A Reel Opinion: To Rescind or Not to Rescind

Should Will Smith be stripped of his Oscar? That is the burning question and debate surrounding the embattled actor, just over a week after he smacked Chris Rock at the 94^th Academy Awards. Smith collected his first Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in KING RICHARD less than an hour after the incident, and even though the 53-year-old actor has resigned his Academy membership, there are many circles who believe that his Oscar should be rescinded. 

 

There are many twists and turns and points-of-view in this headline-grabbing incident that won’t seem to go away, and every time this Blogger turns it over in his head, a different conclusion seems to come. Should he lose his Oscar? Let's look at it from a simple equation: The Academy has made it clear for the last 94 years that they award Oscars based on a person’s merit on the screen and not on their actions elsewhere. If that be true, then how can they turn around and say we’re taking your Oscar away not based on your screen merit but for your actions elsewhere. It simply doesn’t make sense. 

 

Stripping his Oscar based on his actions off the screen is a slippery slope that the Academy likely does not want to go down, because it would make them less about film and more about a Conduct Police. There are many past Oscar winners out there who have misbehaved, broken laws, fled the country, and jailed for their actions: Harvey Weinstein, Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, Mel Gibson…for starters. Heck, even Nic Cage and his bizarre behavior could be lumped into this group. Now, I’m not sure if the Academy bylaws state that a person must represent the Academy at all times, but it’s doubtful…and again, if they want the Oscars to be all about the movies and not about behavior, politics, or clean records…then it needs to stay that way. 

 

But, in one of the many twists in the story, Smith is the only one in this mentioned group of troublemakers who actually committed his offense during Academy time; the rest of those guys misbehaved on their own time…and that fact gives fuel to the idea of taking Smith’s Oscar away. It’s a fair point, but the smack, as sickening and inappropriate as it was, still has nothing to do with his performance in KING RICHARD. At that point in the ceremony, he technically already had the Oscar won, as the votes were already counted and the envelopes had been printed, and it was just a matter of waiting on the announcement. Awards that are rightfully earned should not be taken away unless the process to obtain said award was tainted, and that did not happen here. 

 

 

Smith’s resignation from the Academy means he will lose his voting privileges, but he will still be eligible to be nominated for Oscars. This Blogger feels that the best solution would be to make him ineligible. Maybe not lifetime, but perhaps five years which means we wouldn’t see him on the stage or at the ceremony until at least 2028. If his offense happened during the ceremony, then punish him by keeping him away from the ceremony. Let time pass and let the movies do what they do best: speak for themselves.