Takuan Amaru

“At your highest moment, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you!”

~Denzel Washington

Prior to the “Slap heard around the World,” Will Smith was considered by many to be the very image of success. Rich, handsome, and famous, over the past 30 years, Will has become an international, household name. Since his days rapping with D.J. Jazzy Jeff and, shortly thereafter, starring in the popular sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Will has played the leading role in numerous blockbuster films. And on March 27, 2022, he was on the cusp of graduating to the highest level of all: being on-par with legends Sidney Poitier and Denzel Washington.

And then Will decided to put all of his hard work in jeopardy.

Immediately afterwards, social-media outlets were flooded by the hashtag #ProtectBlackWomen along with posts such as “I wish I had a man who would defend me like that!” According to Jason Black of the New Black Media, these posts reflect the sentiment of single mothers who harbor a low-key hatred for men. He claims society has taught them through television, courts, and social media that they have “a God given right to be treated better than men.” As a result, these entitled females believe men should never hesitate to defend them but they would never risk breaking a finger nail to help anyone other than themselves. Furthermore they destroy their sons’ ability to mature into healthy, strong men—or even relate to them—by constantly making vitriolic, anti-male statements and, more importantly, by keeping their sons away from their fathers. With no men in the household, these traumatized, toxic females attempt to turn their sons into their permanent male companions. Quite creepy to say the least!

There are two questions which seem to have the public in an uproar. (1)Was Will Smith’s action admirable? Or deplorable? And (2), was this a Hollywood concocted, staged event or was it the genuine (heroic) reaction of a man who felt the need to defend his wife’s honor? Occultist, Brother Panic, in his analysis of the incident, references the fourth Hermetic Principle, the Law of Polarity: “Everything is Dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half‑truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.” Understanding there are two sides to any situation, the truly conscious person does not pick a side but, rather, is able to see both sides simultaneously—without necessarily agreeing with either. Panic discusses how many people are unaware of this universal principle or the social-engineering that programs them. With this in mind, let’s discuss both sides of the issue.

First, should Will have slapped Chris on-stage?

Any man can understand—even applaud—the idea of another man publicly defending his wife’s honor. Some might say if a dusty individual has the nerve to besmirch a man’s queen in public this is what is supposed to happen. For those who believe Will made a bad decision, would you still think so if Chris Rock had been a white comedian? Since Def Comedy Jam in the 1990s, it has become commonplace for comedians to roast members of the audience. Following decades of this ritual being played out, we have been conditioned to the point we now think it is normal to be insulted at live events. Perhaps Will’s bold stance has set a new precedent that if comedians step over the line they are not off-limits to being touched-up.

But what about the other side of the coin? What if the so-called queen—in this case Jada Pinkett-Smith—is not an honorable woman? Is virtue attached to a woman’s honor? If so, it is hard to confuse Jada with the idea of a virtuous wife who has her husband’s back: the type of woman who is there for her man through thick and thin. Although this article is not devoted to dragging a black woman through the mud, as a writer covering this incident, I would be remiss if I failed to make reference to Jada’s own confessions regarding a sexual “entanglement” with August Alsina, who reportedly was a friend of her son, or her disrespectful remarks regarding her husband on numerous talk-shows. Is this the type of woman who is worthy of a man risking it all? To be clear, I am convinced these women—these queens—do exist…but Jada?

Second, was this a staged event?

It is no secret that in 2021 the television ratings for the Academy Awards hit an all-time low. Taking this into account, it is only natural for the executives in Hollywood to draw up a plan to reverse this trend. Perhaps their strategy to attract attention was to manufacture an onstage spectacle. Some may disagree, believing this to be a bit extreme. To those people my question is: then what do you think their plan was? The 2022 Oscars drew 16.6 million viewers compared to 10.5 million last year—which is a 58% increase in viewership. Hmm, sounds like a plan well-done to me; someone in the PR Department should be taking a bow! We know Hollywood is one of the main conduits for the dominant society to frame Europeans as superior, so with more blacks receiving awards and recognition than I can ever recall in the past, it makes sense that a script would be written for some type of negative incident to occur which would portray blacks in accordance with the negative stereotypes that Hollywood endorses.

Perhaps this was not the work of Hollywood at all but, rather, it was Will’s idea to boost his own image. Seconds after the assault, Chris Rock genuinely seemed rattled and at such a loss for words that many believe he could not have been acting. Considering how, in the past few years, Will has been framed as a ‘simp’ in the media, in order to ramp-up his macho appeal—especially in Jada’s mind—do you think it is possible he was doing nothing more than his best Tupac impersonation? That this was finally his chance to defend his wife and, at the same time, do something ‘gangsta’? Or was Will Smith genuinely outraged and just decided to take matters into his own hands? The fact he laughed at the “G.I. Jane” comment before deciding to charge the stage might lead one to think he was okay with the joke until he saw the frown on Jada’s face. If Will, himself, was not insulted by the joke but decided to risk everything only because Jada was disgruntled, this speaks volumes concerning Will’s own self-confidence. Chris Rock claims he was unaware that Jada had contracted the hair-loss condition, Alopecia. But let’s imagine he did know about it and, furthermore, the reports are true about Will having previously warned Chris to “keep his wife’s name out of his mouth.” In spite of this, do you think the prudent response was for Will to turn the 2022 Oscars into the 2000 Source Awards?

Whether you agree this was the correct stance to take or not, what is more significant is the message being communicated to our youth. For those who champion Will’s violent reaction, is this what we should teach our teenage sons to do the next time his girlfriend, mother, or sister becomes upset at a teller at the bank or an employee at the local 7-Eleven? Is the proper response to walk behind the counter and slap the offender in the face? In the real world, we know this equates to risking life and limb and/or taking penitentiary chances. Even in Hollywood, there is a cost being slapped on Will Smith and, in the coming weeks, I imagine there will be more penalties added to his resignation from the Academy.

“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
~J. Krishnamurti

Do you consider Will Smith to be successful? Many people wish they could be rich and famous but what good is it to have millions of dollars in the bank and millions of fans around the world if the woman in your own house—the mother of your children—time and time again shows nothing but disrespect and contempt for you? To publicly lose control over a joke and resort to violence and then, minutes later, stand in front of the entire world crying like a misbehaving fifth-grader with a bad attitude—I just have to say it like it is: Will Smith looked more like a naughty child needing a time-out than any man who is fit to be venerated as a hero.

Takuan Amaru is the author of the trilogy, Gaikokujin—The Story.