within the comedy realm, Joe Rogan, a martial artist who has earned a black belt in Jujitsu? I suspect that Mr. Smith would have kept his seat and kept smiling and would have whispered to his wife that it was only a joke.
Someone lays a hand on our wife, we cisgendered males will fight until pulverized into hamburger meat to defend her honor and the preservation of her corporeal being (at least I will). That's the only honorable option. If, on the other hand, our wife is insulted only, we're more likely to respond in kind if we're convinced the odds of our pounding the offender into hamburger meat are low and our receiving the pounding are high.
Life, as so often the case, is rarely shaded in absolute black and white. The colors are nearly always blurred by the unique particulars of the situation.
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