Big Blue Huddle

Quote from: T200 on March 29, 2022, 08:20:21 AM
All the different choices screwed me yesterday... I missed it.

A friend of mine had a very long streak ended yesterday for that very reason. I am sure a lot of people did. I was in the same position but just was fortunate to guess the right one. I had four greens on the third guess (all but the first letter), and I still easily could have struck out. No skill involved in that situation - it's entirely down to luck. i guess the only thing I would say about those situations is that I have found it is generally better to go with the more common words over the less common ones, although by no means is that any sort of guarantee.

Quote from: T200 on March 29, 2022, 08:09:17 AM
I was holding out hope that it was just something coordinated between the two of them that obviously took a turn for the worse. I mean, Will laughed at the joke and it wasn't until Jada looked at him that his tone changed. But even then, it seems that he was reluctant to do anything and was pressured to defend her honor. After the "smack," he couldn't take anything back so he had to go all in and finish the "scene" with his outburst.

It's a bad look all around.

Definitely. And it will be an even worse look if the Academy permits him to come back next year. I think he should be banned for a few years, at least. Not a lifetime ban necessarily, because people deserve to be forgiven for most things if they improve, but this was outrageous enough that there is no way he should be coming back for (in my opinion) at least 2-3 years. Sorry, but you don't get to physically assault other human beings just because you don't like a joke. It doesn't work that way. Not in this country at least. In fact most normal people would get jailed or at least sued for that. If he avoids both of those things he should consider himself lucky.

I actually think the fact that Smith initially laughed, just prior to flipping out, makes this being a planned hoax less likely to be the case, not more likely.

Will Smith has publicly apologized to Chris Rock (finally).

Here it is on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CbqmaY1p7Pz/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=43979e2d-3c83-401b-a2bc-70d47f0f8c86

Again, I just don't see why he would agree to go through all this just to help the Academy Awards' ratings at his own expenses. He has been lambasted for his behavior and is in major damage control mode. Nobody would sign up for a hoax that puts them in such a bad position.

We all have our own opinions, but mine continues to be that it was real. Will Smith is getting absolutely skewered today by everyone. I see absolutely no reason why he would agree to participate in something that would clearly cause reputational damage to him and make him look like a really bad guy. That does not ring true to me. He doesn't need publicity as he is already a major movie star. What needed a jolt was the Academy Awards show. Will Smith did not, and if this were fake, he would be the one paying the price. It makes no sense to me that he would agree to do that. I think it was real.

I try not to assume the worst about people as a general practice. I have always liked Tom Hanks, because he does come off as a nice guy, from all that I have gathered people who know him seem to like him and like working with him, and he definitely makes really good movies for the most part.

With that said, I also don't think anyone can really know someone's true nature until they really know him or her very closely, with a lot of firsthand experiences, particularly during bad times or challenging situations. Just because someone usually comes off as nice and humble in interviews doesn't mean they don't have a dark side. Did any of you think Bill Cosby was a terrible human being before the allegations against him came to light? Even OJ was pretty popular and well liked prior to his whole disaster. And he was not a professional, highly skilled actor like Hanks.

Generally speaking, I don't like applying unflattering labels to broad groups of people. It is very common in our society to do that. People judge large groups based on their profession, whom they voted for, and certainly of course for their religion/ethnic group, sexual preference, and so on. I try to make it a practice not to ever do this, and that certainly includes Hollywood. I think plenty of people in that industry are good people. Obviously, plenty are not. Same as any other large industry.

Quote from: T200 on March 28, 2022, 09:44:06 AM
I think it was coordinated between just the two of them but Will went a little off script with the follow-up profanities.

Now, this is a reach but I think it's a possibility: Jada has essentially emasculated Will IN PUBLIC with her admissions of infidelity. Maybe, juuuuuuust maybe, Will gave Rock the go-ahead to tell the GI Jane 2 joke knowing that Jada would take it personally. Will had a hearty laugh at it and then feigned offended outrage.

Interesting theory. Certainly cannot be ruled out!

Quote from: Ed Vette on March 28, 2022, 09:46:58 AM
So do high level executives and business owners with all those fancy dinners honoring each other with a hand job passing it on to the next one. All Pomp and Circumstance. In that case the criticism gets whispered.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good point - I agree.

Many people resent Hollywood for giving/receiving awards, doing speeches, and often being arrogant, but athletes do exactly the same things, don't they? How come they don't get criticized for similar behavior? Is it because Hollywood gets more involved in liberal politics? Outside of that, I don't see a ton of difference as far as this aspect of their respective industries go.

Quote from: Ed Vette on March 28, 2022, 09:26:31 AM
You hit on yet you circle back. Lol
He instinctively would have put his hands forward to protect himself even after the blow. It

One argument in favor of this event being staged is Rock's physical reaction to the blow. If you watch him, he has his hands behind his back and is leaning outwards, just prior to being struck. Two observations:


(1) If an angry person is aggressively storming towards you, the natural reaction is to take a more stable, defensive physical posture. You generally don't see people sticking their face out with their hands behind their backs in this situation. Granted, if it was real, Rock probably was not expecting Smith to actually hit him.

(2) Given his less than stable stance, a blow of that force would tend to knock the person down, or at least cause them to stagger or double over. Or at least to touch their face afterwards, check for blood, etc. Rock does none of that. In fact, he barely moves his feet.


The part of this that seems real is Smith's furious screaming after he has returned to his seat. The actual punch did not look conclusively real in my opinion.


I am still sticking to the view that it was real though. All of the reaction the next day makes it seem like it was, and I just don't believe that the Academy would sign off on something like this, including violence and major, high volume profanity. I also don't think the LAPD would have been willing to formally participate in a staged hoax.

Quote from: MightyGiants on March 28, 2022, 08:34:43 AM
I have heard interviews with Will Smith and I did not like him.  He came off as arrogant and full of himself.  So this behavior was hardly shocking

MG,

I agree with your assessment on Smith; I had a similar view on him even prior to this incident.

Quote from: Slugs Narrows on March 28, 2022, 08:30:42 AM
Dave

In the moment idk if the brain calculates can a beat this man

Quote from: Slugs Narrows on March 28, 2022, 08:09:06 AM
Ding ding ding ding!

Idc if it was real or fake!  I still won

Quote from: T200 on March 28, 2022, 07:57:28 AM
It wasn't real.

A face slap doesn't sound like a 'thud' and Rock's mic is right there on his lapel. If it was a real slap, the mic would have picked up a different sound.

Plus, Will wouldn't have done that if he was really offended at a joke. He would have pulled Chris aside off camera. Maybe things would have gotten escalated backstage (I doubt it). Chris Rock is a comedian, not a fighter.

Last, this  https://youtu.be/8cBRfjcY9SQ  is how Will slaps a man    And even in that clip, you can hear a 'smack' and not a 'thud' sound.

The LAPD made a public statement a couple hours after the event, stating they would not move forward with charges since Chris Rock was not pressing them.

It is hard to believe a serious institution like that would get involved in a Hollywood publicity stunt.