When the urge for retaliation got the better of Will Smith

What you need to know:

As an actor, Mr Smith has achieved wonderful roles including playing the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali in 2001. He is also a hip-hop artist whose success swings alongside the film work

Will Smith has been loved throughout his career.
Most who have met him (I know someone close who did) applaud the charisma, the naturalness, and this is, equally evident, in pictures during his visit to Tanzania twice, in recent years.
As an actor, Mr Smith has achieved wonderful roles including playing the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali in 2001. He is also a hip-hop artist whose success swings alongside the film work. I personally loved his 1991 Summertime tune which was way, way better to listen to than most of the unintellible mainstream rap.
Summertime became the first rap tune to win a Grammy, according to Google. It was written in collaboration with the multimillionaire DJ, Jazzy Jeff, who has also produced star rapper Eminem.
Anyway.
How about a quote from Summertime?
“Its like the summer’s a natural aphrodisiac
And with a pen and pad I composed this rhyme
To hit you and get you equipped for the summertime.”
Subsequently, that has been Will Smith’s vibe. Mellow. Clever. Creative. Joyful. Successful.
Add the family man vibe.
Three very successful artistic children and wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, award winning actress , singer- songwriter, in her own right.
Now. Mrs Smith.
She is the centre of attention, here.
Recently, the 50-year-old publicly acknowledged her hair loss due to a condition known as alopecia. This can be hereditary , vitamin deficiency, etc.
We don’t want to dwell om that too much.
However, a woman being bald headed is not a small matter. And FOR THAT here comes, Chris Rock, the comedian. Another African American star artist.
Mr Rock made a joke about Mrs Smith in his stand-up act during the Oscars, and we all know what happened.
For two weeks, THE INCIDENT has been talk, debate and discussion. Do you slap someone for teasing your ill wife? Or, you just groan, sigh, roll your eyes? The reply is ambivalent, inconclusive, ambiguous, and complex. In the old days, it would have been a big YES.
DON’T TOUCH MY WOMAN.
FULL STOP.
These days we ARE changed humans. Retaliation is a SERIOUS business. Much worse THAN provocation.
Though offended, Will Smith had to apologise and weep and resign in public. His reputation as a peaceful, easygoing, summertime, mellow brother has been flushed down the River Mississippi.
The provocation, the cause of his reaction, is no issue.
He is suddenly a villain, and another Hollywood legend, Denzel Washington, is quoted to have been advising Will Smith, “Let us pray.” Meaning channelling anger and frustration to the holy, spiritual ladder.
Chris Rock has not said much.
From the way things have been reported and alleged, he is appearing to be the good guy. Not the idiot who provoked and started it. But the hero who was whacked. Ms Amy Schumer, his co-host for the Oscars evening, for example, is said to have been “triggered and traumatised” by the slap. She is quoted to have alleged that she was “waiting for this sickening feeling to go away from what we have witnessed”.
It was (and is) all about empathy and sympathy for the provocateur.
When quizzed by the police, immediately after, Mr Rock, the hero, declared he did not want to file any charges.
Provocation is not answered any more. The concept of forgiveness and tolerance HAS RISEN AND BLOSSOMED in the last 30 years or so.
During the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Zinedine Zidane, an equally respected athlete and one of the finest players of all time, fell under the same trap and spell. Spell and trap of retaliation. France were definitely expected to win. France leading. France in jubilation.
Zidane, a gifted artist on the ball, a natural flowing soccer prince with Algerian roots, was said to have been “provoked” by Italian defender Marco Materazzi . The Italian kept physically taunting Zidane. After the third time, having pulled Zidane’s jersey, the two exchanged words.
It is unclear what was said. But ill-confirmed speculation and hearsay, is that Materazzi “insulted” Zidane’s female side of family. The exact words? So many versions. Some claim it was about his sister; others, his mother. Materazzi actually sued some British newspapers for printing unfounded allegations.
WHATEVER WAS SAID made the French captain turn and spin 360 degrees. And that is when we saw, live on TV, Zidane do the famous headbutt. He rammed his skull into Materazzi’s chest. An iconic moment. Zidane got the red card. France lost.
As profound and as shocking and as historic as Will Smith slapping Chris Rock.
No one spoke of the offence. All eyes turned towards the retaliation.
As was Zinedine Zidane in 2006, so is Will Smith in 2022, 16 years later.