If it had been little Rick Moranis on stage cracking that garbage joke and Will had stormed up on stage all Wild Wild West'd up and gave him an almighty slap across the cheek, what then?
Would Will have been perceived as a hero today?
Why would that have made him a hero (to some)? Because Moranis was white, presumably? What if a white actor had slapped a black guy?
shareA white guy slapped a black guy in public, that scenario would have very easy black and white answers, it would not be controversial at all.
What OP was asking is bit harder.
Yeah, I think fc31 has elaborated quite well further down on the changed dynamic slapping Rick Moranis would bring.
I think it is an interesting hypothetical because despite his actions Smith has received some pretty strong support for his outrageous behaviour by some media who - despite the fact that it was two black guys involved - have sought to frame the condemnation of Smith as having some sort of racial overtones. I found that weird but if it had been a white guy who'd made the joke, this strange support would surely have been even more pronounced.
I also thought it was worth considering that Rick Moranis is a very small guy. Not sure if height is verging on dwarfism or anything (?) but the visual of some big dude towering over little Rick and slapping down on him would have brought another interesting dynamic. Would the black vs white factor override smacking a little guy? I'm not sure but it's possible...
Moranis is short, but I think dwarfism is bit exaggeration. Tom Cruise is about the same height.
Height comparison with Smith is likely apparent, a big black dude slapping around a small white guy could offend white people even more, and could take the wind out of black activists a bit, but I don't think it would change the racial narrative & dynamic too much.
Of course that is a very hypothetical scenario, but I think it would have been much bigger deal than it is now.
Black activists could have portrayed Smith as a long sufferer of Hollywood's systematic racial discrimination, regarding what Smith did as the start of revolutions. So yeah, a hero is likely the word, wide spread riots are very likely to follow.
Racial tension will increase significantly, there might be clashes between white supremacists and BLM activists.
It would be much more difficult for the academy to maneuver, to punish Smith officially. So officially Smith would be let off easy, if any punishment at all.
But unofficially I think a lot of white people would be offended by it, the left would lose a lot of support. A lot of doors could be closed for Smith and whoever supported him, a lot of projects & big brands would probably drop him more decisively citing concerns over controversial image, etc.
Mainstream media could be a lot more hostile, because even the left might need to find reasons to cut ties with Smith, and they need good pretexts.
The likely scenario could be digging up things from his past, gradually play him as someone with history of violent behaviors, drug abuse and mental illness, to take wind out of black activists, to a point even they would drop Smith.
So in the end it won't end well for Smith, his wealth is probably not going to protect him, his family could turn against him over it.
Again, all those are my imaginations, come with my own prejudices and biases, and completely baseless. So hear it as a joke, nothing more.
Then again, if it were a white guy things would not have come to this. Smith did not have to go up there, just play the race card, that should be enough to finish the guy's career.
And as a white guy, unless he were crazy, he would have been treading very lightly when making fun of a minority woman.
What if he would’ve slapped Ellen page? Think about it, a black man hitting a white man. Both of them, 100% men. You know what I mean? Both male. Both with xy chromosomes. Like, I mean neither of them are 100% female, right? Both holding original birth certificates indicating “male” under Jenner identity. What then? Would it be a hate crime against the white man?
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