In one single, uncontrolled action Will Smith enabled a million other bullies. If there is any justice in the world, that will be Smith’s last public appearance. That he got an ovation after his Oscar acceptance speech was insulting enough from the Hollywood elite, but it shows how easily transgressions are forgiven if you’re rich or famous.
The moment, like so much of human history these days, was quickly captured in memes. It is already the stuff of endless jokes. But this humorous reaction belies the real damage Smith has done. A million other bullies will now feel emboldened to humiliate and harm those smaller than them.
Amazingly, such an act will, in all likelihood, go unpunished. Because Chris Rock won’t press charges, there’s no crime to prosecute. Rock probably doesn’t want to be drawn in any more — but he ought to make sure Smith faces real consequences.
This public act of bullying will go unpunished. Because the perpetrator is rich and famous. And his victim — like those of all bullies — just wants the whole thing to go away. Let that sink in.
Meanwhile, other bullies keep getting away with it because nobody stood up to them from the start.
Take Russian President Vladimir Putin. Eight years ago, he “annexed” Crimea and started a low-grade war in Ukraine. Analysts have pointed to the lethargic, mostly nonexistent response from the West at those early thrusts by Putin, who felt emboldened to invade Ukraine.
He’s bullied everyone in the Russian establishment and now they don’t dare tell him what’s really going on — most particularly why the invasion has been so incompetent.
Having cowed everyone, he is now surrounded with incompetent yes-men. Russian forces have failed to take the key cities and have themselves become bullies, resorting to indiscriminate artillery shelling to smash the cities.
It is also the information war that Putin has lost and Volodymyr Zelensky has won — profoundly won
The apparent slaughter of civilians in Bucha is the result of Putin’s unchecked aggression. This is a war that continues to unfold on social media, even as mainstream media begins to break from the wall-to-wall Ukraine coverage a month ago.
It is also the information war that Putin has lost and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, has won — profoundly so. The former TV actor and comedian has brilliantly adapted his pleas for help to whichever audience he is addressing.
He has proved that some “old media” staples like press conferences — in his trademark green combat T-shirt — can still be as powerful as any other form of new media. So, too, his addresses to various sympathetic parliaments around the world, where he has used old-fashioned oratory to win over his audiences — while tailoring his message to particular sensibilities. He has some truly excellent speechwriters.
We live in a world where an actor like Smith gets an Oscar for pretending to be a great person — all the while harbouring the rage of a bully — while the true hero is a man fighting to keep his country free from invaders who are bombing maternity hospitals.
This is the end of Smith. He may not know it yet, but his once glittering career is over. He deserves what is coming for his brutal humiliation of another person, knowing full well the publicity it would bring. Meanwhile, a truly admirable human being, a Jewish actor now playing the most important role of his whole life, is the true winner.
Shapshak is editor-in-chief of Stuff Studios (stuff.co.za) and publisher of Scrolla.Africa
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