Will Smith: the last gentleman
Cardinal Newman said that “it is almost a definition of a gentleman to say that he is one who never inflicts pain.” The key word there is almost, because some things are worth more than gentleness. Honor, for one. For those who somehow missed it, at the Academy Awards on Sunday, host Chris Rock made a crack about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head (Mrs. Smith has alopecia). Her husband Will Smith then climbed onstage and slapped Mr. Rock. America was horrified. Yet Mr. Smith was just obeying the first rule of chivalry: if you insult a guy’s wife, get ready to throw hands. To be fair, Mr. Smith probably should have struck Mr. Rock with a glove or something. Cold-cocking him wasn’t very dashing. And the language he used afterwards was a little crude.
