By: Matt Klinman
Poll: Does Joyce Carol Oates Get It Or Are You An Idiot Who Doesn’t Get Jokes? (Updated!)
Editor ‘s note: this article has been updated after Joyce Carol Oates came forward in a Newsweek interview saying that she was joking all along. But was she really? We think so. Do you think so too or are you an idiot? See below for original post (6/11/2015 4:28 pm EST).
The internet has been laughing it up about this tweet from the Pulitzer-nominated author Joyce Carol Oates:
It ‘s a funny tweet. Joyce Carol Oates is funny and is adding on to a funny joke. But that ‘s not why the internet is laughing it up. You see, a lot of news outlets, blogs, and internet users have picked up on this making fun of JCO. Salon for example thinks there is only a 5% chance she is joking and that, more likely, she is stupid for thinking that the photo of Steven Spielberg posing in front of the dinosaur is real. Their other explanation is that she is careless and doesn ‘t understand the internet enough that she didn ‘t look at the full photo.
But Jesus, come on. Can a smart old lady not make a good joke anymore?
There is some myth out there that Joyce Carol Oates is bad and cringeworthy at Twitter or doesn ‘t get it or something, but I think that ‘s total bullshit. She uses Twitter perfectly and many of her tweets are funny. Some of her tweets aren ‘t funny, sure, and many others are just her expressing her opinions in her way. But that ‘s exactly how most people use Twitter. She gets it.
Just skimming through, here are some great recent JCO tweets, many of which have to do with her cat Cherie.
Before Cherie’s collar was equipped w/ a little camera, invariably she claimed mice “lunged” at her w/ sharp little teeth. Not so much, now.
‘ Joyce Carol Oates (@JoyceCarolOates) June 2, 2015
Annoying when cat swishes tail in bowl of yogurt & is too lazy to clean it off herself.
‘ Joyce Carol Oates (@JoyceCarolOates) May 26, 2015
A merely “comprehensible” tweet is like old catnip.
‘ Joyce Carol Oates (@JoyceCarolOates) May 30, 2015
Cast Your Vote!
Now I know we are just jumping on the trending internet pile by even writing about this but, come on, someone who understands jokes has to step up and defend Ms. Oates.
So, what do you think? Does this brilliant writer get it or is she just an old lady that the average internet denizen is just so vastly smarter than?
Update: we were right! She gets it.
JCO confirmed today that it was a joke all along in an interview with Newsweek. She gets it. You get it. We all get it. We all get jokes. Jokes are fun.
Of course, it ‘s also sort of a joke that we live in an era where being interviewed by Newsweek to confirm if something you posted to a micro-blogging social network was a joke or not is a thing that happens. That ‘s a funny joke, too. Get it?
