Jada Pinkett Smith has always been proud of her children's achievements. On Wednesday's episode of her Facebook Watch series Red Table Talk, she shifted her attention to 19-year-old daughter Willow Smith.
Willow recently staged a 24-hour performance art piece about her lifelong battle with anxiety at the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Geffen Contemporary in Los Angeles. Together with performance partner Tyler Cole, they spent three-hour blocks exploring different anxiety-related emotions.
During the performance, Willow shaved her head for the second time in her life. The first time was when she was 12 years old. The moment was particularly emotional for Jada, who broached the subject with Willow during the episode.
Jada, Willow, and Jada's mother, Adrienne Banfield Norris, also talked about how Willow's performance speaks to our current moment. Feelings of anxiety are rampant as many are spending time indoors. Although Willow's performance was planned way before the outbreak, Jada believes it resonates differently at this moment.
On Red Table Talk, Jada Pinkett Smith, mother Adrienne Banfield Norris, and daughter Willow Smith examine different topics from a multigenerational perspective. This week, the three ladies talked about anxiety. They discussed it as it related to Willow's recent 24-hour art exhibit and, more recently, the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this month, Willow and her performance partner, Tyler Cole, dedicated a 24-hour performance to exploring Willow's lifelong struggles with anxiety. In three-hour blocks, the two examined the eight stages of anxiety, all without speaking and while enclosed in a glass box. That Friday, the pair's band, The Anxiety, released a self-titled musical counterpart.
As part of the exhibit, Tyler shaved Willow's head, a point that Jada wanted to discuss.
"The first time you shaved your head [was] when you were 12 years old. But this time, you came into a womanhood," Jada told her daughter on Wednesday's episode of Red Table Talk. "So kudos to you."
"I feel like I was just shedding a lot history and emotional baggage. Six, seven years of emotion, I just let it go," Willow explained.
"I saw my baby girl just transform before my eyes," Jada said.
Although Willow had been working on the exhibit for some time, the message about anxiety takes on a new meaning amidst the coronavirus crisis.
"The coronavirus pandemic is causing great fear, anxiety — even panic … You put yourself in a box, dealing with eight stages of anxiety in 24 hours," Jada said. "It was really timely, even though you'd been planning this for a while. But the fact that it was this isolation, confinement we're experiencing now [was relatable]."
Jada, Willow, and Adrienne brought out motivational speaker Jay Shetty and psychologist Dr. Ramani Durvasula as part of the show. The group discussed the impact isolation and quarantine will have on people's mental health, particularly where anxiety is concerned. Dr. Durvasula noted that for those already living with anxiety, this situation has been a multiplier.
The group took fan questions. One fan asked how to tell their significant other they need space while in the home together. "If you're just seeking more space in your relationship, I think one of the bigger mistakes we often make is that we express what we want but we don’t explain why we want it," Jay said.
"So if you just go up to your partner and say, 'I want space' or 'I need space,' they don't know why you want it and so now they're confused. Now they're filling in the text of going, 'Oh maybe he or she doesn't like me.'"
"If you explain why you want what you want, then someone has the opportunity to say, 'Oh I get that, I wanted it too,'" he added. "Because often you find that both of you wanted the space."
"I think that’s true because if you say to somebody, 'I need space,' sometimes that's a trigger for one step towards divorce. And it doesn't necessarily mean that," Jada noted. "It just means, 'Hey I need two hours, please.'"
The extended Smith family first discussed the coronavirus in an emergency episode last week. Will and son Trey also joined the discussion. The family explained Jaden's absence, as he was self-isolating.
"Just like other families around the world, we are trying to navigate through all the information out there about COVID-19," Jada began. "Speaking of families, you will see that Jaden is not here with us today because he is actually being a responsible young person!”
"He is practicing social distancing, he's been doing a lot of traveling and his main concern has been about Gammy," Jada shared. "So he has decided to stay indoors and he's actually following orders."
"Thank you, Jaden! We love you," Adrienne said to the camera.
In I Am Legend, Will played a virologist who is the sole survivor of a man-made plague. "So I had an opportunity in my preparation for the role to go to the CDC and there was a basic foundational comprehension of viruses and viral pathogens that I developed and it really changed my life and how I looked at the world, and there's basic concepts that people do not understand," he noted.
"A lot of the language is very confusing," Willow acknowledged.
The Smith family is doing its part by providing professional insights to its many viewers. There's no denying that feelings of anxiety and uncertainty are running rampant. By empowering others with information and coping strategies, we recognize that no one is alone in their emotional load during this time.
