Do Not Enter The Slap Discourse
In the 72 hours since Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars, opinions on said slap have become a sort of litmus test for moral goodness.
As the rich and famous and the non-rich and non-famous continue to share their thoughts on the culture-shifting debacle, various camps of opinion have emerged, each carrying their own measure of "woke-ness."
Some examples:
The Slap is a big pharma conspiracy theory engineered to bolster Pfizer's new alopecia drug.
The Slap "could have killed him."
The Slap signals a frightening future for comedians, who must now worry about getting attacked at shows.
The Slap is toxic masculinity.
Each of these hot takes has morphed into a free-standing debate on politics, gender, and race. The Slap is no longer just a slap — it's a symbol of everything plaguing the world, even the war in Ukraine.
As a result, some of America's most beloved celebrities have fallen from grace by sharing their personal hot takes on The Slap.
Exhibit A: Zoë Kravitz, once the Hottest Woman in the World, rapidly devolved into Twitter's Most Wanted thanks to an Instagram post sharing her thoughts on what went down.
"Here is a picture of my dress at the party after the award show — where we are apparently screaming profanities and assaulting people on stage now," the actor bravely shared.
In response, netizens began questioning Kravitz's friendship with Jaden Smith — a relationship that started when he was 14 — in apparent backlash.
Jim Carrey also made the mistake of publicly discussing The Slap, telling Gayle King that Smith should have been arrested.
Thus, Twitter swiftly recirculated videos of a 35-year-old Carrey forcefully kissing Alicia Silverstone, 19, on stage at the 1997 MTV Movie Awards.
To be clear: I'm not condoning Kravitz's or Carrey's opinions on The Slap (nor their past behavior). But who would have thought a celebrity altercation could let loose such chaos?
The fact that the Oscars, of all things, snowballed into such a divisive phenomenon is pretty mind-blowing — until you realize that, in the age of social media, anything you say online or to the press can and will be held against you in the court of Twitter.
So, enter The Slap discourse your own risk — it might just haunt you for the rest of your life.
