Will Smith, The Slap, and the Death of Celebrity with Aisha Harris

For Colored Nerds

Stitcher

Society & Culture

4.8 • 827 Ratings

🗓️ 25 October 2022

⏱️ 59 minutes

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Summary

In this penultimate episode of For Colored Nerds, Brittany, Eric, and host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, Aisha Harris, go deep. This week, they discuss one of the most beloved, bankable, and now, controversial Black movie stars of all-time: Will Smith. This isn’t just about The Slap or “the entanglement.” It’s about Will’s entire relationship to celebrity. How his career, desires, and personal branding implicates more about the idea of celebrity as a whole than we previously thought.

Transcript

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0:00.0	the movie industry would be saved
0:02.3	if Will Smith and Tom Cruise went head to head
0:04.3	every summer, every other summer.
0:05.8	They're getting older, every other summer.
0:07.0	Like, Will still has, like, he still has
0:08.6	pecks in a six-pack.
0:09.9	So I'm just like, come on.
0:11.0	Like, get in the fucking game.
0:13.0	Tompkins trying to go to space right now.
0:14.8	Step it up.
0:15.3	That's what I'm saying.
0:16.2	He was walking on the plane. He's 65 years old. Get it together.
0:31.7	Hi, I'm Eric. And I'm Brittany. And this is For Colored Nerds. The weekly show where we peel back the layers of black culture that we rarely discuss in mixed company.
0:38.8	In this penultimate episode of For Colored Nerds, we're talking about one of the most beloved, bankable, and now controversial black movie stars of all time, Will Smith.
0:44.5	But this isn't just about the slap or the entanglement era.
0:48.2	It's about Will's entire relationship to celebrity.
0:51.6	How his career, desires, and personal branding implicates more about the idea of celebrity as a whole than we previously thought.
1:00.6	And helping us through this discussion is my colleague and host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, Aisha Harris.
1:07.0	Aisha is a film buff and former Will Smith Stan, so she had a lot to say about what may have brought Will to this point.
1:14.3	And look, watch out.
1:15.2	This episode gets a little spicy lovingly, though.
1:18.4	So if you are a Will Smith truther, you might want to watch out.
	...

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