It’s quite common to hear people say that violence never solves anything. Well that’s true in many situations of course, but there are cases where I beg to differ.

I’ll give you an example from my life. As a child I grew up with a bad stammer, and not surprizingly it attracted a certain amount of ‘unwelcome’ comments at school, in the Scouts etc, and even from adults in some cases. For years I simply put up with it, partly because I’d never known it any other way. But one day a mocking comment from some other kid tipped me over the edge, so I hit him as hard as I could.

Well I got into some trouble for it, but he never laughed at me again, and nor did many other people. So I’m sorry, but in that case, violence worked! I think I maybe did it on one other occasion, but I don’t recall much need for it after that.

You see, verbal assaults and abuse can be just as unpleasant as physical ones. Contrary to the fameous proverb, words CAN hurt you.

Which is why I tend to have a certain amount of sympathy with Will Smith for slapping the ‘comedian’ Chris Rock at the Oscar ceremony last night. Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, suffers from alopecia (hair loss), and Chris Rock thought it funny to mock her from the stage.

For me it has never, and never will be, acceptable to mock people suffering from an affliction, illness, or condition which they can do little about. It’s cruel and nasty, and you can hardly be surprised if they react strongly.

Well Will Smith did react strongly, and argueably quite gallantly, to protect his woman. She shouldn’t have to put up with that sort of crap.

He’ll probably suffer badly for it, but maybe Chris Rock will think a bit more carefully about his material in the future. Hopefully other commedians whose routines often rely on abuse, such as Frankie Boyle, will follow suit.

A further funny thing is the statement from the Oscar Academy, which said, “The Academy does not condone violence of any form”. This is the organisation that has awarded Oscars to films like Midnight Cowboy, Rocky, Unforgiven, French Connection, Deer Hunter and the Godfather. Go figure…