opinion
Oscars 2022
Violence in the Name of Love: Why Will Smith’s Speech Made Everything Worse
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith on the red carpet at the 2022 Academy Awards
© Elizabeth Goodenough/Everett Collection/ / Picture Alliance
First he slapped Chris Rock and yelled uncontrollably insults, then minutes later he got an Oscar: Will Smith himself sabotage what is probably the greatest moment of his career. And made things worse with his speech.
It could have been the night of his greatest triumph, but it turned out differently. Will Smith’s physical assault on Chris Rock at the Oscars marked a low point in the event’s history. And then proved that even in 2022, toxic masculinity is still not talked about enough. What happened?
Chris Rock poked fun at Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett-Smith, who is suffering from hair loss due to a hair loss condition. This enraged Smith so much that he spontaneously ran onto the stage, slapped Rock and angrily berated the comedian. A scandal the Academy should have responded to immediately. Because since the #Metoo scandal, the Oscars have actually imposed a code of conduct. How should it be possible to glamorously award Smith with an award now?
Will Smith’s speech showed that he didn’t understand anything
Amazingly, that’s exactly what happened: Less than 15 minutes after the incident, Smith received a standing ovation and the Oscar for best actor. The show must go on. What followed then made things even worse. Because apart from the age-old debate about how far comedy can go and whether or not you should make jokes at the expense of sick people: the most devastating sentence on stage wasn’t said by Chris Rock, but by Will Smith.
“Love makes you do crazy things,” he tearfully said as he accepted the Oscar. He was overwhelmed by what God was giving him as a task. His life is there to love people. And protecting people and being like a river to his people. Having a public freak and becoming violent is one thing. Justifying one’s own behavior for a few minutes, among other things with God and the love for one’s family, is a completely different thing.
This is not just about offended male vanity, but also about a man who thinks he has to defend his wife like property. The narrative of the strong protector male who uses physical force to oppose anything that gets too close to him or his family is dangerous. Dangerous because it suggests that there is good violence and bad violence. That violence is an answer to anything at all. And because it’s an argument that far too many victims of male violence hear – and most of them are female.
The last thing women need is men resorting to violence on their behalf
In Germany, on average, a man kills his partner or ex-partner every two and a half days. Every third woman is a victim of physical and/or sexual violence at least once in her life. The last thing women need is men resorting to more violence in their name. How strongly this image of men is still anchored in society is shown by numerous reactions to the incident on social networks. There is talk of understanding for Smith, admiration that he protected his wife from the words of a comedian. It would have been so much stronger if Smith had done it with words.
Particularly bitter: Even the absolute crisis mode – his publicist and several fellow actors spoke to him shortly afterwards – apparently did not make Smith apologize to Rock or reflect on his behavior. It was a missed opportunity to talk about toxic masculinity and its consequences. And that in the year 2022 of all places, when the world is just learning what it means when a man thinks he can use brute force to enforce the rights of the strongest. Shortly before, there had been a minute’s silence for the Ukraine war at the award ceremony.
“I hope the Academy invites me back,” Smith concluded. If the Oscars ever want to achieve anything like relevance and integrity again, the Academy would be wise not to.