A Facebook post by voice actor/comedian/impressionist Keith Scott, from March 28, 2022, reposted with his permission:

It’s been two years since I had a rant … obviously I just don’t fit in to this modern age. The old boomer in me yearns for those classy days of Johnny Carson or Bob Hope wittily roasting bigwigs in the Oscar crowds of yore … of course in those halcyon days the audience was populated by scores of truly sophisticated talents like Cary Grant, Olivier, Jean Simmons, Burt Lancaster, Shirley Jones, Henry Fonda and a hundred more.

But Will Smith and Chris Rock? The old skeptic in me smells the whiff of an awkwardly staged and tastelessly conceived stunt – well, that would be no surprise in this age of tawdry copycat excess, where over-the-top outrageousness and ghastly behavior bestows instant fame to the vapid via the E channel, and where swaggeringly smug attitude trumps actual talent.

But whether stunt or for real, it just seems a pity that in the all pervasive instant-media age with which we are stuck, so-called role models like movie stars can seemingly now resort to good old, simple violence in front of the biggest audience in the world … while at the same time morally tut-tutting about a posturing little super-thug like Putin. Yep, just what the non-thinkers out there need to see and emulate….” Gee … fabulously entitled star can use slaps or punches and shriek foul language at fully childish decibel level instead of quietly agreeing to disagree like adults used to, so why can’t I?”

Gee, all these recent years of so-called woke, new age “appropriate” behavior so that kinder, gentler values and total inoffensiveness will result in a world of idealized harmony … what a crock o’ steaming crap.

And if the Smith-Rock fracas was indeed for real it makes you wonder what a powder keg someone like Mr. Smith might actually be when far away from the glitz … scratch a modern celebrity’s image of fame and bonhomie and I start hearing the old song, “And nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors …” Hmm, now there’s an unsettling thought.

Sure ain’t the glorious world of movies I grew up loving anymore.

End of rant … gee, what a boring old fuddy duddy I am!