Willow & Jaden Smith cover Interview: ‘Damn, you are the yin to my yang’
Soon I’m going to need a Smith-siblings intervention. I’ve really come around on Willow and Jaden Smith. While they are problematic (they regularly spout Scientology-related ideas), they are also undeserving of a lot of the hate they get. They are talented as models, and Jaden might even be a decent actor. Who knows? All I know is that Willow and Jaden’s Interview Magazine editorial made me happy – you can see the Steven Klein photos here, as well as the full interview conducted by Pharrell Williams. The editorial is, hands down, one of the best from both Smith kids. The interview? Well… I mean, they’re still Willow and Jaden. They’re still a little bit weird.
Willow on her thoughts: “This morning actually was pretty intense because I was thinking about the world and my place in the world, things that I have made or want to make. I was thinking about all the things that I could do that I don’t do. But, you know, I was just thinking about the world and everything.”
Willow on the importance of social media: “I know so many kids who literally are, like, Instagram-famous. They have done nothing but post pictures on Instagram. And they have followings. People love to see them in person, but it’s only because they post on their Instagram. It’s literally crazy. Kids will paint a picture of themselves that is so far beyond who they actually are. It’s like they’re wearing someone else’s skin…. And then there’s people, like me and Jaden, who want to utilize social media to elevate the consciousness of those people who feel like all they want from social media is to be famous. Like, you can actually be a voice. You can actually say something that’s inspiring and not just make people feel like you need to buy things and be a certain way.”
Jaden on role models: “I 100 percent agree with Willow on that one. My parents are definitely my biggest role models. And that’s where me and Willow both pull all of our inspiration from to change the world. It all comes from a concept of affecting the world in a positive way and leaving it better than it was than when we came. I feel like that enters into all types of different areas because there are so many different outlets that life has to offer for us. That goes into technology, into music. That goes into science, into spirituality, into education. Where me and Willow come from, a lot of it is trying to make society more efficient, so that kids don’t cry, like, “Why do I have to go to school?” Instead, kids are like, “Yeah! I’m so glad to go to school! I’m a better person than I was yesterday, and I can help people.”
Willow on the sibling dynamic: “Yeah. It’s crazy, the sibling dynamic. I could’ve spent my entire childhood like, “I have to love this person.” And it becomes a chore. But our parents were never like, “You have to love them.” It was more like, “You have your life. He has his life. And when you guys want to come together, when you guys want to commune, that’s up to you.” And throughout us realizing ourselves and realizing each other, we just opened our eyes and were like, “Damn, you are the yin to my yang.” Not a lot of siblings have that opportunity, because they’re always being pushed together so much. They need their time apart in order to realize themselves and realize who they are.
There are so many more quotes, but if I delve too deeply into the Smith world, I get a headache. It’s better for me to just breeze over their actual thoughts. I mean, I do believe these kids are Scientologists (or CoS-lite), but I also believe they’re just teenagers with media exposure. In many ways, they’re just typical teenagers in that they think they know everything and no one understands their depth or genius or whatever. In any case, pretty pictures.
Photos courtesy of Steven Klein/Interview.
