A beautifully written essay.

But how is the world failing to handle it? Of course it made headlines, grabbed attention away from Ukraine, Covid, confirmation hearings, etc., but that's to be expected.

Your penultimate sentence is also beautifully written (but I could only quote one in reply), but I think it's worth recalling that the slap wasn't only Smith's reaction. He started to laugh it off, which might have been exactly the right thing to do. Perhaps Jada doesn't want to call attention to herself & her condition right then. A polite smile & laugh & then let's move on. But then he looks at her, & evidently that was enough. In short, Will's reaction was from both of them.