Dr. Alwin Spence.
We are all trying to make sense out of nonsense, but one thing I believe should happen is that Mr. Will Smith should find himself to the nearest psycho-therapist.
Why? Because there seems to be more in the mortar than just the pestle. I would love to be on the wall listening to that therapy session.
So, unlike most people, I will not heap too much blame on Mr. Smith , just pity, very sorry for him.
The respectable, friendly, popular comedian Mr. Chris Rock is giving his lines, to make people laugh, even when making fun at others. Most times no harm is done. It is all fun, wit, and laughter. Mark you , he is paid well to do what he does.
He does not have the reputation for making anyone outright uncomfortable. So Mr.
Smith, as he listened attentively to Mr. Rock suddenly got up , walked up to the podium and slapped Mr. Rock across the face. To Mr. Rock this was not part of the act and the audience was totally baffled. He slapped, then walked off the stage without saying a word, leaving Mr. Rock at a loss and holding his jaw.
Generally speaking most men will punch another man, not slapping him unless he is grossly inferior, weaker and smaller. A parent may slap a misbehaving child. An angry man will seldom punch a woman, he may slap her, knowing full well she won’t fight back.
We also noticed that after the slapping , Mr. Smith immediately walked away , not explaining the reason for his action.
Mr. Smith seemed he did not expect retaliation because he turned his back to the victim. Lucky for him Mr. Rock was so appalled, almost frozen he could not swing into action.
But Mr. Smith, with his back turned , he could not have been able to defend himself from a glass of champagne that might have been thrown at him damaging his expensive and elegant attire.
It was when Mr. Smith got back to the safety of his seat that with explicits, explained himself. His encounter with Mr. Rock was brief.
Could it be that Mr. Smith has become too big for his breeches and therefore feels that he can kick a-s-s-s at will? ( Pardon the pun.)
Would he have gone up to slap another well-known Rock the wrestler, for saying the very same thing about his wife.?
No ! Now let us be serious. Who does Mr. Smith really want to slap?
Who does he really want to hurt ? Is it really Mr. Rock ? His acceptance speech for his well-earned award was interspersed with laughter and tears, and those tears were not tears of joy.
To me this action should send him to the couch right away.
Often we see children steal or would lie with no reason to do so, as they are easily caught. It even appears that they steal or lie because they want to be caught. It is for the parent to understand this behaviour and to get some help for the child.
Punishment won’t help.
A child may steal or lie for different reasons, for which they have no answer. So the displayed behaviour is merely the tip of the iceberg. What then is under this exhibited poor display.
For Mr. Smith, he was getting good attention from the fact that he was an Oscar nominee for best male actor. So why seek this negative attention? Like the child did Mr. Smith expect to be caught, and wants to be caught?
If that is so then Mr. Smith must be overwhelmed with problems he might not be able to verbalize. Something must be eating his very soul and he is mad because he cannot fix it himself.
This might have driven him to this action, displacing his anger with self-unto some innocent bystander. Mr. Smith does not consciously know what is bothering him, but at times he might realize that the smile he puts out is really a substitute for a real frown, but is unable to make the change to reflect his true feelings.
Helpless Will needs our sympathy, help and understanding.
We may speculate but this may be a matter only for Mr. Smith and his therapist. Both will be able to get to the bottom of this Oscar night slap.
Meanwhile the line is getting longer to see Mr. Rock’s shows, while some are now wondering if they want to see the movie King Richard because of the star actor.
But personally, I will go to see the movie. Mr. Richard Williams trained his two daughters, Venus and Serena and brought them to the tennis world where they gave us many years of wonderful, skillful and entertaining games.
So I must continue to respect and honour them for their contribution to the tennis world.
Have you ever heard someone saying un-complementary things about someone you just pretend to like but you really and truly dislike ? What do you do? You quietly cheer under the table not conscious of why or what you are doing.
The slap was totally out of proportion to what Mr. Rock said, so it was displaced. The task now is who or what should have been slapped instead of Mr. Rock.
Let us help Mr. Smith to get over this unfortunate situation. I believe at heart he is a good person; overcome by something he alone could not adequately fix.
Yes ,blame Mr. Smith for his action, but not because of his race. Praise Mr. Rock but not because of his race.
The Black Community will always hold its members to a high standard of behaviour and is very disappointed when that measure is violated or even appeared to be so.
