Earlier this week I read that Will Smith and Jay Z were developing the musical Annie for Smith’s daughter Willow. Willow has achieved fame in the music world with her hit “I Whip My Hair”. When I read it I felt proud that two black men had the power and the finances necessary to broker such a project. I also felt it was great that Smith could help pave the way for his heirs. He could provide that push up that his parents were not in the position to give him. This is a proud black family and they should be celebrated. So I was surprised when I read the tweet that Terry McMillan released. “She tweeted that Willow and brother Jaden, 12, “are being pimped and exploited” by parents Will and Jada Smith. She went on to say “The Smith children already act like child stars. There’s an arrogance in their demeanor and behavior,” she wrote. “I find it incredibly sad. It feels like the Smith children are being pimped and exploited. Or, they’re already hungry for fame. What about 4th grade?” My question first is why would she write this? The next question is why would a grown woman release this kind of tirade against the children? It sounds like a case of sour grapes or crabs in the barrel, take your choice. McMillan has since apologized for the tweet, but the damage is done. I say it all the time…140 characters can kill you. Tweeting is a quick means of communication and it can get you in trouble very quickly.
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I know who Peter King is. I’d never heard of him and really had no need to know who he was until he proceeded to call Michael Jackson a pervert, pedophile, and child molester, shortly after the pop-star died. I also know who Joe Wilson is. Never heard of him until he decided to yell out “you lie” during President Obama’s SOTU in 2009. I say this to say that people will say and do anything these days to grab attention and be in the headlines to sell whatever they want to sell. Yes Terry McMillan is clearly a fairly well known author but it’s debatable that she is as well known as Will Smith. So why not take something that was already kind of out in the blogosphere and ratch it up a notch or two; and voila, instant grabbing headlines. Incidentally Joan Rivers referred to Michelle Obama as “blackie O” basically doing a comparison of her to Jackie Kennedy Onassis. She stated that she knew it would offend people but decided to go for it anyway. I don’t think it was racist but just really in poor taste and it wouldn’t have been funny if a black comedian had say it either. So there you have it; say something that is in really poor taste about a celebrity or political figure that in general people have a positive view of and you too can be in the spot light.
SRS1, I really don’t think Wilson was pre-meditatively looking for stardom when he called out the prez; he was speaking his mind. If he could hit ‘rewind’ I think he’d have simply muttered it under his breath. The others, since they took the time to seek out a medium that is designed to put out what they were saying to the masses, were probably doing just as you say.
As far as Rivers goes, the comparisons between “Michelle O” and “Jackie O” have been out there for some time. In a comic venue it might fly to say “Blackie O” (example: Cedric “the entertainer” being called “Blambo” in his movie “the cleaner” and the Wayans brothers using “Blackie Chan” in their movie) but outside the auditorium it would indeed be offensive.
EM, I’d go with the crabs in a bucket analogy on this one. Successful people have been helping their kids for YEARS to get a leg up. If Smith was a washed-up has been that couldn’t get arrested without help, and he was trying to make it by “pimping” his children, she might have a point. But Smith still has juice, and we haven’t seen the last of Jada either. I hope they continue to help their kids navigate those waters to stardom in a responsible way.