Chris, Jada, Will, and Oscar

A Shit-Show Filled With Possibilities

I didn’t watch the Oscars. I don’t watch the news. And yet, I heard about the fiasco that completely eclipsed the 2022 Academy Awards and every incredibly remarkable story of the evening that I should have heard about instead.

I Youtubed the clip, to see for myself.

About a minute that had so many possibilities, so many outcomes that could have been spectacular global memories, so so many choices that could have gone down in history as a moment that marked an entire societal shift.

But that’s not what happened.

What happened was something that has to be one of the top ten worst-case scenarios, all things considered.

Here are some of the opportunities that were missed.

Chris Could Have Skipped the Joke

Blame the writers, blame the comedian, but the fact is, that joke was a low blow. To make fun of someone for something they have no control over (Jada Pinkett Smith is suffering from alopecia), something that is known to cause the person considerable personal distress, and to do so publicly, in the name of humour is disgraceful.

Shame on anyone who thought otherwise.

The buck stopped with Chris Rock on stage. He could have skipped the joke altogether. He should have. It was mean.