Editorial: Will Smith's slap should be heard around the world

Actor Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith pulling faces on a social media post, put up after the fracas at the Oscars. Photo / @willsmith via Instagram

EDITORIAL

In the otherworldly realm of movies, violence is meted out according to a fluid set of situations for cinematic effect.

In one setting, slapstick can be used for humorous effect. In another, vicious acts can be delivered to build to a villain's justifiable dispatch. But, as we sometimes have to remind the children, these scenarios are not real.

In actual life, it is not okay to step up to a non-violent person and strike them hard on the face - so hard that it bends them double from the force.

Yet this is what a roomful of Hollywood's so-called elite witnessed, silently, this week as actor Will Smith served out on comedian Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Perhaps they thought it was scripted - but it was soon obvious it wasn't.

The standing ovation when Smith subsequently received an award compounded the wrong. The reactions from the audience have been largely matched by the organisers of the event, and authorities.

"The Academy does not condone violence of any form," said part of a disapprobationary statement from the organisers, apparently without blushing as an institution built on glorifying such acts in so many different forms.

The Los Angeles Police also hastened to assure the public Rock had declined to press charges, lending new piquance to the phrase "cop out", given there could be no shortage of potential witnesses to a crime. The ceremony was watched by an estimated 15.36 million viewers, according to preliminary Nielsen company numbers.

Many of those who have spoken in defence of Smith have pointed out Rock had delivered a "cheap shot" on the actor's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The one-liner compared her bare head, a result of alopecia, to that of Demi Moore's shaven appearance in the film GI Jane.

Humour or satire is always at someone's expense, and not everyone laughs. Maturity decides how you deal with it. A 53-year-old might be expected to do better. Smith's apology a day later smacked of an attempted career salvage.

Has the act of "roasting" guests gone too far? Probably, yes. Its overuse at ceremonies has become tiresome and proponents are pushing limits to try to stifle yawns.

Smith's lashing out may have been partly a result of his own embarrassment. He was seen laughing at Rock's joke before noticing his wife was much less amused. His confrontation with Rock may then have been more a realisation that he had been made to look a fool.

The blow was not "just a slap". Rock confirmed this when he said he felt Smith "beat the "s*** out of me". He has suffered a physical assault and the emotional harm that comes with being viewed as, and feeling, defenceless to a bully.

The King Richard actor stepped up to deliver the blow from a position of power. Without knowing the exact amount, Rock would have been at least partly aware Smith has an estimated net worth of more than $500 million.

As is often the case, our reaction to this incident says much about us. Violence should never be the response to words. And silence should never be the response to violence.