In West Philadelphia, Born and Raised...

Chris Polk for Variety

Will Smith got upset at Chris Rock for telling a joke about his wife and slapped him in the face. If this was a normal altercation, it might be a few days long. This happened at the Oscars. My initial reaction was, "Did I just see what I thought I just saw?" And then, I looked on the net. Literally a few seconds later, writers had already written a story that was a basic explanation of what happened. Later that night, Will Smith accepted his Oscar crying about his performance at the Oscars. So the next day, there were a billion videos about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock for a joke. 
What can we learn from this...
We are all familiar with violence and we're pretty much used to it. We see people smash into other people in football. We see people get shot in public schools. Our news is full of crimes of violence and mayhem that happen in our city. We are a violent society.  
The writer Anthony Burgess said it plainly. 

Violence among young people is an aspect of their desire to create. They don't know how to use their energy creatively so they do the opposite and destroy.

We are teaching our young people that violence is the answer, and creativity will never do anything for you in this world. It's all about taking as much as you can from the other person. Protecting yourself and your ego. And it's not about creating things. 
When violence is happening, creation cannot occur. Chris Rock delivered a joke about Will Smith's wife (Creativity) and Will decided to smack him for what he said. (Destruction). So there we are. Will Smith's reaction last night was a reaction of violence. It was fight and not flight. He could have walked away. 

So everyone talked about this one violent moment that overshadowed all of the creativity of the night. Overshadowed all of the movies and milestones. And it was that one moment that drew our attention. And basically drew everyone's attention. 
What are we to learn.

EVERYONE HAS THEIR BREAKING POINT
Will Smith is human and he has feelings. He makes mistakes. He, in his own apology, stated that he is a "Work in Progress". We are all trying to go through this world and have peace. Have a great night. Will is under great pressure and he has his breaking point. 

WHAT IS THE COMEDIAN'S RESPONSIBILITY FOR A JOKE
Is the comedian responsible for the joke that he tells? Jokes at the heart of what they are divide people. They make fun of things. They poke fun and they allow us to look at ourselves. They make us laugh. In our highly politically correct culture, everyone's opinion is elevated. The joke was probably written by someone, and it was delivered by a person who's goal was to bring us all together and make us laugh. Was Chris Rock responsible for the joke? Could Leonardo DiCaprio come up and slap Amy Schumer for saying he dates young girls? Did Claire Danes have the right to slap Amy Schumer for getting her out of the seat next to her husband, Jesse Plemons? Hollywood actors are fair game, and Oscars ever since the beginning have taken the tone of a roast. It's just the way it is. 

WAS IT WORTH THE ASSAULT?
Will Smith is a Hollywood actor and a brand. He employs thousands of people with every movie he produces. Chris Rock is a Hollywood brand as well and employs others. They are responsible for their actions and today, press people had to clean up what happened. 

WAS WILL SMITH'S APOLOGY ON STAGE VICTIM BLAMING
It was definitely defending his actions and not talking about the incident or talking about the person. He used the language of a person who was not sorry at that point. He was trying to do his best to save face. 

IS THERE AN APPROPRIATE REPRIMAND FOR HIS ACTIONS
I seriously think that he needs to make peace with Chris Rock. I could see him donating to a major charity that Chris Rock champions. I would say that the academy should not take his Oscar. He earned that. He needs to remember that kids saw that. He's a role model whether he wants to be or not. And I think that he just need to move on. Do better next time. That's basically it. 

It's a shame that it happened. I like Chris Rock. I like Will Smith. I don't like a world where Will Smith and Chris Rock do not like each other. But people do have problems with others and there are better ways to deal with it. Those are my thoughts....Share this post with others and tell me what you think about the incident.