By John H. Foote
It has now been reported Will Smith and his wife were asked to leave the Academy Awards ceremony after he slapped Chris Rock and he refused to do so. Obviously knowing he was about to win the Oscar as Best Actor weighed on his decision to leave.
But this goes deeper.
It appears to an entitlement about the Smiths that has, in the last few months, become terribly obvious. Their massive egos are becomingly frightening.
Did the Smiths, in their delusion, see the Oscars as some sort of coronation?
Smith can be seen laughing as Rock made his comments about Jada, and she can be seen seething with rage. When the camera cut away, did she say something to him, or did he catch a look he has seen often and realized he better act … quickly? Jada was clearly unimpressed by Rock’s joke, and it was a joke, and made her displeasure felt with her scowl. The look on her face would freeze tropical waters.
The Academy acted at once, and the Smiths were asked to leave the ceremony, but refused, apparently thinking they had done no wrong. Unbelievable.
When they refused, Smith should have been banned from making his acceptance speech, from even approaching the stage to accept his award. The Oscar cannot be taken away, and should not, it was voted to him by members of the Academy. If they take back his award, do they also take back Harvey Weinstein’s or Roman Polanski’s? No of course not.
Smith and Jada, by refusing to leave, proved believed they were bigger than the event itself. That Will Smith believes he and winning his Oscar is an event bigger than the Oscars themselves. Such an ego!
And Jada? She has spent her career as an actress coasting on the coattails of Will Smith. Because of her, and her husband’s inability to stand up to his wife, that may not be such a great place to be. The two have proven to be toxic.
Get jiggy with that.
John H. Foote is a well-recognized Canadian film critic/historian who has been an active critic for 30 years. His deep love for the movies began at a very young age. He began his career as co-host of the popular TV show Reel to Real where he remained for nine years. While on TV he began dabbling in education, eventually ascending to Director of the Toronto Film School, where he also taught film history. After leaving the college to care for his wife, he returned to teaching at Humber College where he taught both Film History and Method Acting Theory. John has written two books: “Clint Eastwood – Evolution of a Filmmaker” and the upcoming “Spielberg – American Film Visionary”. He is currently working on two books, one about the films of the seventies and another on the films of Martin Scorsese. Through his career he has worked in TV, radio, print and the web. John has interviewed everyone in the industry (more than 300 interviews) except Jack Nicholson, he says sadly. Highlights include Martin Scorsese, Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep Robert Duvall, Jane Fonda, Francis Ford Coppola and Kathryn Bigelow.
