NPR: We all know by now what happened at last week's Academy Awards ceremony. In the minutes after the smack, the audience seemed to be in shock, but two Black actors sprung to Will Smith's side - Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry. That got us to thinking about that small, elite circle of Black actors and actresses that inhabit Black Hollywood and what that means at moments like this.
2 comments:
I think that this whole situation has a lot of layers, and honestly both Will Smith and Chris Rock did things that were wrong. It was very uncalled for to make fun of someone who has a medical condition on live television, especially in front of their husband. Therefore it can be pretty understandable for Smith to want to defend someone he loves, but it is questionable if the slap was completely necessary. Also the concept of linked fate is so interesting and incredibly true. When you are part of a group that is constantly under scrutiny like the black community, unfortunately your actions aren’t only a reflection of you to some people, they can become a distorted reflection of all people in your community. I think their conversation about power dynamics even within all of these celebrities is really fascinating. Cause really these are all just extremely rich people who all have a lot of money and power in the industry of Hollywood.
Like the rest of the internet, I feel that everyone involved with the incident was at fault. It is never okay to make fun of someone’s disability or medical history, and never okay to assault someone. While the first is distasteful and mean, the latter is illegal. I think the Academy also failed to handle the situation well in the moment, only making a statement days later. Additionally, it is incorrect that this the most violent event that has happened at the Academy Awards; the actual most violent thing happened was when a white man tried to attack actress and activist Sacheen Littlefeather at the 1973 Oscars.
The excellent point made by Eric Deggans about linked fate is what we should all take from this. The idea that one person of a marginalized group is representative of the entire group is incredibly harmful, especially when the actions fall into a stereotype. Unfortunately it has been normalized in our society. Of course, linked fate is not as true for people in the oppressive group. It also brings up the power imbalance associated with Hollywood stars and how they use or abuse it.
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