Michael Phillips: Will Smith leaves Oscars audience rattled and as divided as ever. So much for escapism

“The Academy does not condone violence in any form.”

This is the response we heard from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, following Sunday’s inciting incident: Will Smith slapping Chris Rock in retaliation for a useless, heartless verbal jab at Smith’s wife and fellow performer, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Lest we forget, the Academy has a pretty solid record of condoning violence in many forms. The movie industry, the medium itself, remains an economic force, even now, largely because of violence. Fictional human brutality is money. Many of the most popular films in existence would be nothing without it.

Without it, you wouldn’t have seen Francis Ford