This blog is nothing if not timely, with its finger right on the pulse of the zeitgeist. Hence I’m going to talk about “The Slap” at the Oscars.
I remember thinking even at the time that it was a dumb, Neanderthal thing for Will Smith to do. Possibly you could argue violence might have a place in society in defending the weak – but is there anyone out there that thinks Jada is the weaker person of the two?
On the other hand, I’ve never understood this tradition of roasting celebrities in the US. Picking on people isn’t funny. Maybe if you had a joke that was coincidentally unkind to someone with the power to take it, but not if being mean was the whole idea. There are exceptions of course.
To me, it belongs in the same humour bracket as practical jokes. Aren’t we all told that it’s rude to laugh at people? “It’s just a joke!” “Can’t you take a joke?” is just bullying.
Fame is weird, though. It seems Will has been suffering professionally since the slap. Well, apart from when the academy gave him a standing ovation for his best actor win half an hour later, but let’s brush over that, shall we? The old adage “there’s no such thing as bad publicity!” doesn’t seem to be holding true. Is he a victim of the left wing “cancel culture” conspiracy? No, I think so-called ‘cancel culture’ is mostly just people finally getting called out for being assholes, although again there are exceptions on the extremes.
Come to think of it, I don’t think either Johnny Depp or Amber Heard will think their current notoriety is a good career move. Nonetheless, fame can be painfully fleeting. There are examples in the music world. I read an article a few weeks ago that mentioned the lead singer of Dexys Midnight Runners. A few short years after they peaked, he found himself unemployed and having to sign up for the benefit. Unfortunately he was recognized and everyone else on the dole queue sang “Come On Eileen” to him while he blushed in misery. How painful would that be? Or imagine someone coming up to you in the twilight of your acting career to ask “Didn’t you used to be ‘insert formerly famous actor’s name here’?” Ghastly.
I expect this is why they never have any trouble getting people to pay extortionate amounts for Met Gala tickets. “Look at me! I’m still someone!”