The Week on TwitterTopical

The Week on Twitter | Jack Chambers, Frank Kelly, & Sam Smith

By Jade Hayden

This week, the 32nd Dáil was formed, first-time Fianna Fáil TD Jack Chambers became a (justified) meme, and Twitter said goodbye to Frank Kelly. Leo also (finally) won an Oscar, and lots of people were happy. Sam Smith won an Oscar too, and very few people were happy.

#JackChambers wins a Dáil seat. Twitter responds.

Jack Chambers is a man who believes that his own anti-choice agenda should be upheld by every single person in the country, by denying us all a referendum on the issue. Jack Chambers is a man who believes that being “consistent” means having alternate viewpoints on alternate websites that people use to vote. Jack Chambers is a man who believes that he represents the youth of today, despite having had his election campaign funded by his parents. Jack Chambers is not a cool guy.

This week, the Dáil was formed. It took ages. But what didn’t take ages was for Fianna Fáil TD Jack Chambers to become a laughing stock on Twitter. That happened quite quickly, and the results were both amusing, and also warranted.

https://twitter.com/CherLover/status/704264109848719360

https://twitter.com/rubot/status/704282967791812608

Some people thought making jokes about Jack Chambers constituted bullying and exhibited a lack of respect. However, those people did not realise that Jack Chambers has very little, or indeed, no respect for the people who were tweeting about him; a large portion of which was made up of women, and the youth of today who he definitely does not represent at all.

Jack Chambers trended on Twitter for about two days. Two days, in which, the good people of Ireland poked fun at the fact that this guy was going to be directly involved in the running of our country for the next five years. At this stage, all there’s left to do is laugh.

https://twitter.com/dearbaile/status/704074427961630720

Actor #FrankKelly dies, aged 77 #FatherJack 

Over the weekend, it was reported that actor and comedian Frank Kelly had died. Best known for his role as Father Jack in Father Ted, and his prominent contribution to Irish theatre, Kelly passed away on February 28th, having been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease last year.

Kelly’s funeral took place in Blackrock on Wednesday. Those who attended to pay their respects included President Michael D. Higgins, Father Ted writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews, and Gay Byrne. During the service, Kelly’s son Emmet remarked that when his father gets to heaven “it’ll be the first time anyone ever told St. Peter to feck off.”

Tributes to Kelly and his work were also shared by fans and friends on Twitter, as thousands took to social media to remember Father Jack.

#SamSmith wins at #TheOscars and pisses off a lot of people

On Sunday, The Oscars were on. They were fine. Leo finally won which was good because now people get to stop sharing those Leo-doesn’t-have-an-Oscar-lol memes. Lady Gaga performed her song about sexual abuse which was good because violence against women and rape culture are issues that need to be addressed. Chris Rock laid into the Academy for only nominating white people for acting which was good because racism exists.

And then, Sam Smith won an Oscar for best original song which was bad because 1) his song was not the best, probably, and 2) in his acceptance speech he accidentally declared himself the first openly gay man to win an Oscar and he was wrong and it was really embarrassing and everyone got mad.

Following his mistake, Twitter got a bit upset and starting telling Sam Smith how wrong he was. Then Sam Smith got upset, tried to backpedal on what he had said, dug himself into an even deeper hole, and abandoned his account for awhile.

As it turns out, lots of openly gay people have won Oscars before, including composer Stephen Sondheim, director Bill Condon, and Elton John. Unfortunately, Sam Smith did not think to give these guys a quick google before accepting his award and proclaiming his misinformation upon the world.

Naturally, Twitter did not take too fondly to Sam Smith’s lack of knowledge concerning LGBT history.

Westlife/Boyzone hybrid becomes a thing. Sort of. #Boyzlife

During the week, it was announced that Brian McFadden and Keith Duffy were bringing back Westlife and Boyzone as a supergroup. Except they were doing it alone for the time being, so it wasn’t actually super just yet.

Some people got really excited about #Boyzlife because they enjoyed Westlife and also Boyzone back in the day. Other people thought the whole thing was ridiculous, seeing as there’s just two of them, and they’re planning to tour a bunch of Hilton hotels around the UK.

https://twitter.com/gr00se/status/705115700592033792

However, it looks like Boyzlife might be having the last laugh (maybe) because according to Keith Duffy all of their pre-sale tickets are (almost) sold out. Hooray.

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Jade Hayden 144 posts 0 comments

Jade Hayden has an MA in journalism, a degree in English, and a house rabbit who sleeps in her bed sometimes. You'll often find her wearing glasses, fixing her fringe, and complaining about the amount of time she spends on public transport. Jade is also the editor of HeadStuff's topical section, and she'd love if you sent your submissions over to [email protected].

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