Oscars, anyone watching?

Agree. 

It needed to be done. 

Yeah...good that he was embarrassed and went straight home to reflect on his actions...

How long did the publicist and PR guys take to come up with that apology? Still doesn't sound sincere.

I feel like it was only released after the Academy was looking into this. 

I haven't read the thread.

This is what I said on FB:
==============================
So… I have to say this:

I get that smacking a person isn’t the right way to express outrage.

Here is what I’m asking people - especially those who I consider friends, and who I know support, in theory, the idea of intersectionality. Persons living with disabilities are often not included in that. Please consider the following.

I have 3 concerns:

1)all the focus on the smack is resulting in no discussion of how out of line the ‘joke’ was - frankly it was a form of bullying;

2)had he not been smacked nobody would be talking about the fact Rock crossed the line. The whole thing would’ve passed by without incident, because somehow it’s ok to wisecrack on people with disabilities/health conditions. If had a quarter for every idiot who thought they were brilliant comedians with their ‘do you have a license for that thing,’ cracks (and worse), I wouldn’t be eligible for my housing. I’m not looking for sympathy on that - I’m using it as an example of how ubiquitous this stuff is.

3)It’s still acceptable enough to use humour that goes after people with disabilities/medical conditions that nobody in the writers’ room, or the production team watching rehearsals said ‘Uh… she’s got alopecia… maybe this goes too far.’ And before anyone tries ‘oh, maybe they didn’t know…’ - they knew. It’s well known in Hollywood.

Some things just aren’t funny. They are, in fact, a form of verbal violence. They’re as much an attack, a form of bullying, as using the ‘R’ word, or mocking the LGBTQ community, or POC.
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This is something from Twitter I'd invite folks to consider as well - while violence should never be the first response, there is a certain sense of fear I feel as a person in a marginalized group if we're going to argue there's never a time when it's necessary (and no, I don't think last night's award ceremony qualifies as a time when it was absolutely necessary. Violence should be the last resort, not the first response.

It does, I was referring to what papercrafter had posted and how it seemed to me to be misinterpreted. 

My biggest issue with this is that “one corrective slap” is exactly the language a lot of religious fundamentalists use to justify hitting children. I find it impossible to believe that most members of vulnerable populations buy into this argument.

Someone on NPR said something along these lines too. The whole “love makes you do crazy things” that he said during his speech is an ugly excuse that is often invoked by abusers.

FTR, I know you never know what goes on behind closed doors but I have never picked up an abuser vibe from Will, not at all. I am just posting commentary I have read.

Oh really? You can predict the future? You know for a fact what would have happened in an alternative situation?
That's conjecture and opinion, stop presenting it as a fact.

There's multiple ways this could have been handled if Jada was truly offended...and none of them involve physical violence.
These are very public people with a lot of money and influence & a large platform from which they can make themselves heard.
Jada, could have heckled him right then and there..."hey, I have a medical condition you arsehole"
She could have made a public statement about it the next day, she could talk about it on her show and how it made her feel.
Lots of options that don't involve Will Smith derailing an entire awards ceremony with his macho bullshit.

And it's a HUGE stretch to try to claim that without Will Smith slapping someone in the face that all disabled people will be made fun of forever more.

Interesting language in that tweet...someone who has "routinely harassed and publicly humiliated his spouse"
He mentioned her twice at two different Oscars FIVE years apart.
I can't imagine going to the police and claiming I was being "harassed" by someone...yes officer, he said something mean to me today and also once 5 years ago he said I wasn't invited to a party.

You invited consideration, so here goes: Yikes.

Those three tweets, presented as factual predictions about people who simply disapproved of how a foolish movie star chose to handle umbrage in a public setting, are hyperbolic, presumptuous and arrogant. Most of all, they’re just really poorly reasoned. 

The public conversation today, just as in this thread, is just that: a conversation. It’s not the death knell for marginalized groups, vulnerable people or human compassion. It’s not a referendum on the “For whom does the bell toll?” question. Again: yikes.


ETA: What lizacreates said shorter and snappier. I hadn’t refreshed my page…

You've proved your point...you have no humour and all comedy should be cancelled...especially that directed at the very powerless and vulnerable group...the multi millionaire celebrities!

Please. Jada was made the butt of a GI Jane joke because she’s bald. Just because you’re a bald black female public figure with alopecia doesn’t mean you’re not fair game to comedians. Same if you’re a bald white female public figure with alopecia. Or brown. Or Hispanic. Or Asian. Or Muslim. Or gay. Or trans. Or whatever. There are no sacred cows with a lot of comedians. Like it, don’t like it...doesn’t matter. I’m not excusing crude jokes, but it’s a fact. They go where no one dares to go, they push boundaries to the very edge and they all say things no one else would dare say. (If y’all think this was that bad, then check out Dave Chappelle.) The Smiths have known Chris since the ‘90s. Don’t anyone tell me they didn’t know he gets this way with his jokes. So it’s okay with them if others are joked about but not the precious Jada with her alopecia?

I’m going even further and say Will’s actions may have partly to do with the fact he’s seen as a cuckold since his wife has had affairs and one of those was with her own son’s friend who said Will “blessed” it. At which point the marriage became a “life partnership” with the side benefit of swinging called “entanglement.” Jesus. These effing Hollywood hypocrites are sometimes too much. They lecture like they have some sort of profound wisdom to impart. Put any one of these overly-pampered people on a Starbucks shift for a week where customers will cuss you out for underwhipping foam and see if they survive it. (I almost wish Ricky Gervais would come back and skewer this whole lot once more as the fake woke crowd.)

None of these three yahoos should be regarded as moral arbiters. On anything!  I have more respect for regular everyday people who have to deal with REAL indignities just to put food on the table. And no one ever gives them a statuette and standing ovation.

I agree with this. He-and Rock-were both wrong. But I dislike purity tests, a.k.a. “Say or do something wrong and you are cast out forever.” We all do and say dumb/insensitive things. *I* certainly do, anyhow. 😁 But hopefully you learn and do better. Someone who shows remorse should be given another chance in many cases.

ETA: I do wonder what Jada said nothing. She’s a powerful woman in her own right. It seems odd.