Joyce Carol Oates owned Elon Musk. Now he's mad online. | Mashable
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
You'd be forgiven if you didn't know that acclaimed octogenarian author Joyce Carol Oates — author of Them and Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been — is a prolific, excellent poster. Yes, as in someone who posts online. But she is, and has long been.
Billionaire Elon Musk recently discovered this fact on X, his very own platform. And now he's beefing with Oates, or at least trying to prove he is definitely Not Mad. So...what happened? Let me explain.
Why is Elon Musk mad at author Joyce Carol Oates?
In short, Oates surgically owned Musk on X. She quote-tweeted a post about Musk and wondered what joy or meaning he derived from life.
She wrote:
"So curious that such a wealthy man never posts anything that indicates that he enjoys or is even aware of what virtually everyone appreciates— scenes from nature, pet dog or cat, praise for a movie, music, a book (but doubt that he reads); pride in a friend's or relative's accomplishment; condolences for someone who has died; pleasure in sports, acclaim for a favorite team; references to history. In fact he seems totally uneducated, uncultured. The poorest persons on Twitter may have access to more beauty & meaning in life than the 'most wealthy person in the world.'"
It was a devastating read on the world's richest man. It quickly went very viral. Musk didn't love it. He posted about it because Musk posts constantly. He called it "demonstrably false." He said, "Oates is a liar and delights in being mean. Not a good human." He claimed, "Eating a bag of sawdust would be vastly more enjoyable than reading the laboriously pretentious drivel of Oates."
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You know what they say about which dogs holler and why.
What's the latest with the Musk vs. Oates beef?
To be clear, of course, there have been instances of Musk saying he enjoyed things in culture. Journalist Ronan Farrow this year spoke about how Musk appreciates — and often greatly misreads — science fiction.
But if you parse through Musk's timeline, you do see a picture of someone who mostly posts to boost his companies, air grievances, and shitpost about political stuff. It'd be super weird to see him posting about Monday Night Football or Taylor Swift's new album. (Though, he did post about Swift's private jet and offered to father a child for her. So...yeah.)
But since the Oates debacle, Musk seemed hell-bent on proving he likes stuff, which is kind of funny in and of itself. He's been replying to posts about movies, just saying things like "good movie." People have been joking about Oates, 87, getting to Musk, especially on left-leaning Bluesky.
For the uninitiated, Oates has long been a True Poster. There are articlesaboutit. She's even put her foot in her mouth multiple times, a sign of someone who simply cannot help posting online. (Speaking of, please don't search "Joyce Carol Oates' foot" — she once tweeted a truly gross, super viral picture of her foot overtaken by poison ivy. Again, a True Poster.)
Since the original post, Oates has intermittently postedabout Musk, while also discussing literature and cats. "Truly, it was out of curiosity: why a person with unlimited resources exhibits so little appreciation or even awareness of the things that most people value as giving meaning to life," Oates wrote.
So, it's actually not that weird that an Oates vs. Musk beef popped up this week. But it is great entertainment.
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There are a lot of “conservatives” here who fit neatly into Musk’s category. The only thing that brings them joy is owning the libs.
It's not really joy. It's an attempt to overcome their severe inferiority complexes and fill the deep, dark chasm in their souls.
like trump, musk appeals to the mentally defective ...
I think by now the whole world knows Musk has mental problems.
I think what this writer is curious about is why the world's richest person seems to take joy in (figuratively) kicking sand into the teeth of ordinary working people whom have not prospered such as he. I, for one, have asked a somewhat similar question:
What does the world's richest person 'want' for on a daily basis? It is not a thing the majority of humanity gets to concern itself.
I ask this, because in my experience, we normally do not have the luxury to wonder (or even search out) what the super rich and wealthy do with his or her days and nights, let known watch such individuals 'dail-in' to chat with ordinary folks about their problems and miseries—if that is even the case.. And certainly not to have them throw proverbial 'stones' at us!
In the case of Musk, he seems to have an 'itch' to relate to common folks (that is, "X" social media platform presence daily basis) while lording over us that he is our 'better.'
Eighty years old individuals can ask pointed questions that distill and cut to the 'quick' as in this writer's 'concern' - as before Musk I never had inclination, time, or disposition to wonder about the super-wealthy and their daily conduct/behaviors. And I never even considered that one of them would be so callous as to be so confrontational to the working class-which one assumes provides 'them' their wealth, position, and status (in the elite 'clouds').
You'd be forgiven if you didn't know that acclaimed octogenarian author Joyce Carol Oates — author of Them and Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been — is a prolific, excellent poster.
My favorite Joyce Carol Oates Twitter moment is when she thought a photo of Spielberg from the set of Jurassic Park was a real photo of trophy hunting.
I had no idea who she was, but her comment about Musk is spot on. It also explains why he is and likely will always be devoid of a permanent mate. The drugs probably have a lot to do with it. In most circles a person with his current issues and personality traits would be considered a degenerate. All the money in the world can’t buy him a solution to that.
I dont read "literature" very much but I do know she is a very well known and prominent "serious" author , at least she was in her younger years.
That is a rather interesting point, seeing that this man is in a unique class of humanity: 1. "Money Can't Buy Me Love"- Beatles, 2. "I Ain't Saying She is a Gold-digger" - Kanye West - feat. Jamie Foxx.
I am dubious about people who don't own a pet not even a gold fish
I have spiders, but I wouldn't call them pets ...