The best response to actress Jada Pinkett’s revealing memoir and the ensuing media frenzy was her husband Will Smith’s “official statement”: an Instagram post that seemed to promise a counter-narrative but was actually just a snippet of him sneezing in hand. . It was a deliberate mockery of the media’s obsession with celebrities and “breaking the silence.”
The Hollywood royal couple have certainly been dogged by huge speculation in recent years – from Pinkett Smith, 52, opening up about her “connection” with rapper Augusta Alsina, to Chris Rock’s harsh criticism of Smith at the 2022 Oscars after he joked about Pinkett Smith’s alopecia.
WorthyThe most important revelation is that during such dramas, their Mr. and Mrs. Smith were effectively separated – for seven years – even though they maintain a deep connection and desire to be “strong in the family.”
Pinkett Smith’s book is a 400-page attempt to tell her side of the story truthfully, beyond the rumor mill and beyond the simple blow that shook her like everyone else. This is an understandable desire. But I was also wondering: where do you draw the line between telling your story and feeding the beast?
“Collaborator” with Mim Eichler Rivas, Worthy tries to be helpful rather than prurient: this is a memoir somewhat disingenuously concerned with self-help. Each chapter ends with inspiring quotes, reflections from Pinkett Smith, and a challenge to the reader to reflect on their own lives (“Can you find a point where you begin to reject the precious child within you?” etc.).
There is no doubt that Pinkett Smith “did her job”; Anyone allergic to therapeutic language, pan-Eastern philosophy, or stories of ayahuasca travel should avoid this book, but those on their own journey toward vulnerability, self-love, and spirituality may find help here. Pinkett-Smith’s advice is candid and, for the most part, quite reasonable, beyond the buzzwords.
She is also extremely open about why she needed this “medicine.” Pinkett Smith openly describes her mental health struggles, including how depression brought her close to suicide at 40 and how she planned to “get into a fatal accident that didn’t seem intentional—for the sake of my children.”
And as she tells the story of her early life, it’s clear that she’s not just a whiny celebrity whose diamond shoes are too tight (trauma is a pejorative word these days), but Pinkett Smith’s early life was truly filled with it.
Her parents grew up in Baltimore and were both drug addicts. After losing his beloved stepfather and grandmother and finding his best friend in rapper Tupac Shakur, teenager Pinkett Smith became seriously involved in drugs. She had to be held at gunpoint twice before she could change her path: she studied academic performance at university.
Both this piece and Pinkett Smith’s account of the years of hunger and turmoil in a Hollywood just beginning to open up to the power of black talent are told with real verve. Pinkett Smith conveys the passion and determination that helped her survive a difficult childhood filled with loss (not least Shakur’s murder) without romanticizing it.
She also takes the reader through the whirlwind romance she had with Smith, who “promised that the world was his and that he would give you all the pearls it had to offer” before revealing how difficult it was for her to trust her. the role of the wife of a famous person.
Worthy he’s at his best when he’s sparkling and playful, with self-doubt and humor. But the more Pinkett Smith delves into the young Hollywood years of mega-rich people and therapists, the less insightful her writing becomes. There are some randomly funny and tone-deaf moments (she gains “holy wisdom” through… playing golf with Tiger Woods?) and others that are oddly oblique, including some rather obscure musings on Scientology.
But the biggest problem is that their own stories increasingly become stuck in the turbulent, murky waters of self-help psycho-babble. Soul searching is clearly good for her, but some therapeutic disputes are best resolved between her and Smith, her and her children, or her and her psychiatrist.
Source: I News
I am Mario Pickle and I work in the news website industry as an author. I have been with 24 News Reporters for over 3 years, where I specialize in entertainment-related topics such as books, films, and other media. My background is in film studies and journalism, giving me the knowledge to write engaging pieces that appeal to a wide variety of readers.