The Slap – Values and Mental Health Then and Now

This article explores knowledge-thought-action values relationships of Chris Rock and Will Smith both at the time of ‘the slap’ incident and one year on. I conclude that Smith may be in a better position now as far as his values are concerned, but suffers extrinsic and intrinsic tensions. Rock’s values were better at the time of the incident and he behaved professionally, even after being slapped to compere the rest of the Oscars show. He is unlikely to have any tension because of the way he operates – professional but blunt about the truth – applying it without considering his subject’s feelings (i.e. without love).

The interpretation is based on applying my values model (https://youtu.be/gyqbeDr_1cE) and on what I have read and heard in the media about the incident which happened on the day of the Oscars ceremony, 27th March 2022. It is not about who or what is right but applying the model to analyse and reach conclusions as dispassionately as possible.

BACKGROUND

In 2016 organisers of the Oscars, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), were surrounded by a controversy that there was a lack of diversity among the nominees. Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, refused to attend the Oscars in protest. The organisers asked Chris Rock to host the ceremony, which he did but also raised the issue of lack of diversity in his own way. It received both good and bad reviews.

Rock was again the host in 2022, and during his compering said, “Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it. Alright?”, “That was a nice one.”

Hearing this, Jada Pinkett Smith was seen rolling her eyes, which is when Smith walked to the stage and slapped Rock. When Smith returned to his seat, he was seen and heard saying, “Keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth.” Rock attempted to laugh the situation off before promising not to mention Smith’s wife.

It should also be noted that Jada Pinkett Smith had shaved her head, after she had opened up about her alopecia diagnosis which causes baldness in the affected area, and had posted a video pointing to the patch of baldness on her head.

The day after the incident, Smith apologised via Instagram: "Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behaviour at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally."

AMPAS, the organisers of the Oscars,?condemned Smith following the incident, prompting an investigation.?Rock reportedly refused to press charges against Smith. The AMPAS President?accepted Smith’s resignation but said they would continue their investigation.?On 8th April 2022, the Academy announced its decision to ban Smith from future Oscars and associated events for a period of 10 years.?Several film projects that Smith had been involved in were put on hold as a result of the controversy and Smith has publicly stated: "I accept and respect the Academy's decision"?and that he was "deeply remorseful" for his actions.

Before my analyses, let’s first see who the two people are and their background briefly.

Christopher Julius Rock?, or Chris Rock, is 58 and is a successful stand-up comedian, actor and filmmaker. He is known for his quick wit with frequent swear words and rather coarse humour which can be on race relations, sexuality or deformity. He has received many awards for his work.

He was raised in the neighbourhood of Brooklyn (New York) and is the eldest of his parents' seven children (six boys and one girl). He attended schools in predominantly white neighbourhoods of Brooklyn, where he is reported to have endured bullying and beatings from white students.

With the success of his stand-up acts, from the late 1990s, he began receiving?offers to host shows, including the 77th Oscars in 2005 where he would mock actors but he can also be self-deprecating. In 2015, when acting nominations did not include racial minorities, Rock was asked to host the ceremony. His performance was well received, when he also expressed his own concerns over lack of diversity but was also praised for being fair minded when asked to express an opinion. So Chris was in his element during the 2022 ceremony when the incident took place.

Willard Carroll Smith II, or Will Smith, is 54 and is an American actor, rapper, and producer. Smith began rapping at age 12, initially with swear words, until his grandmother admonished him. He rose to fame as the star of the popular television show "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" in the early 1990s, and later transitioned to film acting. Smith has received numerous awards and nominations for his work.

He grew up in West Philadelphia and was raised as Baptist. He has an elder sister and two younger siblings. He attended a private Catholic elementary school there and then a high school. Smith was charged of tax fraud in the late eighties and was arrested in relation to an alleged assault on his record promoter but the charges were dropped.

Smith’s confrontation with Rock occurred at the Oscars on 27th March 2022, when Smith walked on stage and slapped the presenter Chris Rock after he made a joke about his wife. Smith was asked to leave the ceremony but he refused.?Later in the evening he was named?Best Actor for his part in King Richard, when he apologised to the Academy and the other nominees, but not to Rock. The next day he issued a formal apology via Instagram (as given above).

VALUES ALIGNMENT AT KNOWLEDGE THOUGHT AND ACTION (KTA) LEVELS

The video (https://youtu.be/gyqbeDr_1cE) shows the basis of my values model where I show how Love versus Truth grid can be used to map all positive and negative values. As human beings we operate at three levels:

1. Knowledge (or intellect) level – which is about facts, science and experience
2. Thought (instinct, or mind) level – a form of mental activity that justifies our intention
3. Action (or speech) level

The values can be viewed at all three levels and in all four quadrants – this is what I am using in this analysis, where:

• Good values in green (quadrant 1 in Figures 1) represent those with love and truth,
• Bad values in red (quadrant 3) showing they lack love and truth;
• Those in between are in amber – with those in quadrant 2 containing truth without love and those in quadrant 4 containing love without truth.

I refer to ‘extrinsic tension’ when there is misalignment of values between action and thought levels and ‘intrinsic tension’ when there is misalignment between thought and knowledge levels. Of course, intrinsic tension (which psychologists call cognitive dissonance) is particularly bad, as its persistence could cause mental illness.

MY ANALYSES

Figure 1 shows the relative positions of the values of Chris Rock and Will Smith at the time of the incident. The figure also indicates a typical value in each of the quadrants at the three levels (of knowledge, thought, action; i.e. 12 altogether) as a guide.

Rock’s knowledge, thought and actions are judged to be aligned, not with the ideal (Q1, green) but with each at ‘Truth without Love’ (Q2, amber). As a comedian he relies on humour that is based on perceived truth but he gives little regard to people’s feelings when delivering his jokes (i.e. without love).

Smith’s knowledge and action levels are considered aligned with love but without truth (Q4, amber), as he focuses more on emotions, which at the time of the incident came at the expense of recognising the facts that were known. Smith refused to understand Rock’s joke about Jada Pinkett Smith. Smith did not stop to think – in fact he seems to have overridden his thought – and acted against the norms to land a slap on Rock’s face. I suspect he became aware of this actions as he approached the stage, and probably softened it to a slap, rather than a punch. Nonetheless, it was assault and the damage was done, especially to his reputation.

It was significant, and I believe a big mistake that Smith did not refer to Rock in his apology, when he was called to the stage to receive his Oscar for his part in King Richard. Rock’s humiliation solidified and as far as this incident is concerned and his reaction (or the lack of it) towards Smith will probably go on - refusing to acknowledge any apology because there was no tension in his position at the time of the incident (see top left part of Figure 2) and it has probably remained the same to this day (bottom left part of Figure 2).

Examining value alignment scores (see Figure 2), we note that Rock started with 42% value alignment score and has remained there. Smith on the other had started with the value alignment score of 28% and has risen to some 50-75% (ideal at knowledge and action levels but misalignment with his thought level). I judge that Smith suffered extrinsic and intrinsic tension at the time of the incident (see top right of Figure 2), no doubt contributed by past encounters of Rock’s joke about his wife. Now he feels tension or at least remorse, judging by his public statements and apologies. Despite his values score being high, the thought level misalignment means he may still suffer from extrinsic and intrinsic tensions (see bottom right of Figure 2).

MY CONCLUSIONS

Jada Pinkett Smith, who suffers from alopecia condition, seemed reconciled to her condition even before the slap incident at the Oscars on 27th March 2022. However, Smith did not like other people making joke about his wife’s condition, especially Chris who had joked about her before and became the cause and the subject of the incident.

On the day of the incident, Rock seems to have behaved appropriately. He stuck to his professionalism, did not react negatively and above all compered the rest of the Oscars show with dignity. He is unlikely to have any tension because of the way he operates – professional but blunt about the truth – applying it without considering his subject’s feelings (i.e. without love). Since the incident, Rock’s views about the incident may have hardened as he does not seem to care about Smith’s apology or his feelings.

Smith on the other hand seems to be an emotional person; loving but can overlook basic facts/truth. He did not see the positive side of Rock’s joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s alopecia condition, which she herself accepts openly. Smith must have had other things on his mind, or bad feelings from previous jokes that Rock had made about his wife, to not give any benefit of doubt (and overriding his thought on the day) to slap Rock.

Smith is judged to be still in a bad mental state because he seems to have come round to accept his mistake at the time of the incident. Based on his apologies, he seems to have aligned his knowledge and actions to the right values (i.e. those with love and truth) but his thought is probably at remorse or at tension stage and thereby may suffer from extrinsic and intrinsic tensions (as shown in bottom right of Figure 2).

What about the role of the Academy in all this? They chose Rock to host the Oscars ceremony in 2016 to overcome their oversight in viewing all talents fairly. They chose him because he is black but who does not hesitate to swear or create bad culture on stage. Smith is no different, as he showed himself capable of assaulting as well as swearing in front of delegates. In fact, the Academy allows bad taste entertainment on screen and does not see anything wrong in the same during its most prestigious ceremonies. It should feel responsible for the incident and bring two very talented entertainers - Rock and Smith - together again or at least draw a line under the incident!

Smith has demonstrated himself to be somewhat malleable by people and the environment, but he is also a reforming, and possibly a reformed character, with good values. He needs help to overcome the remorse he must be feeling.

Please Note: The conclusions and views given above are of the author, who has made use of his values model based on the Knowledge, Thought and Action.