If I were lucky enough to be born into the immense wealth and privilege Elon Musk has been bestowed with, I simply would not spend my time on social media re-using the same tired retort from The Office in the hopes that someone would find me funny and yet, this is where Musk finds himself.
That’s right, a man who has enough money to hire the funniest minds in the entire world to expertly craft his social presence has taken to replying to accounts with a catchphrase for a character that was seen as cringeworthy and wildly out of touch in the year 2005.
I am of course talking about Steve Carell’s character from The Office, Michael Scott. This is who Musk is aspiring to be right now, as he’s taken to responding to tweets with “that’s what she said” as if he just came up with the name David S. Pumpkins all by his lonesome.
Here he is saying it apropos of nothing to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, like a disruptive turd in class who is getting recess taken away from all of us due to his outburst:
Here he is saying it to some rando who is using all the twenty-five center words he muster to make himself seem smart in a social post about “defeating wokeness.” Spoiler alert: neither of these people comes off looking as smart in the process:
Finally, here he is in a retort to Stephen King, which may be the most pathetic of all because King’s tweet was in response to Musk whining about losing advertisers because he posted some heinous things:
Now, I can’t tell if Musk thinks he’s nailing it, and all the weirdo dorks who still think he’s great are propping him up so he doesn’t realize how pathetic this is, or if he is a man desperate for a comeback and literally only has one, very tired, overused response at his beck and call. Not that it changes the outcome of how terrible Musk’s retorts are, but I would just like to understand it for my own gratification.
Now, look, I cannot sit here with a straight face and say in the year 2023 I still don’t laugh at a good, well-timed “that’s what she said.” I would be lying if I tried to tell you I don’t think that can be funny. However, its uses are extremely limited, and making it work requires a comedic mind (and timing) far beyond Musk’s capabilities. The man simply is not funny.
I don’t understand Musk’s long game here, but I do know that some of the socially awkward people I knew growing up would check books of jokes out from the library in order to be able to keep up with the more quick-witted menaces of the playground. Perhaps Musk should do the same.
Regardless, if anyone reading this has personal access to Musk, I’m begging you from the bottom of my heart, please do not introduce the concept of making fun of someone’s mom as a valid, witty retort. I simply would die from secondhand embarrassment at seeing him clumsily attempt to deploy that humor.
Finally, Elon, if you’re reading this, please, give up. You have access to essentially every resource in the world, and yet the one thing you want is the one thing you cannot have. You, my guy, are about as funny as a toddler trying to tell a joke. By that I mean, you are repetitive, you can’t get to the point, and your hands are sticky. I made that last part up, but I’m just guessing. Stick to ruining social platforms you had no part in building, and leave the jokes to the rest of us.
(Featured Image: NBC Universal)
