This Sunday, I had turned off the Academy Awards and was getting ready to go to sleep when I (unwisely) took one last look at Twitter. You already know where this is going: People were losing their collective shit over Will Smith smacking Chris Rock after the comedian insulted Smith’s wife. Videos taken from countries where the actor’s yelling wasn’t censored were going viral, gifs of the smack itself were all over my timeline, and—of course—everyone had an opinion.
Some supported or excused Smith’s behavior because Rock had mocked Jada Pinkett Smith’s struggle with alopecia. Others were horrified, calling for Smith to be removed from the awards ceremony and his Oscar rescinded. (I bet you can guess what those in the latter group had in common.)
Then, as tends to be the case with Twitter, things got weird.
People excitedly made snap psychological diagnoses of Smith, or claimed the actor could have killed Rock with the slap. Some online used it as an opportunity to make Fresh Prince of Bel Air jokes, while others inexplicably linked the incident to the invasion of Ukraine.
There were more takes than stars in the sky, and all it made me wish for was a simpler time when people didn’t feel the need to comment on everything, all the fucking time. Because sometimes—most of the time!—it’s okay to say nothing.
Yes, obviously a movie star slapping another celebrity in front of a live national audience is going to be huge news. And when Twitter (or Facebook or TikTok) is the closest thing we have to a town square, of course folks are going to be eager to spout off. That’s fine.
But the confidence with which people share their opinions has become truly bizarre. We live in a time when absurdity is delivered with dead seriousness, in a country where the uninformed expect their ideas to be treated with the same level of gravitas and consideration as an expert’s. (That’s how we end up with tweets gravely imagining what would have happened if Smith actually slapped dead actress Betty White.)
Don’t get me wrong; it’s not entirely our fault. While the democratizing effect of social media has been mostly positive, it’s also had the unfortunate side effect of convincing too many people that their random ramblings are actually important.
When you bullshit at the water cooler, for example, there’s an implicit understanding that what you’re chatting about is just that: chatter. It’s not meant to be taken too seriously, and certainly not thought of as expertise or a serious contribution to the national discourse.
Now that so much of our socializing has moved online, however, what used to be ephemeral prattling is now permanently etched on the internet. Conversations that once were between just a few friends are now out there for all of the world to see. Of course people are going to take themselves too seriously!
The constant hum of online conversations also means that not weighing in on the topic-du-jour can be seen as a statement in itself. There’s a reason that everyone from influencers and corporate brands to teachers and teens will change their profile picture to the social cause of the moment or post to Instagram about a current event even when it’s not in their particular wheelhouse.
The assumption is that everyone wants to hear from everyone else on everything.
But I sure don’t. Not all opinions are created equal, and there were only a few people I was actually interested in hearing substantively from on the Smith slap. Most everything else was just noise.
I know I’m not the only one imagining what a future without takes would look like. What kind of peace and serenity might come along with an internet where people only weigh in when they really have something to say or expertise to offer. I also know that’s not very likely to happen.
So instead of writing any more about it, I’ll stick to the sage advice of young people and ‘go touch some grass’.
The End of Takes
I watch a few YouTube channels and it saddens me that the people working very hard to keep me entertained feel they have to over-explain every action to try to forestall the negative comments people so freely spout. I have long ago broken the rule about “if you can’t say something nice don’t say anything at all” but I do wish we could all get a “courtesy” booster shot. It would cure so many of society’s ills. Seriously my only interest in the Oscars is the costumes, my one little weakness ;).
Amen. I just turn it off and go read a book.