(ThyBlackMan.com) Before we fully solidify into warring camps over the Slap Heard ‘Round the World, let’s try and situate the episode in its larger context. To begin with, Who is Chris Rock? + Who is Will Smith? Let’s start with Chris. Who’s Chris Rock? Yes, he’s a comedian, but he is something more. Chris Rock, right now, is at the very top of the game played by those who Play the Fool before the King.
In the Middle Ages, a nobleman had his own personal clown, a Court Jester, whose job it was to entertain him and his guests. The Jester, the Joker, would play the fool, make fun of himself (and oftentimes the Lord) as the most prominent representative of the vast body of serfs and servants under the nobility. Between the days of the Court Jester and the modern day Comedian came Black minstrelsy. In a society with masters and enslaved, who better to play the fool than one of those in chains? The tradition of standup comedy came right out of Black minstrelsy, Bert Williams being the iconic figure in that regard.
The Court Jester, though he played the fool, certainly wasn’t one, not at all. In fact, just the opposite was true. To earn his keep, and keep his head, he had to know, exactly, how far to go, how to tickle the lord’s fancy without dangerously, perhaps fatally, raising the ire of his sire. Meanwhile, all the King’s Courtiers, knowing he had the full measure of the Monarch, came to him for advice on how to approach the King, and they’d also turn to him when it was time to give the Ruler touchy news.
So, the Court Jester was a Funnyman, but he was a Wise One too, and often quite moody and morose in his musings. Take Richard Pryor, for example, and what about Dave Chapelle? Yes, Chapelle’s very, very funny, but look at him now, deep in controversy. And does anyone remember Lenny Bruce? His career went down in flames, but thanks to him, or boos to him, for enabling four letter words to be used in public performances. Thus, Chris Rock is, for all intents and purposes, the Nation’s Court Jester. Chapelle was knocked out that spot once Smith gave him that slap.
Now, Who is Will Smith? Yes, Smith’s an actor, but not just any actor. Smith is now Hollywood’s resident Sidney Poitier, the token Black (male) actor given apparently non-stereotypical roles. First there was Sidney Poitier himself, then James Earl Jones, then Denzel Washington, and now Will Smith who is in the process, it seems, of being replaced by Michael B. Jordan.
Truth is stranger than fiction. Who could have imagined 911, Trump becoming president, the War in Ukraine or Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscar’s on the very night he won it for Best Actor? So let’s focus on the Truth, not the diversion. Let’s not focus on the Slap, but on the underlying issue and frustrations that it obscures, the roles Black actors play on stage and how that may negatively affect the roles African Americans actually play in this society.
Let’s approach this question by starting with what many of us are agreed on, namely, that we made fools out of ourselves in front of the Man (the King.) If so, the next question is, how did we get to be in that position? Look at Tyler Perry, a fellow who went from sleeping in the back of his car to creating a billion dollar Movie Studio. All the while there were, and still are, Black actors pulling down 10, 15, 20 million dollars and more, per picture, and making several films each year, and they’re still just actors upon a stage owned by others, and their performances, more often than not, relentlessly slap and batter the Black image as portrayed on the silver screen. Misdirection, pure and simple.
Same thing happened in another area wherein we display our prowess, the athletic arena. Recently a Black coach, Tom Flores, made some serious charges. He said he was being interviewed for jobs that were already given to white men. But he also said something else. But before that something else could sink in, Flores was promptly given a coaching job. What was that something else? That NFL owners regularly paid coaches to throw games toward the end of the season to improve their pick in the upcoming draft, a felony, that is, a crime punishable by more than one year in prison.
As to who was right and who was wrong in the Will Smith – Chris Rock imbroglio, I’ll leave that up to y’all. One thing, though, did you see how Chris took the blow in stride. He laughed, yes, he actually laughed. And what did he say? “That was the greatest night in the history of television.” Yes, Chris is not the National Funnyman for naught. But that joke could open up a truly positive reality, if we really look at all that lies beneath it, namely, that even tokens are regularly degraded. Denzel won the Academy Award for playing a thorougly corrupt cop in Training Day, Morgan Freeman for Driving Miss Daisy and Halle Berry for Monster’s Ball, and recall how her character was treated in that picture, and what Adrian Brodie did to her the following year upon winning the Academy Award.
They say Where There is No Vision the People Perish. Thus, we can conclude, where there is one, they may flourish. Thank you, Tyler Perry. And here’s hoping that more will follow your sterling example.
Staff Writer; Arthur Lewin
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