Summary

Will Smith's Oscar-winning portrayal of Richard Williams in "King Richard" is juxtaposed with his own controversial behavior at the Academy Awards, highlighting a lack of self-awareness and contradiction between his actions and the values of the character he played.

Abstract

The article reflects on the irony of Will Smith's actions at the Oscars, where he assaulted Chris Rock, contrasting sharply with the disciplined and strategic nature of Richard Williams, the man he portrayed in "King Richard." The incident, which occurred shortly after Smith's acceptance speech for Best Actor, raises questions about the actor's understanding of the character's values and the impact of his own impulsivity. The author suggests that Smith's behavior undermines the legacy of Venus and Serena Williams' father, who overcame personal challenges to guide his daughters to tennis stardom. Instead of embodying the role model he depicted on screen,

Will Smith Has Learned Nothing From the Man Who Made His Oscar Possible

Love doesn’t make you do crazy things. YOU do.

Demi Singleton as Serena Williams, Saniyya Sidney as Venus Williams, and Will Smith as Richard Williams in *King Richard.* © 2021 WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC

There’s this scene very early on in “King Richard” that kept showing up in my mind for the remainder of the movie.

Richard, father to then-baby Venus and Serena Williams, had had enough of the humiliating taunts and assaults by neighborhood ruffians.

He drove through town, looking into every storefront. Having spotted his tormentor, Richard parked and strolled across the street, gun in hand. Just then, a drive-by shooting took down his nemesis. He got back in his car and made a quick escape, as sirens wailed and squad cars converged on the scene.

Whoa.

Richard was saved from committing premeditated murder? You mean that was the difference between decades of tennis dominance and GOAT-dom, and prodigy dreams dying on the vine?

We could have never had Venus and Serena as we know them.

We could’ve lost a generation of young women of color, inspired to enter a sport where they were previously never seen.

I don’t think as many courtroom spectators would have given a standing ovation to Richard, arguing “Love makes you do crazy things.”

But that’s what happened to Will Smith, the lovable, bankable A-list star who played him in “Richard Williams.”

In a surreal life-imitates-art moment, Smith slapped Chris Rock, hard, with an audible pop, and then sauntered back the same way he came. While the powers that be at the Academy debated what to do, the clock was ticking. And so not only did Will Smith sit back down and watch the rest of the show among the Hollywood elites, but he returned to the same stage where he had just assaulted someone on live TV and triumphantly raised a golden statuette.

“I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees,” he said in his acceptance speech. It struck me less like an apology, but mere wordplay on the “I want to thank the Academy” that winners customarily recite.

Will Smith said “Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family.”

Having committed assault on stage, he hid behind the man that just won him the Oscar. That’s cowardice.

He said love made him do it.

Um. That’s what abusers say. Wow.

The “fierce defender” comment was self-serving. What Will Smith probably did not realize, though, was that he was right about a shared connection between him and the man he portrayed.

Richard Williams put his pride before his family. His vengefulness could have landed him in jail, leaving his wife and five daughters bereft.

A slap in the otherwise-safe environment like a televised stage is unlikely to put someone Will-Smith-level-famous behind bars. But the same impulsivity and emotional dysregulation bedeviled him as it did the Williams patriarch.

Will Smith screamed from his seat “Keep my wife’s name out your f — -ing mouth.” It wasn’t “Keep Jada’s name out your mouth.” “Keep Black women out your mouth.” Or “Keep alopecia survivors out your mouth.”

“My wife” sounded, frankly…self-centered.

He sounded mad more on his behalf, that this dude was ruining his evening where he was the odds-on favorite for Best Actor.

I don’t know, but even standing silently in protest would have sent a message.

The thing that ruined Will Smith’s evening was his lack of self-control, his belief that violence was an appropriate response. And his entitlement, walking onto the stage, with millions watching, then sitting back down like that — who does that?

Those “Please invite me back again” tears after violence? The acting prowess animating his acceptance speech stunned more than the movie that bagged him the award.

Last night could have been his crowning achievement, the former Prince of Bel-Air ascending his rightful, Kingly throne after a long career replete with iconic roles. Instead, we got the slap heard around the world and abuser-y excuses.

Will Smith might have inhabited a role, but he didn’t grasp the moral of the story.

No, Will, love doesn’t “make you do crazy things.” YOU do.

TY Liao writes about current events and society. Follow to keep in touch, and let’s try and make sense of the world together!

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