Ah, the internet.
If you ever wanted proof of our collective ability to spiral into fervourous derangement in the wake of a celebrity scandal, look no further than the slap that was heard around the world. Reacting to a poor taste joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's baldness, the result of her widely-publicised alopecia, Will Smith stepped up to the Oscars stage and delivered a firm slap to the cheek of oft off-piste comedian Chris Rock.
We all saw it happen. We all saw the reaction throughout the auditorium. At first, it seemed it could've been a bit; Smith's profanity-laced vociferation popped that thought like a balloon. For the next hour and a half, the mood in the Dolby Theatre shifted dramatically, with some of the hospitality staff claiming many of the A-listers stopped drinking. And yet we live in the age of disinformation — an era in which truth is as accepted a principle as falsehood — and so even the most objective realities, apparently, can come into question.
One frankly unhinged Twitter user, deriding “the gullible sheep” — ah, we've not heard that one before — had two pieces of evidence for the alleged staging of the slap. One: Rock “grimaced for what he knows is coming,” which would only be indicative of prior planning, and not the fact that Smith is very obviously marching up to him with the devil in his eyes. Two: they're friends, and they've been friends for years, dummy! Manifestly implying that something else could be afoot, the New York Post posted an article about Smith teaching a kid (called Chris, funnily enough) how to fake fights in the movies, including a slap. Because actors never hold workshops.
Another image shared far-and-wide, such as by this gullible fellow on Facebook, claims that Rock was wearing a cheek pad. (Note that other would-be truthseekers argue Rock took the hit like a stage slap, negating the need for protection in the first place.) It has replicated in such a ridiculous manner that Reuters put their fact checking team on the case. “What appear to be skin tone and natural face wrinkles in the original photo were likely edited in the version on social media,” they say, concluding that the cheek pad image was altered. No shit.
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When something like this happens on such a grand stage, between two incandescent stars, it's natural that we'll all want to put in our two cents. Four op-ed writers for The New York Times have had their collective say; the internet is otherwise alight with armchair analysis, with trenches being erected across the battlefield in defence of both Rock and Smith (and, indeed, Pinkett Smith). We're all waxing eloquent on what this means for toxic masculinity, ableism, patriarchy, chauvinism, the threat of comedians being attacked at their own shows, and other lofty questions effecting the general State of Things. This is all bad enough, but at least we're dealing with reality.
The conspiratorial guys? Take no notice. We implore you.
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