Swing!

Unless someone actually gets killed on video sometime later this year—war in Ukraine notwithstanding—the “slap heard ‘round the world” will likely serve as the paradigmeme for the remainder of 2022.

Beyond all the various shades of meaning being injected into this act of pugilism other than it being the only possible exciting moment one can expect from an Oscars telecast other than an egregious award flub, there really is only one salient takeaway about the act itself, and that is: Rock’s comment had nothing to do with Jada Smith’s alopecia.

Even if Rock knew about her condition—so what?  It was not as if the hairsytle wasn’t a popular one, as sported by the likes of, for example, Demi Moore, MeShell Ndegeocello, Ayanna Pressley (and, once upon a time, Sinead O’Connor).  For what it’s worth, most fashion pundits would probably say it works a LOT better than what passes for “fashion” on the red carpet.  In that sense, Rock’s “bad joke” wasn’t even a slap.

More likely, Rock was following up on Regina King’s slap at Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s penchant for public swinging, and he may have been hinting that a personal and intimate acquaintance with what was under Mrs. Smith’s sheitel.  Mr. Smith had to take it from Ms. King because he wasn’t going to hit a woman, so Rock paid for his sin and hers.

Thankfully, other than an asinine “this is Trump’s fault” from one CNN pundit (and Howard Stern), the analyses seem to free of political and/or progressive identitarian angles, but we are once again reminded that on national TV, the immediate visual will always outweigh probative value, and yet will always be admissible in the court of public opinion.