Remember watching the show “Everybody Hates Chris” (narrated by Chris Rock), and at the end there was always something bad that happened to Chris? Watching the Oscars was like watching the end of another episode. OMG! Mike & I were finishing up plating food for dinner. It’s been a while since I’ve seen standup comedy from Chris Rock, so I paused a moment to focus in on what he was saying and his jokes. I saw Will Smith laughing but Jada’s facial expression took me back to Low Down Dirty Shame Peaches. Next, I see Will casually walking on stage with Chris Rock leaning forward as if he’s about to greet Will with a laughable handshake. And then, wham!! I couldn’t believe my eyes. So I had to rewind it two or three times to actually see what happened.
Although Chris Rock stepped out of bounds for his jokes that he is notorious for, I applaud him for keeping his composure and continuing the best he could to continue the awards show. You could tell that he was uncomfortable, embarrassed, and caught off guard.
Now, for Mr. Smith. I let out a sigh of disappointment. Tonight of all nights was supposed to be full of excitement and celebration. Will Smith made history at the Oscars, yet my emotions feel torn. Will has been very admirable for DECADES with what’s known as a “clean” image. Of course he’s experienced life’s challenges and been in the spotlight for different things but violence was not one of them. This night was supposed to be a big win for the culture and yet I feel like we lost as a people. It’s bad enough that we barely get a seat at the Oscars let alone give “them” a reason not to want to further invite us or include us. Nobody’s perfect and I don’t fault him at all for feeling some type of way, especially if someone is speaking negatively about your spouse on live TV, however there were alternate ways to handle it. He could’ve addressed Chris AFTER the award show, walked out of the show, or spoke his mind from his seat which is what he eventually ended up doing after taking physical action. The cringey part is that this was on TV, where children would be watching, looking up to both of them. My oldest kept asking “what happened?” as I had to play off what truly occurred like “oh they were just joking around”.
One thing that I agree with Will about was the quote he mentioned from Denzel Washington “at your highest moment, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you”. You can feel like you’re on top of the world, with so much power and all eyes on you. With that comes a lot of pressure and range of emotions that can be hard to control. You have to remain humble and know that if God be for you, who can be against you. (Roman’s 8:31)
Chris Rock, I hope you’re doing well and hope that you & will can reach a place of forgiveness.
Will Smith, everyone has a bad night. You’ve taken a lot of smack from entanglements to Hollywood critics to folks critiquing your parenting style and you have remained unmoved and poised. You know what the right thing to do is and I know that you will shine on after this shadowy time.
With love,
Yo! Mama
