Time for an end to insult comedy

By Gregory Moore

When I was a kid watching comedians like Don Rickles ridicule Phyllis Diller, I never remember laughing. When comedians made fun of Sammy Davis Jr. for being a mascot to Frank Sinatra, I cringed.

It’s why I never sit in the front row at comedy shows because I don’t want to be the butt of jokes or have the spotlight shined on me when I simply came to be entertained.

I’m no comedy historian but I know a seminal moment when I see one ... or better yet when I hear one. And the slap heard around the world and watched by millions at the Oscars last night was one such moment.

When actor Will Smith hauled off and slapped comedian Chris Rock across the face for insulting his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, about her bald head, it was a career changing moment for both men.

As Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe noted, we now know the opening scene of Smith’s inevitable biopic. And Chris Rock is going to feel what it’s like to be the butt of jokes for a long time to come.

Yes, it was a bad moment on a night that ended wonderfully for Smith, who later took home the trophy for best actor. But comedy might have had a transformative moment as well, and for me, I hope it marks an end to or at least a re-evaluation of the appropriateness of insult comedy.

I agree with actress Sophia Bush who tweeted after the slap: “Violence isn’t ok. Assault is never the answer. Also? This is the 2nd time that Chris has made fun of Jada on the #Oscars stage, & tonight he went after her alopecia. Punching down at someone’s auto-immune disease is wrong. Doing so on purpose is cruel.“

Making fun of people’s immutable characteristics is just not cool. I’m talking about their race, sex, sexual orientation, appearance or medical issues.

That’s why playing the dozens — personal insults about someone’s mama — were always fighting words. You never know what’s going to set someone off.

But you can be sure personalizing comedy at someone’s expense can be dangerous. We found out just how dangerous it could be last night.

A shocked Chris Rock, one of my favorite comedians to be sure, stammered from the stage that it was just a joke about GI Jane. No it wasn’t. He was mocking Jada Pinkett’s alopecia.

I have a cousin with alopecia and there’s nothing funny about it.?My cousin is completely hairless. I know how painful it is for him to have people stare at him with curious glances or whisper about whether he has cancer. It’s withering. The same for fat jokes or ugly jokes.

I’m not defending what Will Smith did. Far from it. It was painful to see a Black man assault another so publicly. I honestly question whether Smith would have smacked Billy Crystal in the face for making the same joke —but that’s neither here nor there at the moment.

I think Will Smith did real harm to his reputation with that loss of control. But I hope what he did causes comics and those of us who nervously laugh at insult humor to re-examine its appropriateness. If so, that’s a good thing.

To be honest, I’m feeling a lot better about sitting in the front row today.