Hello, Besties!
Hopefully, everyone is doing well. We all know at least three people who are not.
This one incident has sparked debate all over the world. Everyone wants to chime in and give their opinions. Since Monday, I have been watching response videos on YouTube and reading several articles on Facebook. Now mind you, I usually don’t care about celebrity news. What celebrities do in their free time is not my concern. However, I found this incident interesting and could not stay silent. Let’s dive into it.
We’ll begin with the joke told by Chris Rock. He said, “Jada, love ya! Can’t wait for G.I. Jane 2.” The joke itself is not even funny to me. Chris Rock is comparing Jada’s bald head to Demi Moore’s bald head in G.I. Jane. However, Demi shaved her head for a movie. It grew back. Jada has an auto-immune disease called alopecia, which causes hair loss. She opened up about it in 2018. Obviously, Jada did not find the joke funny. Will laughed at first, but, soon after, marched on the stage and slapped all of the jokes out of Rock’s mouth. Literally. He was clearly shocked and could not recover. I wouldn’t expect anyone to in that situation.
Let’s stop here for a moment. In my opinion, Will should not have slapped Chris Rock. I’ll say that first. However, Chris Rock humiliated Jada in front of MILLIONS of people. I can’t begin to imagine what that feels like. That is everyone’s worst nightmare, I’m sure. Watching someone you love go through that is triggering. If that was my spouse being humiliated, I can’t say that I wouldn’t do the same. Does that make me a horrible person? No. Neither is Will. We’re human. We have feelings. Feelings get hurt. Chris just picked at a sore spot for Jada. You could tell by her facial expressions. She was hurt and a little angry. Whether he knew about her condition or not is irrelevant. The joke was offensive and hurtful.
You cannot tell people how they should react. You can’t tell people whether they should be hurt or not.
Now, many comedians are coming forward to condemn Will’s actions. Let’s think about that for a minute. What are they really condemning? Are they scared someone will hurt them because he/she did not like their hurtful jokes? Hmmm? Interesting. Maybe the answer should be to stop hurting people. I’ve seen MANY clips of comedians roasting people in the audience. (That is basically what happens at the Oscars.) They joke negatively about your clothes, hair, looks, etc. AND they expect you to put up with it. So you pay money to get into the show just to be ridiculed. Absolutely not! This needs to stop.
You can call me silly for feeling this way, but I don’t care. You don’t know what someone is going through behind closed doors. There are just certain things you don’t do. Humiliating people for laughs is disgusting.
Think about it. Most people know not to tell racist jokes in public. They’ll get their asses whooped, if they tell just the right person. Well, racism is also offensive and hurtful just like Chris’s joke towards Jada. I can already hear some of you saying, “WeLl RaCiSm AnD rOaStInG pEoPlE aRe NoT tHe SaMe.” No, but the results are. You’re still hurting people, and that is not okay.
That is all I have to say about this incident. I could say more, but it is my bedtime. lol Just remember it costs nothing to be kind.
See you next time, Besties!
~Jana Leigh
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