Dear Will, It's Okay!

Dear Will,

It's okay. The world is hard & hypocrite on a man these days!!

I am sure by now you have realised that you did not have the best of your reaction to showcase. Violence in any form is bad. And that too at a stage where millions are watching you & the best of creative minds and their creations are being showcased. Your reaction took away the sheen & spotlight meant for best of the creative works, in cinema to a ‘slap-gate’. A special thumbs up to Chris Rock, who handled your reaction with class. Its extremely difficult to stay normal in such situations, as if the show must go on, and nothing happened You certainly must & have to admire that. I am sure , by now, somewhere inside , you already do.

But let me talk about you. Probably no-one is doing that. You are declared a villain already. Not for me though.

Will, we live in a very hypocritical world. People today love passing judgements and conclusions over acts where they don’t have a personal stake, and try being ‘righteous’. It’s good for their social image. Optics, as they call it. Without even trying to understand what one might be going through within, or how would they react if a similar situation is juxtaposed on them.

There is one more trend on Social Media these days. It’s about mental health and empathy. Its a new trend you know. Its cool and makes one look trendy & progressive on the internet.

Its true! There are threads on Reddits of the world talking about how the world is becoming more cruel, selfish and a bully and how we must be more ‘accommodating’ & ‘understanding’ and not conclude or judge someone’s actions before understanding all the sides. What one might be struggling with internally?

Ironical, the above two right? Hang on a little.

Comedy? Oh! I am a big advocate. Make fun of society’s ideologies, religion, work, hypocrisy, rules, science, art, assumptions, governments, idealists, terrorists, prejudice and what not. Anything on the planet. Comedy is one of the most important tool in uplifting & correcting the world today which is getting convoluted with crony capitalism & income inequality. It’s essential in spreading happiness, information, in highlighting malfunctions, exposing politicians , corporates & religious hypocrites.

But comedy at the cost of someone’s disease? Their physical/mental condition? Their struggles? Their plight? I don’t know whether that’s comedy or a new euphemism for ‘body shaming/bullying’. But netizens don’t care & neither do comedians. I don’t blame the latter though.

Stand -up comedy: It’s labelled as ‘trendy-fun’ these days. Its good business and there are too many ‘stand up’ and aspiring ‘stand up comedians’ in the market. There is a lot of pressure on them to make people laugh. Its red ocean competiton. What joke might or might not land? Lets try bullying from stage then?

Comedians joke and that’s what they will do, right? So what if the joke was about your family member’s condition? So what if the joke was mocking a form of disease? The disease is 'too small' to be mocked at, and you should ‘man up’.

Its your disease and comedians don’t care about your internal struggles. They are ‘joking’. Because of a certain health condition, your family or anyone’s family might collectively be going through an internal turmoil every day, confidence shattered every day, mental clarity reducing to a pile of ash everyday, will to face the world delimitating every day, but who cares? It’s a joke, it’s comedy and in the guise of joke I can make fun of your family too!!

To hell with your emotional turmoil. You can’t react, express your anger. You will be labeled as ‘intolerant’ & ’primitive’. Where is your sense of humour? So what if your family was mocked at in front of millions globally?

It will be intersting to witness how these people will react if a comedian mocked one of their family’s disease or condition. Mother/father/sister/child/husband/wife? I would love to see how all the people talking about righteousness, would act. Will they laugh? Will they be righteous then? Will they all, be that accommodating, because its a joke and that’s what comedians do?

I, till my last breath will never support violence and your modus operandi of reaction. But I, till my last breath will support your right to get offended if your family is body-shamed or mocked at. Their disease is mocked at. Their plight/ suffering is taken for granted & as a form of fun & a matter of amusement for the world. No artist has the right to body-shame my family & then label it as 'comedy'

Who knows what we are going through because of a disease in the house? What are we facing on a daily basis? How are we coping? Little struggles & little motivation everyday in keeping optimism high. Its difficult, but we manage. We are going through a barrage of emotions, and then someone mocks my family member’s condition in front of millions and expects me to be sane? To hell with them.

In my view, comedy can belittle everything, and I literally mean everything, but not body shame or mock someone’s plight or disease or any allied struggle. That’s not comedy. That’s disgust.

I will borrow a line to resonate my thought:

“Don’t ever let somebody tell you, you can’t do something. Not even me.?All right? You got a dream? You gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you you can’t do it. You want something? ?Go get it!? Period!”

Of course your ways of getting it will evolve. Not slaps & violence for sure.

Love you and keep rocking…

Cheers

A fan.

#mentalhealth #Oscars #empathymatters #chrisrockwillsmith #kingRichard #standup #standupcomedy . @willsmith