[Jose Ignacio]

Activity: the incident at the 2022 Oscars Gala

Dear all.

This past Sunday, March 27, 2022, the 94th edition of the Oscars film awards gala was held in the city of Hollywood and Highland located in the United States.

At this gala an incident arose between Jada Pinket, will Mith and Chris Rock. In which, Comedian Chris Rock made a comment comparing Jada Pinket to the fictional character “Lieutenant Onil” because they both have shaved hairstyles. However, in the next few moments, Will Smith, Jada’s husband, got up on stage to slap Chris in the face and verbally express to him “leave my wife out of your jokes”.

To all this, we must mention that Jada Pinket suffers from a disease called “autoimmune alopecia” and as we all know, when a family member suffers from a disease it is a complicated situation, both for the person who suffers from the disease and for the person who live with the person.

Also, we leave you the link to view the full scene:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFoWDrgbMzs

At this point and once the situation has been objectively expressed, we ask you the following related questions:

• ¿What reaction has Jada had at that moment? Could she have defended herself?
• ¿Do you think that Will Smith has had a macho attitude?
• ¿Has Will Smith’s attitude been adequate or inappropriate?
• ¿What motives could Will Smith have had in reacting in this way?
• ¿What kind of humor has Chris used?

We hope that the activity is to your liking and that you find it interesting.

We thank you in advance for all your participation.

Kind regards,

Jose Ignacio. Technician of the Medina del Campo Team.

[Marina]

In my opinion, she could have defended herself as she was affected by the joke. However, these situations of tension sometimes left you with no words and you are not able to act. I think Will Smith’s action is not male-dominated. He acted just trying to let the presenter know he would not joke about such a serious issue as it is his wife’s disease and depression. Nevertheless, this fact does not justify the violent means he used to achieve that. I think he would have done the same if it was his son’s joke instead of his wife’s, for instance.

The presenter’s kind of humor used is one of bad taste, because it is not the same to joke about hairless people in general that to refer directly to a hairless person in particular. Moreover, in this case, he is joking about a disease and something that have caused her trauma, so that is not suitable.

[Jose Ignacio]

Dear Laura.

First of all, I thank you for your comment.

Also, I totally agree with you.

I think that in this case, Will’s reaction has been from the concern of being related to Jada (although he does not justify her reaction at any time). Also, Chris’s joke was totally inappropriate, since health is very important, because any person is susceptible to contracting a disease. For this reason, I believe that a change in the social conception of humor is necessary. A humor that goes from “laughing at the person” to laughing with the person.

Kind regards, Jose Ignacio Zarandona.

[Laura]

<font style=”vertical-align: inherit;”><font style=”vertical-align: inherit;”>Bajo mi punto de vista, no fue correcta ni la broma por parte de Chris Rock ni la respuesta por parte de Will Smith. Partiendo de la base de que no es la primera vez que el presentador realiza un comentario como este (sin irnos más lejos, vease el que le hace a Penélope Cruz momentos antes), y de que la violencia no debe de ser nunca la solución… sin embargo, puedo comprender la reacción de Will, aunque no la justifique, ya que él quiso defender de una forma u otra a alguien a quien aprecia; no obstante, Jada podría haberlo hecho perfectamente sin él, aunque desconocemos cual fue su estado anímico en ese momento. Por otra parte y en relación con esto, creo que muy poca gente se ha centrado en eso, en saber como se siente ella… al igual que en los medios de comunicación y RRSS tampoco se ha hablado todo lo que se debe de la intervención sorora por parte de Lady Gaga hacia Liza Minelli. </font></font>

<font style=”vertical-align: inherit;”><font style=”vertical-align: inherit;”><font style=”vertical-align: inherit;”><font style=”vertical-align: inherit;”>Deberíamos plantearnos todas las personas como sociedad en qué estamos fallando para que comentarios como el de Rock cuenten como bromas, por qué parece que la violencia es la respuesta ante las agresiones y por qué las mujeres siempre pasamos a un segundo plano a pesar de ser el centro del asunto.</font></font></font></font>

[Jose Ignacio]

Dear Laura.

First of all, I thank you for your comment.

I totally agree with you.

In relation to what you say, it is also important to reflect on values such as: empathy, respect and equality in our society. Since, in this case it is for a health issue, but in social media we can see more unhealthy and unequal comments. As for example in social networks, in the ways of approaching the news and other situations.

Kind regards, Jose Ignacio Zarandona.

[Katarzyna]

Undoubtedly, this incident will remain a topic of a great debate for a very long period of time. Will Smith’s behaviour was very impulsive. Instead of going on the stage and saying that these jokes are highly inappropriate, and inspiring others by setting an example with his attitude, at the same time stigmatizing such behavior – Will Smith decided to punch Chris Rock in the head in front of millions of people. Instead of being smarter, and show that it is worth fighting without using violence.

[Jose Ignacio]

Dear Kasia.

I totally agree with you.

Of course, I am also against violence and Will could have used dialogue-based communication.

Best regards, José Ignacio Zarandona.

[Jennifer]

La actitud de Will ha sido bastante fea, ya que la violencia no es la solución. Vamos a tener en cuenta que es un personaje público al cual le está viendo millones de personas y que muchas le tendrán como referencia, con lo cual lo único que consigue es dar un ejemplo negativo a esas personas de que la violencia es la solución.

En mi opinión hubiese quedado mil veces mejor decirle unas palabras a Chris. De todos modos, la actitud de Chris ha sido lamentablemente, creo que hoy en día puedes decir cualquier comentario desafortunado ya que si lo haces riéndote la gente lo tiene que entender como humor, cuando no es así. Una persona también conocida está dando el ejemplo de que puede reírse de una persona que está pasando por una situación de la cual no sabe lo que pueda estar sufriendo tanto ella como su familia, simplemente porque es humor.

Así que aunque la respuesta de Will no ha sido la mejor, creo que en una situación en la que estás viendo que se ríen de una persona querida delante de todo el mundo, puede hacer que pierdas los papeles.

[Carolina]

<div>Dear all,</div>

Why is it that if a man wears a shaved head look, nothing happens and if a woman wears it, it is cause for ridicule? Leaving aside the disease that Jada Pinket suffers (commented by Jose), the most common gender stereotype in women is that we have to look beautiful and beautiful, groomed, well dressed… If we break the rules and our dresses or hairstyles they do not follow the canons of beauty of each era, we are criticized by society.

I think that Will Smith’s reaction was the explosion of a host of situations experienced for this reason and despite his wife being mocked, he reacted with the physical aggression that we have seen half the world. A disproportionate reaction since physical violence is not justifiable and even less in a public figure, a role model for many young people.

In my opinion, Will Smith did have a macho reaction when playing the role of protective husband using force. Protection and strength, two gender roles assigned to men marked by the patriarchal culture in which we live.

But apart from my opinion that I share with you, I want to present a reflection… The shaved head look is a haircut that, either due to illness or by choice, is still just that, a way of showing off our heads. Why has Chris Rock’s joke been taken as an offense if he has only compared this woman’s hairstyle to that of “Lieutenant Onil”? Could it be that Lieutenant Onil doesn’t meet the established beauty canons either? Why is it that if we compare two women with long blonde hair they are not a reason for ridicule?

Let’s think about what kind of society we want to maintain and act accordingly.

[Koraima]

I think Will Smith’s reaction was inappropriate to the situation they were in and it was wrong for him to use violence, that’s not justifiable, if he wanted to defend his wife, he could have done it intelligently with words. In that case, I think she could have done it too but maybe she was in shock after such a nasty joke.

[Ana]

There are so many wrong things in this scene. First of all, the joke was completely innapropiate and offensive, because Jada has an illness that affects her emotionally. So Chris was completely out of context telling that joke.

About Jada’s reaction: she was able to defend herself but it’s understandable that she didn’t want to make a scene or get atention on herself .

About Will’s behaviour: it’s a mix about Jada and Chris comments. Chris offended and hurt a Will’s loved one in public, which is embarrassing for Jada,so ai understand that he felt he needed to do something in defense of Jada. But violence is never justified and is never the solution,so I don’t think it’s a good way to behave.