Jarrod Gilbert: Will Smith Oscars incident challenges biker wisdom

Head Hunters, Hells Angels and King Cobra motorcycle gang members gather at St Joseph's Church in Grey Lynn for the funeral of Taranaki Fuimaono. Photo / Alex Burton

OPINION:

A member of the Hells Angels once said to me that the world becomes more polite when there is a threat of violence. We were at a pub talking about keyboard warriors: "People don't say as much offensive stuff to each other when there's a genuine chance they'll get punched in the face."

And that's true. People wouldn't say half of the things they say on social media if they were face-to-face with a person, let alone if they thought that person might crack them around the skull. There would still be disagreements, even strong ones, but the whole tone and tenor of discussions would become more polite. This seems like a good thing then, right?

Let's look at the incident at the Oscars when Chris Rock targeted a joke at Jada Pinkett Smith. Her Will Smith husband jumped up and slapped the comedian an absolute cracker. Rock did well to keep his feet.

And here's where my patch wearing philosopher comes a little unstuck. The threat of violence needs the act of violence to be effective; meaning people need to get bashed for the threat to hold up. We have to accept that violence is an answer, and all of a sudden things start to get tricky.

The situation becomes one where "might makes right". This is a pretty good situation if you're a gang member, but not so much for a puny columnist like me. It's unlikely Smith would have struck the imposing Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, but he was happy to have a crack at the diminutive Rock.

Steven Pinker's excellent book The Better Angels of Our Nature shows us that humanity over the longest period is evolving away from violence. While we may not recognise these changes, there has been a definitive march towards a far less violent world.

But our perceptions of violence are not always in check with facts.

The general trend for murder in New Zealand, for example, is generally down in recent times. Peaking in the late 1980s, murders have declined in real terms and even more so on a per-head-of-population basis. But even data can sometimes be misleading.

Statistics around family violence have had an upward trajectory over the same period, but that's a result of society taking a far stronger stance against it – leading to more prosecutions – rather than families becoming less safe. Although I believe violence in the home is one of New Zealand's most pressing problems – primarily due to its impacts on children – it is far less normalised today than at any time previously.

Will Smith hits presenter Chris Rock on stage while presenting the award for best documentary feature at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Photo / AP

In a world where words are more plentiful – social media gives nearly everyone a publishing platform – words have become a focus for harm; both real and perceived. I cop abuse after damn near every column I write, and by all accounts, this is significantly worse for female scribes.

I care what people I respect say about my work and ideas, but personally, I couldn't care less about abuse tossed at me by often anonymous strangers. That's not to say it's pleasant or isn't a significant problem for other people. Politicians, minority groups, and journalists all cop a heap of abuse. It appears to be the problem de rigueur of this generation.

At least in part, it's because of our acute focus on this type of verbal and written abuse that some people have supported Smith's attack or rationalised it. The old schoolyard adage of "sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me" has been flipped on its head.

Smith had numerous other ways in which to protest what he saw as an unacceptable attack on his wife. As does Pinkett Smith herself. Both have massive media platforms to rail against Rock if they wanted to.

Instead, Smith chose a path of violence. In the shorter term, his actions created far greater negative consequences than those of the harm he sought to combat. It ruined or clouded the evening for many people, including his own. In the bigger picture, it sets a terrible example.

Pinker points out that society isn't becoming safer by fluke, it's occurring because of choices we collectively make.

Violence in the face of words should not be what we choose.

I rather like the idea of testing what I'm about to say by asking myself, "Would I say this to a Hells Angel who might smack me?" It gives me a pause to consider the content and tone of what I'm saying. But a society that sees violence as the answer has lost sight of the question.

Dr Jarrod Gilbert is a sociologist at the University of Canterbury and the director of Independent Research Solutions.