whew, what a week
An Influencer Refusing To Evacuate Before The Hurricane, And More Of This Week's 'One Main Character'
Every day, somebody says or does something that earns them the scorn of the internet. Here at Digg, as part of our mission to curate what the internet is talking about right now, we rounded up the main characters on X from this past week and held them accountable for their actions.
Each day on twitter there is one main character. The goal is to never be it
-- maple cocaine (@maplecocaine) January 3, 2019
This week, we've got a unique approach to a kid's picky eating, a wildly unsupportive new father, some questionable "A-listers" and Caroline Calloway insisting on remaining in a hurricane's path.
Thursday
Taylor Peden and Jen Munkvold
The character: Taylor Peden and Jen Munkvold, photography duo, parents of a picky eater, objects of derision
The plot: In a photo-heavy article recently published in the New York Times Magazine, parents Peden and Munkvold complain about their young child's personal distaste for eggs, take him to France and then have professional chefs try to please him with different egg-based dishes.
Presumably, this is at least partially funded by the Times, but this wildly unrelatable experience reinforces some deeply unpleasant stereotypes about journalistic outlets and writers in general.
Listen I respect the NYT… AND stories like this are why a large portion of the general public think journalists are wealthy, elitist snobs and that we’re out of touch with the real world!
— Esmy Jimenez (@esmyjimenez) October 3, 2024
The repercussion: As a surprise to nobody at all, the internet's main response to this kind of self-indulgent fluff is just a bunch of gagging sounds. Nobody wants to read about a picky 6-year-old boy eating better than they do.
https://t.co/04arlY0WMg https://t.co/oDl3KLMhk0 pic.twitter.com/sMlvy7cg4P
— Lisa Letostak (@lisaletostak) October 4, 2024
“Who is the target audience for this?” https://t.co/KAzLRtEN6M
— Tyche Hendricks (@tychehendricks) October 4, 2024
big ups to the thousands of journalists who’ve been slashed from the industry so the remaining ones can do expensive Paris egg stunts with their kids https://t.co/shTrLu3p8V
— Rich Bellis (@mr_bellis) October 4, 2024
Does your kid hate eggs? Have you tried intercontinental travel yet? https://t.co/MyiVcgyaqs
— B. Loewe (@whatbstandsfor) October 10, 2024
My favorites are a complaint about grocery prices (TRUE), a shoutout to the "Kim, there's people dying" meme and this queen who said "I hate filet mignon. Fly me out next." https://t.co/L2QVmDEXwl pic.twitter.com/e1Ag3mc7Oy
— Heidi N. Moore (@moorehn) October 4, 2024
See, stories like this are why I was unironically called a "media elite" by some people while reporting on the happenings of Sioux City, Iowa, and Sheldon, Iowa. https://t.co/5Z0Hr4wWF3
— Ty Rushing (@Rushthewriter) October 4, 2024
Biggest indictment here is of the NYT Cooking app. Can’t even teach the recipes to the newsroom https://t.co/wK0kwaCVtD
— Ali Winston (@awinston) October 4, 2024
grant Brunner
Monday
Scott Tyler
The character: Scott Tyler, new dad, unsupportive partner, man-baby
The plot: The whole point of our Main Character column is, obviously, to share the most mind-boggling and divisive takes posted online each week. But every now and then, someone shares a view so shameful, so indefensible, that the backlash forces them to not only delete their tweet, but their online presence altogether — and this is one such example.
On Monday, in response to a tweet about the prevalence of male infidelity in the period after their partner has given birth, X user @ScottJTyler89 complained about the lack of sex he was having with his wife just eight weeks after she'd had their child.
"I can see why men cheat at this time," he wrote. "My wife completely ignored my existence for the first few weeks and we had to have arguments to get her to even acknowledge me, not to mention be intimate."
"That's the biggest challenge. Baby is easy."
I don’t think a man has been smacked down this hard by the internet in a while. He didn’t just delete the tweet. He deleted his whole account.
— Anne Flake 🪷🏴 (@AnneUndone1) October 10, 2024
Imagine giving birth and realizing the real baby is your husband. pic.twitter.com/FwgTuXWSHt
The repercussion: It's hard to believe Tyler expected anything besides derision after posting something so pathetic, unreasonable and devoid of empathy for the mother of his child.
The majority of those responding to the post were appalled that Tyler believed he was entitled to intimacy from his wife so soon after she'd given birth, let alone felt justified throwing a tantrum and posting online about not getting it. Besides the fact that most doctors recommend waiting around six weeks after childbirth to have sex, it's literally a couple of months — you'll live.
Others latched onto Tyler's infuriating assertion that having a newborn baby was "easy." Yes, that's probably because your wife is devoting all her time to caring for the child — the very thing you're whining about her doing.
Two things can be true at once
— bird (@oliveegger) October 9, 2024
> sexual intimacy is important in a marriage
> there will be seasons where sex is just not going to happen due to circumstances of both people, and that’s why establishing non sexual intimacy is also important
The thing that bugs women about the postpartum post is that women are asked to put aside their desires for 10+ months. During pregnancy you can't drink, smoke or eat certain foods. Your body hurts you might throw up for months. Childbirth is excruciating. It's a huge sacrifice.…
— Monica ❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥 (@Utterly_Jean) October 11, 2024
Men when they can’t bang their wives a week after she pushes a 7lb baby out of her body: is this an excuse to cheat? pic.twitter.com/tZjxgxLERF
— 𝕸𝖊𝖙𝖆𝖑𝖈𝖔𝖗𝖊 𝕸𝖔𝖒 (@goosenapper) October 9, 2024
there are a lot of men who struggle in the first few months after a baby is born because for the first time in their relationship, their needs (rightfully) come dead last. and they are not accustomed to that.
— emily may (@emilykmay) October 9, 2024
Being unable to see the correlation between "wife is busy" and "baby is easy" is one of the funniest things I’ve seen on this app. pic.twitter.com/FhSOZnRp2A
— Ben Sixsmith (@BDSixsmith) October 9, 2024
He had to create a fight to get her to notice him. I think she would have noticed if he had got up in the night to change a nappy.
— WillyMDaisy (@ShowUsYourData) October 10, 2024
guys are in my mentions complaining that a woman with an eight week old infant wouldn't take time away from the baby to make sure he has a hot dinner on the table when he comes home.
— Dean Abbott (@DeanAbbott) October 9, 2024
This is the point I am making : You, as father, should want that mother to spend as much time as…
I actually do have empathy for anyone- male or female- in a long term dead bedroom situation, but the first 6 weeks after a baby is born...respectfully, if you are doing your job as a parent you should not have the energy to be that horny.
— Cartoons Hate Her! (@CartoonsHateHer) October 9, 2024
Darcy Jimenez
Thursday
The Hollywood Reporter
The character: The Hollywood Reporter, media magazine, A-list christener
The plot: The Hollywood Reporter is known for many things, like their annual roundtables and A-lister rankings of actors and creatives. This year the publication produced its first creators' issue, featuring a list of the 50 most influential online personalities that included show hosts, TikTokers and YouTubers.
Hollywood, meet your new A-List.
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) October 10, 2024
From staggeringly talented TikTokers to the Instagram stars we can’t look away from, these are the names who will (and should) be dominating the business of new and old media: https://t.co/3e2opQYCon pic.twitter.com/yV2Aixwj8g
Lauding influencers on the platforms they influence sounds like a bad idea because it is. It invites only chaos.
The repercussion: Because the internet can get extremely compartmentalized at times, it was natural that there were haters at each and every level: folks mad that their favorites were left out, people unable to recognize anyone involved and general mockery of the list.
Can I be edited into this photo? I am going thruogh a rough patch personally & professionally & it would really help.
— rob delaney (@robdelaney) October 10, 2024
https://t.co/nbOBc6wDPW pic.twitter.com/V13yJonRgR
— Spooky Austin 🎃 (@awoodustin) October 10, 2024
we used to be a proper country https://t.co/tvgtc1qRj7 pic.twitter.com/DvgN1bzDur
— j. (@dunstspears) October 10, 2024
they may dominate certain sectors of internet, but literally none of these people are “A-list” in Hollywood…
— luca (@Lucaguadagnegro) October 10, 2024
rhett and link https://t.co/UNRSacJbJQ pic.twitter.com/76OMPMiO9h
— bald ann dowd (@ali_sivi) October 10, 2024
https://t.co/hpzlpSfsgA pic.twitter.com/uvAFN8MsXo
— Marcus Finch (@ocmd73) October 10, 2024
hell yeah. 'creators' making entertainment products for platforms with opaque algorithms and no union protections. this is truly the future of media and i love it. slop me up!! https://t.co/HgpfLzw32q
— molly mary o'brien (@missmollymary) October 10, 2024
Hey look, Rhett and Link and 20 people I've never seen in my entire life https://t.co/wkdU37voUy
— Hayes Madsen (@Solfleet) October 10, 2024
If you’re wondering what it feels like to be old and out of touch, unable to recognize celebrities — it rocks. https://t.co/1o3tf6PTem
— David Weigel (@daveweigel) October 10, 2024
Maybe I'm not chronically online https://t.co/n2U1Ix4OOW
— g 🥀 (@adorasroses) October 10, 2024
Adwait Patil
Tuesday
Caroline Calloway
The character: Caroline Calloway, influencer, author, alleged scammer
The plot: Hurricane Milton made landfall on Florida on Wednesday night, and has since wreaked devastation across a huge stretch of the state, with at least 16 people dead and millions left without power as of Friday, October 11.
On October 8, before the hurricane hit, controversial internet personality Caroline Calloway wrote on Instagram that she would not be evacuating her Florida home as residents had been ordered to.
"So if you've been following Hurricane Milton, um, I'm going to die!" she said in a since-deleted Instagram story. "It's supposed to make landfall in the Sarasota-Bradenton area. I'm in Sarasota, I live on the water, it's zone A, mandatory evacuation."
I cannot deal with this rn https://t.co/WK4PqwnIoH pic.twitter.com/T48efzup35
— Kath Barbadoro: REBORN (@kathbarbadoro) October 8, 2024
(Note regarding the above tweet: Calloway said in an interview with New York Magazine that while she does live in a Sarasota apartment building on the water, she's on the third floor, not the first.)
The repercussion: Responses to Calloway's posts were mixed. Some people were in disbelief that she would voluntarily remain in the path of a life-threatening hurricane, and that she was using the situation to promote her new book. Others figured she was lying about not evacuating (given her previous unreliability). Some, though, were just concerned about her pet cat.
(In case you're wondering, Calloway is fine.)
Caroline Calloway refusing to leave a mandatory evacuation zone (right on the water, right where landfall is expected) and dying in a hurricane would be the perfect ending to her narrative tbh pic.twitter.com/VBrVqD6LeC
— sydney (costume wearer) (@itsoolongshot) October 8, 2024
caroline calloway is absolutely going to stay in her apartment for the story and you do not get her at all if you think she’d do anything else
— ashley ray🍦stream ice cream money (@theashleyray) October 9, 2024
me: god ive been so shameless about promoting my book. the gnawing anxiety of trying to sell books is intense, ive been pretty aggressive
— Talia Lavin (@mobydickenergy) October 9, 2024
caroline calloway: pic.twitter.com/2KKVnNzQJB
sometimes monoculture feels suffocating and other times I’ll be like « guys Caroline Calloway is in Sarasota and refusing to evacuate » and no one knows what tf I’m talking about
— elena (@elenadorito) October 8, 2024
Caroline Calloway is the closest thing we have to a real life Hannah Horvath
— nolan (@anxiousdeluxe) October 10, 2024
now girl…….. i doubt the eventual 3 page essay will be worth it https://t.co/0S5qkTT9mx
— Sydney Battle (@SydneyBattle) October 9, 2024
Emma Roberts wishing Caroline Calloway well…hurricane ally pic.twitter.com/bBsoRqgbFg
— Harry Hill (@veryharryhill) October 9, 2024
“Caroline Calloway might be posting old photos to make people think she isn’t evacuating for Milton” my sisters in Christ we must abandon our modern tools and return to nature, god did not intend for us to live like this
— Tyler McCall (@eiffeltyler) October 9, 2024
If you want to die - go right ahead. But for god's sake have mercy on the cat. get it out.
— Bob Lansing (@bobbyLans22) October 9, 2024
will someone in sarasota please go save caroline calloway's cat pic.twitter.com/xnw2LQRDeQ
— little lord fuckleroy (@_aetheling) October 9, 2024
Darcy Jimenez
Read the previous edition of our One Main Character column, which featured a creepy old guy trying very hard to play the part, a musician who wants to revolutionize gig schedules, one of the UK's worst cultural exports and the man who ruined the internet for a generation.
[Image credit: Caroline Calloway]