Yes Theory Challenges Will Smith

I would like to take this opportunity to share with you a video, or actually a series of videos that have been recently released by two individuals. The first comes from a group of YouTube personalities who host a channel called Yes Theory, which has over 1.2 million subscribers. The second comes from Will Smith, the star of such classics as Men In Black, Independence Day, and I Am Legend. In case you haven’t had a chance to Will Smith’s greatest hits then you can always catch theme on demand through U-verse TV.

Yes Theory originally released a video on February 27, 2018, which at this moment has 762 views. The video starts with Will Smith in a scene from The Pursuit of Happyness, then transitions into challenging Will Smith to jump from a helicopter using a bungee cord, or heli bungee jumping, as it’s known. After announcing the challenge, the hosts of Yes Theory go onto to explain why Smith is a 90’s icon, a hero, and an ambassador of the “yes theory.”

YES THEORY’S MISSION STATEMENT AND VISION

The Yes Theory vision is to make the world a better place by choosing love over fear. In the video, there is a snippet of an interview with Smith discussing his fears and how he is “motivated by fear,” or more specifically his “fear of fear,” which translates to “being scared to doing something” simply out of fear.

WILL SMITH AND HOW HE OVERCAME HIS FEAR OF HEIGHTS

The video goes on about how Smith overcame his fear of heights by skydiving. He is shown talking to an audience while on a talk show, discussing how his fear of heights took hold of him the night before skydiving, and how he was unable to sleep. This could be correlated with anxiety, since he also describes irregular breathing and the inability to eat.

He discusses the moments leading up the dive, where everyone one keeps going and no one is stopping him, which shows us that no one except for himself wants to stop him from facing his fear. He then describes the moments leading up to him jumping out of the plane at 14000 feet, with his toes literally on the edge, looking out facing death. He describes the exact moment where he jumps out of the airplane, and how the very next second it transforms into the most blissful experience.

FEAR IS NOTHING WITHOUT YOU

Essentially, this video highlights how being scared just ruins your day. Smith discusses how the moment when you should be the most terrified is actually the most blissful experience of your life, and how on the other side of fear are the best moments of your life. The message he is delivering is both strong and powerful.

ROBIN PETGRAVE CONFIRMS HIS AVAILABILITY

The video cuts to a video call with Robin Petgrave, the Chief Pilot & President of Celebrity Helicopter, and the founder of Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum. Robin also confirms the safety of heli bungee jumping. If Smith agrees to the challenge, then Petgrave is more than willing to pilot the helicopter, as he has accumulated over 22,000 hours of flight.

GETTING SMITH’S ATTENTION

The Yes Theory crew then turns to its audience, asking them to go Smith’s YouTube page to help get his attention. Smith launched his own YouTube channel on December 19^th. At the time of the writing of this article, he is already edging his way to 1.25 million subscribers.

SMITH’S RESPONSE TO THE CHALLENGE

Smith responded to the challenge by releasing a video of his own on March 6^th, 2018. A week after the initial challenge video--which has 3.35 million views at this moment--Smith is shown meditating on a porch, and then being disturbed by shouting. The Yes Theory challenge video is brought to his attention. His response to the video has a cinematic flair, as he looks to a spinning fan. Helicopter sound effects are added, at which point Smith is shown again, this time looking down and smiling.

We then see a scene of Smith doing research. He decides to run a simulation with a Men in Black figurine and a drone, at which point he concludes it can be done. The response is given in text, acknowledging that the challenge is accepted.

SMITH’S THREE CONDITIONS FOR THE YES THEORY CHALLENGE

He accepts the challenge on three conditions. The first condition is that the challenge is done for charity. The second condition is that they wait until he is done shooting his current movie, since he doesn’t want to breach his contract (he is currently working on Gemini Man, for those who were wondering). The third and final condition is non-negotiable, and that is that the jump must take place over the Grand Canyon.

THE HIDDEN EASTER EGG

The final moment of Smith’s response video shows him having a conversation with someone he refers to as TC, asking if he knows how to fly a helicopter. The final statement may have been an Easter egg, possibly hinting at fellow actor Tom Cruise making an appearance as a special guest.

YES THEORY AND THEIR REACTION VIDEO

A third video was released showing the reaction of the people behind Yes Theory. The room of viewers explodes into excitement once they see Smith accept the challenge, and then once again when he mentions the Grand Canyon. The possibility of Cruise being involved sends everyone over the top.

The video continues to follow the crew, and shows more of their reaction and commentary. The most important message in the video is a request to viewers to help break the internet, and that too for a good cause. The reaction video was posted the same day as Smith’s acceptance video, and has been viewed 1.32 million times.