When was the last time black-on-black crime got so much attention?
I’m sure you’ve had enough of the Oscar incident by now.
Although we’re still talking about it six days after, it will soon fade away as these things do.
But as ridiculous as this Hollywood episode is, it was nice to see a significant story not focused on war or a pandemic.
For a second, it felt like we were in the late 1990s, gossiping over juicy celebrity misbehavior.
But any present late 20th-century nostalgia quickly waned after I processed what happened.
Although this wasn’t a racial issue, some people made it out to be one, as expected.
For example, CNN commentator Jemele Hill went on Jake Tapper’s show to suggest that Will Smith did the right thing for “standing up for his black woman.”
I’ve met few black women that need anyone to speak for them. But that doesn’t mean they can’t have men handle their dirty work.
And with a simple roll of the eye, Jada ordered the assault.
Sick ‘em.
Patriarchy, right guys?
We’ve also heard the Academy staged the slap to boost ratings.
Will Smith and Chris Rock have acting skills (don’t forget about New Jack City), but the facial expressions I saw looked genuine.
And what would be the point?
That was the 94th ceremony. Nothing like that has happened in about a century, so I doubt that would give the Academy any long-term audience gain.
I hope people continue talking about it though, so they realize the real cultural divide.
It’s not racism, and it’s not sexism.
It’s elitism.
The Cool Club Isn’t So Cool Anymore
We can play the “what if Chris Rock was white, or Will Smith was white” game all day.
It’s interesting to wonder, but all we know is what we saw.
And what we saw was how social elites get different treatment than common folk.
The British still have the Royal Family, but Americans have celebrities.
As people continue to review this incident, they’ll realize the super-rich doesn’t live by the same rules as we do.
For example, we can’t cover up the actors’ faces, but the crew best have their masks on.
I’m sure if a white actor slapped Chris Rock or any black host, we would hear the stories of white male aggression and toxic masculinity.
But it’s what didn’t happen that’s important.
Will Smith walked away from that stage with the confidence that no police officer or security guard was making a beeline for him as he walked back to his seat.
And it’s not like law enforcement isn’t nearby.
I bet the Oscars get more security than the White House.
But for us townsfolk, if we did that in the real world, we’d be eating a bologna sandwich in the county jail within the hour.
I think Jim Carrey said it best:
“I was sickened. I was sickened by the standing ovation. I felt like Hollywood is spineless — en masse. It really felt like, oh, this is a really clear indication that we’re not the cool club anymore.”-Jim Carrey
Elitism in Government
In Hollywood today, it’s not about your talent. It’s about who you know and how much money you have.
Just look at the Smith family alone.
Will Smith’s reported net worth is $350 million, and he’s been in the public spotlight since he was 22.
That’s over three decades of living large.
Consider his children. (Don’t worry, I’ll keep their names out of my mouth.)
What are the odds that such a successful actor and musician like Will Smith has not one but two children that made music careers?
Those odds must be off the charts.
But the real problem isn’t only with celebrities.
As long as we, as a society, allow this 21st-century monarchy to rule our lives by worshipping elites, people will continue to take advantage of it.
It’s one thing to let millionaire celebrities run wild in Hollywood, but what happens when we allow those in power to live free of consequences?
What about those with unofficial power, such as Big Tech?
Where does the road lead when the people who create laws and determine your access to society live by different rules?
When we give those with power absolute control, we lose democracy.
While crime in cities like New York spins out of control, state law says you must prove your need to carry a weapon.
As if one’s safety is more important than another’s.
Politicians or high-profile people might meet this standard, while everyday people go without.
The True Divide
As many people falsely blame racism for almost everything, they fail to understand that the real cultural divide is the class gap.
This week I finished a book titled Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy by Batya Ungar-Sargon.
There’s a lot to it, but the idea is that the media has worked to erode democracy throughout American history.
Many people call “fake news” a conspiracy theory, as I thought it was at one point, but after reading Bad News, I know that media is to blame for civil tension.
When Joseph Pulitzer ran The Evening World in the late 1800s, his newspaper represented the working class.
Reporters looked to expose corruption and focus on matters that affected most working-class people.
The newspapers naturally catered to the masses, with few super-rich people and many middle to lower-class people.
More than that, most reporters didn’t go to college. To be a reporter was a blue-collar job, just like a cop or construction worker.
But then advertising took over, and eventually, newspapers started to appeal to high-end companies because that’s who pays the most.
The only problem is that rich companies want rich readers.
So, newspapers like The New York Times abandoned the working-class readers for high society.
People on the upper-west side didn’t want to hear about fair pay issues among dock workers.
They wanted to read economic or market stories that impacted their income.
Then more reporters started going to college, and the media switched from a working-class focus to catering to the elite.
Journalism used to be a job for people that didn’t go to school but now is almost exclusively open to Ivy League grads, at least at the big-name publications.
Try to get a journalism degree from a state college, apply at The New York Times, and see how far you get.
I bet you’ll be lucky to get a job as a receptionist.
Ungar-Sargon goes into far more interesting detail, but it’s clear the mainstream media split our culture by class.
And that was clear on Sunday night.
Why do We Support These High-Class Expectations?
Will Smith assaulted a man in front of the world, surrounded by police, and he walked away.
The initial response from the Los Angeles Police Department was that they were “aware” of the incident.
Ya think?
I’m pretty sure the people living on Sentinel Island were aware of the incident.
Yet Will Smith wasn’t detained, and Chris Rock opted not to press charges.
That was probably for the best. Getting into a legal battle for months or years would be messy.
But it’s not just about legal ramifications.
It’s that everyone cheered for Will Smith and allowed him to accept his award. The Twittersphere wrote the slap off as a joke, and Will Smith’s son stated to the world following the assault, “That’s how we do it.”
Great example.
The only reason this separate set of rules flies is because the masses allow it.
We as a society continue to look at celebrities as royalty. By supporting their brands, creating reality shows about them, and letting them think they are above us, it’s no wonder they get away with it.
And if we merge celebrities and the powerful elite into the same category, we set ourselves up for failure.
Question the Real Problem
Will Smith got away with assaulting someone because of his status. No police officer dared detain Smith because we couldn’t interrupt our precious ceremony.
Yet the NYPD arrested a white guy at his wedding reception for lighting off fireworks.
Does that sound like a race or status issue?
Black Chicago Mayor Lightfoot went to the salon during the pandemic while you and I looked like cave dwellers. Many politicians went maskless while they forced them on kids.
Do you think that’s a function of race or class?
Jussie Smollet rallied the world behind him after lying about a hate crime.
But even if the story was real, why was there so much outrage over Smollet’s assault but nobody cares about the countless black lives lost to gang violence just a few miles south of downtown Chicago?
Some people should pause from looking at the world in strict terms of race and try the class lens.
The view might slap them in the face.