Selective Outrage
Netflix · 2023 · 69 min
Chris Rock finally answers the slap heard around the world.
The primary draw here is a single, heavily anticipated ten-minute block at the end of the set where Chris Rock finally addresses getting slapped by Will Smith at the 2022 Academy Awards. It is the culmination of a year of public silence on the matter, and Rock unloads his frustrations with an intense, loud sequence that details the concept of \”selective outrage\” and explains why he refused to play the victim on talk shows.
Before that final segment, the performance is a standard Rock set with his signature pacing and staccato delivery. Recorded live at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland, the show made history as Netflix’s first-ever live global broadcast event. Rock steps onto the stage wearing all white, pacing with the restless energy of a veteran, and takes aim at modern culture, woke hypocrisy, Meghan Markle, and the absurdities of spoiling his daughters.
The live format added a nervous energy to the room, especially given that Baltimore is Jada Pinkett Smith’s hometown. Critics were mixed on the performance. Many noted that while the live element and the closing minutes felt like a major cultural moment, some of the earlier segments on trans people, Lululemon, and the royal family felt like a step backward into older, less inspired routines. During the live broadcast, Rock even flubbed a punchline about Will Smith’s filmography, though he quickly recovered and kept pushing forward.
The set list
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The closer (spoiler). Show it
The Will Smith Oscars slap and aftermath
Rock asserts he is not a victim, contrasts their roles (Smith played Muhammad Ali while Rock played Pookie), addresses Jada Pinkett Smith's marital drama emasculating Smith, notes Smith hit someone he knew he could beat, and jokes about watching Emancipation just to see Smith get whipped.
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The four easiest ways to get attention
Outlines attention-seeking in modern society: show your ass, be infamous, be excellent (like Serena Williams), and be a victim, criticizing emergency rooms full of paper cuts and white men trying to overthrow the government they run.
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Words hurt vs. physical violence
Argues that anyone who believes the phrase 'words hurt' has clearly never been punched in the face, foreshadowing his commentary on being slapped.
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Identifying as poor
Mocks contemporary pronoun and identity discourse with the punchline that despite being rich, he identifies as poor and his pronoun is 'broke.'
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Meghan Markle and the British Royal Family
Argues Markle won the 'light-skin lottery' and expresses amusement at her surprise that the Royal Family harbors racists.
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Teaching his daughter a tough-love lesson
Recounts choosing not to sue his daughter's private school after she engaged in behavior warranting expulsion, teaching her accountability before she later enrolled in culinary school.
How it plays
- Tone
- Edgy, irreverent, outraged, sharp, and provocative.
- On stage
- Charismatic, cocky, provocative, and energetic, growling and bellowing into the microphone while striding across the stage.
- Pace
- Emphatic cadence and physical tempo, utilizing repeated setups as a teasing delaying tactic; transitions from a blustery, aggressive start to a slower, rhythmic storytelling pace in the hour's second half.
- About
- The Will Smith Oscars slap, Cancel culture and corporate virtue-signaling, Addiction to attention and performative victimhood, Gender identity and pronouns, Parenting, wealth, and privilege, Modern dating and age gaps
What the critics said
Received mixed-to-critical appraisals; reviewers noted the hour was uneven and relied on outdated or overly familiar buzzword topics in its first half, while praising the closing ten minutes on the Will Smith slap as raw, fierce, and riveting. The camera direction and live production received significant criticism.
In the room: Described as subdued or defensive during the standard topical material, but becoming raucous, vocal, and fully engaged once Rock addressed the Oscars slap.
Backstory
Netflix's first-ever global live-streamed event, airing roughly one year after Chris Rock was slapped on stage by Will Smith at the 2022 Academy Awards and one week before the 2023 Oscars ceremony.
Details
- Released
- Taped
- Hippodrome Theater, Baltimore
- Runtime
- 69 min
- Where
- Netflix
- Director
- Joel Gallen
- Honors
- Golden Globe Nominee
- Topics
- Before
- Total Blackout: The Tamborine Extended Cut (2021)
More from Chris Rock
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Tamborine
Netflix
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Never Scared
HBO
-
Bigger & Blacker
HBO
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