Some white people still think that Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars was one of the worst things they have ever seen. As a person of color, I have talked to a LOT of Black people about this incident. My personal research revealed that most were apathetic or thought in some way Chris Rock deserved it, even if they weren’t big fans of how Will handled it or the timing of it. Regardless of specific thoughts on that specific moment, one writer at Rolling Stone thinks that was one of the worst decisions in movie history. Really? In all of cinema history?
To be straightforward, and to provide context, let me say that Rolling Stone ranked the Smith/Rock incident at number FOUR in its list of “The 50 Worst Decisions in Movie History.” In movie history—this will be important to keep in mind as I rattle off some other notable incidents and their rankings. The writer did say he didn’t want to “fixate” so much on casting choices while making this list, such as racist role choices, because it would take up too many spots. Um … yeah!
This also comes on the heels of the founder of Rolling Stone making racist comments that got him kicked off of the board of directors for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. You’d think something like that would make the publication’s staff extra vigilant about avoiding anything that might indicate the racism is systemic, but either it just didn’t, or they don’t see the problem with this, which is a problem on its own.
Speaking of, at number 47 on the list is Ernest Goes to Africa. Ernest was a weird character, very child-like, who had a few different movies and visited varying places. In this one, he visits Africa and there’s some pretty ridiculous and racist things that occur, including Ernest even wearing Brownface while posing as a servant. Yes, brownface. It’s worth mentioning that this was in 1997, not 1937.
The terrible MPAA rating system comes in at number 35. Basically, MPAA gives letters and grades to movies to help denote how appropriate they are for certain age groups. NC-17 is the most explicit—well, R is the most explicit for films that you can actually see at most theaters, and the MPAA often considers extreme violence to be more palatable for younger audiences than sex. That’s right, the more nudity and sex in a movie, the more likely it is to get an NC-17 rating, while violence is treated far differently.
This is why some great movies like Blue Is the Warmest Color received that grade. I saw that film, and there’s really two long, graphic sex scenes (as far as movies go). But, they were in the context of quite a sweet love story and it was all consensual. On the flip side, hardcore violent movies like Saw only got an R rating. The MPAA is saying that violence is more acceptable and has thus helped funnel in massive amounts of gorey imagery over the years while clutching pearls over nudity. But, still not as bad as Will Smith’s slap!
Going down the list even more, at number 26 we see the movie The Passion of the Christ. Ah yes, one of the most anticipated movies of all time, that portrayed the killing of the most famous person in history, helped perpetuate antisemitic tropes, and was done by a raging bigot named Mel Gibson? Still not worse than Will Smith’s slap.
At number 13 is a horrible casting choice in one of the most classic movies ever, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. This movie is almost always remembered for the gorgeous Aubrey Hepburn and her little black dress, but Mickey Rooney’s role as a Japanese photographer was notoriously awful. Rooney was a white actor cast to play a ridiculously stereotyped Asian man—and again, not in some random movie. This was one of the most popular movies ever made. Yikes.
Coming in at number seven, we have the 1983 movie Twilight Zone. Here, three people died, including two child actors. The tragic accident occurred on set, involving a helicopter crash. The sequence of events was removed from the movie, of course, and lawsuits followed for years. It was revealed that key safety precautions were not followed, but in the end, no one was found criminally liable. Perfect, Rolling Stone—somehow the deaths of children were not worse than … a slap?
With the slap coming in at number four, let’s also quickly look at the things that are ahead of it on this list. Only three things were worse in movie history! At number three is Blockbuster turning down $50 million to buy Netflix. Money woes, so horrible! Number two is a series of roles that Burt Reynolds turned down, including the lead in Star Wars and Pretty Woman. Ok, these are some pretty popular movies. But is that really so monumental? Who actually cares? Burt Reynolds, maybe?
And the number one spot goes to The Conqueror, where problematic John Wayne was cast to play an Asian man. They used offensive makeup and even used rubber bands to pull back his skin around his eyes. The location choice was also wild. They shot near nuclear testing sites and it was noted that 41% of the crew on the film went on to develop cancer in the decades following, with 21% dying, including Wayne. This is a fair choice for number one, I suppose, but the rest?
So there you have a good idea of this Rolling Stone list. So really? Those are the only three things worse, in movie history, than Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars? So what actually constitutes the “worst” decisions in movie history? I tend to think perpetuating horrific stereotypes and killing people are worse, but maybe that’s just me.
The actual incident of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock has been debated by almost everyone at some point in time. Some of the biggest overreactions have come from holier-than-thou white people. Some of them acted like this was the most horrific thing they had seen! How could he!? While a lot of my perceptions are based on my individual interactions with people in my family and strangers online, I tend to not really care about the slap personally, though I see why people feel bad for Rock.
I understand the position that says Rock has been going after Jada for years, and poking fun at her hair condition was a bridge too far. Making a Black woman the butt of a joke in front of millions, including a mostly white in-person audience, just didn’t sit right with a lot of people. But for the most part, smart white people chose to not speak that much on this topic. Is this really worse than children being killed on set? One X user agrees, calling this move one of the most “flagrantly racist things I’ve seen.” Yep! I guess it is in the eye of the beholder. And the eyes that wrote this Rolling Stone piece belong to a white man, not surprisingly. I am not saying the slap shouldn’t be on this list, but putting it at number four is a pretty bad decision in itself.
(featured image: Al Seib/A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images)
