Some white people still think Will Smith punching Chris Rock at the Oscars was one of the worst things they’ve ever seen. As a person of color, I have spoken to MANY black people about this incident. My personal research showed that most of them were apathetic or thought Chris Rock somehow deserved it, even if they weren’t big fans of how Will handled it or the timing of it. Regardless of his specific thoughts about that particular moment, one writer in rolling stone believes that this was one of the worst decisions in the history of cinema. Really? In the entire history of cinema?
To be simple and provide context, let me say that rolling stone ranked the Smith/Rock incident FOURTH on his list of the “50 Worst Decisions in Movie History”. In the history of cinema— this is important to keep in mind as I list some other notable incidents and their rankings. The writer said that he didn’t want to “correct” the casting choices so much when putting together this list, such as racist casting choices, because it would have taken up too many spots. Um… yes!
This also follows the founder rolling stone racist comments that led to his removal from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s board of directors. You’d think something like this would make a publication’s staff be extra vigilant and avoid anything that might indicate systemic racism, but either it doesn’t, or they don’t see it as the problem that it is. own.
By the way, at number 47 on the list is Ernest goes to Africa. Ernest was a strange character, very child-like, who appeared in several different films and traveled to many different places. In this movie, he visits Africa and some pretty ridiculous and racist things happen, including Ernest even wearing Brownface while posing as a servant. Yes, brownface. It’s worth noting that this was in 1997, not 1937.
The MPAA’s terrible rating system is number 35. Essentially, the MPAA assigns letters and ratings to films to indicate how appropriate they are for certain age groups. NC-17 is the most explicit – well, R – most explicit of films you can actually see in most theaters, and the MPAA often deems extreme violence more acceptable to young audiences than sex. That’s right, the more nudity and sex there is in a film, the more likely it is to receive an NC-17 rating, and violence is treated very differently.
That’s why some great movies like Blue is the warmest color received this rating. I’ve seen this movie and it actually has two long, graphic sex scenes (as far as movies go). But they were in the context of a pretty sweet love story, and it was all consensual. On the other hand, hardcore violent films such as Saws only rated R. The MPAA argues that the violence is more acceptable and thus has helped stockpile a massive amount of gory imagery over the years, while squeezing pearls instead of nudity. But still not as bad as Will Smith’s slap!
Going even further down the list, at number 26 we see the film Passion of Christ. Oh yeah, one of the most anticipated films of all time, featuring the murder of the most famous man in history, who helped perpetuate anti-Semitic stereotypes and was directed by a rabid bigot named Mel Gibson? Still no worse than a Will Smith slap.
Coming in at number 13 is a terrible casting choice for one of the most classic films of all time. Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The film is almost always remembered for the gorgeous Aubrey Hepburn and her little black dress, but Mickey Rooney’s performance as the Japanese photographer was notoriously terrible. Rooney was a white actor who was cast to play an absurdly stereotypical Asian man – and again, not in some random movie. It was one of the most popular films ever made. Yes.
In seventh place we have the 1983 film. Twilight zone. Three people died here, including two child actors. A tragic accident occurred on the set and resulted in a helicopter crash. The sequence of events was, of course, removed from the film, and lawsuits continued for years. It turned out that basic security measures were not observed, but in the end no one was brought to criminal responsibility. Ideal, rolling stone– For some reason, the death of children was no worse than… a slap in the face?
Since the slap came in at number four, let’s also take a quick look at the things that are ahead of it on this list. Only three In the history of cinema, things have been worse! In third place is Blockbuster, which is refusing to buy Netflix for $50 million. Money problems are so terrible! Number two is a series of roles that Burt Reynolds turned down, including the title role in star Wars And Pretty Woman. Okay, these are pretty popular movies. But is it so monumental? Who really cares? Burt Reynolds maybe?
And the number one spot goes to Conqueror, where the troubled John Wayne was cast as an Asian man. They wore offensive makeup and even used rubber bands to pull back the skin around the eyes. The choice of location was also wild. They filmed near nuclear testing sites, and it was noted that 41% of the film’s crew developed cancer in the ensuing decades, and 21% died, including Wayne. I guess it’s a fair choice for number one, but for the rest?
So you have a good idea about this rolling stone list. Seriously? Are these the only three things in movie history worse than Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars? So what exactly are the “worst” decisions in film history? I tend to think that perpetuating horrific stereotypes and killing people is even worse, but maybe that’s just me.
The actual incident of Will Smith punching Chris Rock has been discussed by almost everyone at some point. Some of the harshest reactions come from holier-than-thou white people. Some of them acted as if it was the worst thing they had ever seen! How could he!? While most of my perceptions are based on my individual interactions with people in my family and strangers on the internet, I personally don’t really care about the slap, although I understand why people are mean to The Rock.
I understand the position that The Rock has been stalking Jada for years and making fun of the state of her hair was going too far. Making a black woman the butt of a joke in front of millions of people, including a mostly white audience, just didn’t sit well with many people. But for the most part, smart white people have chosen not to talk so much about this topic. Is this really worse than killing children on set? One X user agrees, calling this move one of the most “I saw things that were blatantly racist.” Yeah! I guess it’s in the eye of the beholder. And the eyes that wrote it rolling stone the piece belongs to a white man, which is not surprising. I’m not saying the slap shouldn’t be on this list, but putting it in fourth place is a pretty bad decision in itself.
(image: Al Seib/AMPAS via Getty Images)
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