August 03, 2016
For the better part of the past year, valiant attempts have been made both publicly and privately to explain the appeal of a politician as brash as Donald Trump. It's tempting to credit him purely as a rhetorician, yet if that is truly his selling point, it would confirm that a substantial portion of the American public shares views that most would objectively have to admit radiate sexism and xenophobia.
If you ask West Philly native Will Smith, it all boils down to something simple: "It's absolutely collective insanity."
Smith sounded off on Trump in a recent interview with Australian news organization news.com.au, lamenting the "darkness of his soul" as he discussed the challenges of playing a villain in his upcoming feature film "Suicide Squad," which debuts this weekend:
“I think as much as we want to believe that love is the greatest human motivator, it’s not. Fear is. Fear is the most dangerous and powerful motivator because when a human being gets scared, fight or flight kicks in. And there is this really separatist non-inclusive xenophobic, racist wave that is sweeping the globe that is making us pull apart farther than putting us together."
In particular, Smith said he's furious about Trump's ruthless characterizations of women who stand in his path to power.
“For a man to be able to publicly refer to a woman as a fat pig, that makes me teary," Smith said. "And for people to applaud, that is absolutely f---ing insanity to me.”
If he had ever spoken that way, he added, his grandmother would have smacked him so hard that his teeth would have flown from his head.
While describing his character research for "Suicide Squad," Smith touched on an issue that may account for Trump's own apparent carelessness for the offense he causes on a daily basis. To wrap his mind around the mentality of a bad guy, Smith read John Douglas and Mark Olshaker's seminal "The Anatomy of Motive," which examines the psychology of serial killers.
“It was then that I realized that nobody thinks of themselves as bad," Smith said. "People do the things they do because they think they’re right, no matter how evil."
Trump is no serial killer, but the first part of Smith's comment goes a long way toward explaining the shameless hostility of political competition.
The actor's remarks come during a year that has seen him increasingly express his interest in politics. Last November, Smith said he can envision a future political career for himself based partly on his outrage over the direction of the country. In February, he reportedly attended a private dinner in Los Angeles with President Obama and two film industry executives who have been documented mega-donors for the Democratic Party.
"I'm a climber," Smith said last year of his political ambitions. "So if I see a mountain, I have to climb it."
