A Disney World Fan Who Says The Magic Kingdom Is Becoming Too Woke, 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 Twitter from this past week and held them accountable for their actions.
This week's characters include a United States Senator making a salty social media post, an NFL team with an ill-advised tweet, a local news anchor who won the internet, a conservative pundit who attempted to own the libs by shopping at Home Depot and a Disney World fan disillusioned by the park's "wokeness."
Sunday
Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema
The character: Kyrsten Sinema, Democratic Arizona Senator and flamboyant curtsier.
The plot: On Sunday, Kyrsten Sinema posted a photo of herself on Instagram sipping on what appeared to be a glass of Sangria, decked out in a pink newsboy hat and displaying a ring bedazzled with the phrase, "F*ck Off."
The repercussion: With Sinema's vote against a $15 minimum wage in March still fresh in many people's minds, the Arizona Senator's garish fashion statement went viral, with many critics saying she was using her profane ring to stick it in her detractors' faces.
The company that made Sinema's ring got wind of the viral photograph and announced they would be donating all profits from her ring to the National Employment Law Project, a non-profit focused on raising the federal minimum wage.
Tuesday
The Las Vegas Raiders
The character: The Las Vegas Raiders, NFL football team and winner of Super Bowls XI, XV and XVIII.
The plot: On Tuesday, after the verdict of Derek Chauvin was announced, with the jury finding the former police officer guilty on all charges in the death of George Floyd, the Las Vegas Raiders Twitter account sent out a graphic with the caption "I Can Breathe." They also pinned it to the top of their account.
The repercussion: The Raider's tweet was swiftly excoriated by Twitter, receiving one of the worst ratios since the advent of the platform, with quote tweets far outnumbering the likes and retweets and many users characterizing it as being in extremely bad taste.
It was later revealed that the tweet was team owner Mark Davis's idea. "I thought it was something where we could all breathe again," Davis told the Associated Press. "Justice was served. We still have a lot of work to do on social justice and police brutality. But today, justice was served."
Davis also told The Athletic, "If I offended the family, then I'm deeply, deeply disappointed."
George Floyd's brother Philonise later issued a statement thanking the team for their support.
"On behalf of our family, I would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the Las Vegas Raiders organization and its leadership for their support of our family and for our nation's ongoing pursuit of justice and equality for all," he said.
Honorable Mention
Mark Johnson
The character: Mark Johnson, a news anchor from KTVB in Boise, Idaho.
The plot: On Tuesday night, KTVB's Twitter account unintentionally sent out a tweet that simply said "Mark Johnson," linking to the news anchor's biographical page.
The repercussion: The contextless tweet, with Johnson's name and headshot, went massively viral, with the station saying his biography page racked up 190,000 page views. The tweet captured the internet's imagination, inspiring numerous memes and jokes.
Johnson took the viral tweet in stride, speculating that his teenage daughters were in on the joke, and joined in on the fun.
During the next day's broadcast, Johnson explained that the incident occurred after he had updated his biography to include new information about his family and the station's Twitter account ended up inexplicably tweeting it out.
Thursday
Ben Shapiro
The character: Ben Shapiro, conservative commentator, chief "WAP" critic.
The plot: On Thursday, Shapiro posted a video on his Instagram in support of Home Depot, who declined to take a position about Georgia's controversial voting law, prompting state religious leaders to call for a boycott. Shapiro told his followers he had purchased a board of wood from the store. "Home Depot is doing exactly the right thing because after all, they are, in fact, Home Depot; they are not, in fact, in the business of politics," Shapiro quipped. "Because you should be buying from companies that are not falling to the woke left, Home Depot, so far, is one of those companies."
The repercussion: Shapiro's publicity stunt backfired as hundreds of people ridiculed his attempt to "own the libs" by shopping at Home Depot, making him a trending topic for most of the day.
Friday
Jonathan VanBoskerck
The character: Jonathan VanBoskerck, a self-proclaimed Christian and a conservative Republican.
The plot: On Friday, Jonathan VanBoskerck penned an op-ed in the Orlando Sentinel arguing that "wokeness" was ruining his experience at Disney World, decrying the park for allowing cast members to display tattoos/inclusive haircuts, and speaking out against changes the park made with Jungle Cruise, Splash Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean. "Disney World is going to lose us as customers if it continues down this path. I do not want to have Disney World taken away from us because Disney cares more about politics than happy guests," he wrote.
The repercussion: VanBoskerck treatise against wokeness at the Magic Kingdom did not garner him many fans on Twitter, as his op-ed lit the internet ablaze with many people saying he needed to β ahem β let it go.
Read last week's edition of One Main Character, which includes a United States Senator complaining that Joe Biden doesn't tweet enough, and more.
Header image courtesy of Ivan Curra/Wikicommons
Did we miss a main character from this week? Please send tips to [email protected].
