# The Onion calls Quevanzhane Wallis a cunt. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 25, 2013, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329 "2013-02-25T06:40:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/21 "2013-02-25T08:09:27Z")
This topic has made me very emotional. I’m going to bow out of this thread before I say something even stupider than usual. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/22 "2013-02-25T08:18:24Z")
I agree that the joke was about the joke itself. There’s absolutely no way anyone would EVER think she was a cunt, ever. So it’s absolutely hilarious that they would call her that, because in no one’s world would it ever, ever be on anyone’s mind. And the joke is that we are all just afraid to say it but we’re all thinking she’s a cunt, which is just absurd. If anything, the tweet was an utter compliment to the girl. And I thought it was hilarious but I’m a huge fan of The Onion so I’m definitely biased. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/23 "2013-02-25T08:39:01Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > I laughed. Of course. The tweet was funny to me. > > [Link.](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/onion-calls-quvenzhane-wallis-c-424113) > But. I had recently joined a black board to post to when you white folks get on my nerve. > > I let them know I thought it was funny. I’m not welcome there anymore. I don’t tweet but if I understand it correctly it functions best as real-time communication. In that context I get the joke. But the problem with that is it doesn’t ring with the same humor when read at a later point in time. NOW you have to explain the joke in the “you had to be there” context. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/24 "2013-02-25T09:12:24Z")
I laughed. As others said, its not an insult. If the Onion writer was really calling Q a cunt, then there wouldn’t be any joke. ---
**Author:** ![Krav\_Manga](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/krav_manga/32/3153_2.png) [@Krav\_Manga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krav_Manga)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/25 "2013-02-25T12:35:02Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > There’s absolutely no way anyone would EVER think she was a cunt, ever. Speak for yourself, I saw her reaction to the Demi LovTo message on the red carpet and told my wife that the kid seemed pretty cunty. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/26 "2013-02-25T12:42:02Z")
> [@Gestalt](#): > > Really? I don’t know anything about this actress besides the fact that she is young, but I think the point of the joke was there was no way on Earth someone so young could be a cunt. So, really, I don’t think she was the butt of the joke, at all. It’s like calling a newborn a cunt. > > However, if she was actually acting kind of bratty and the Onion’s comment was in response to that, then I rescind my previous argument and agree that the Onion’s tweet was in poor taste. Exactly, exactly this. The onion was not launching a “verbal attack” as one twitter person put it. The onion was making a fool of _itself_. That was the point of the joke. It’s like verbal slapstick. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/27 "2013-02-25T12:42:41Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I agree that the joke was about the joke itself. There’s absolutely no way anyone would EVER think she was a cunt, ever. So it’s absolutely hilarious that they would call her that, because in no one’s world would it ever, ever be on anyone’s mind. And the joke is that we are all just afraid to say it but we’re all thinking she’s a cunt, which is just absurd. > > If anything, the tweet was an utter compliment to the girl. And I thought it was hilarious but I’m a huge fan of The Onion so I’m definitely biased. Exactly. It’s like “they could kill the Kennedys, why can’t they…?”. Funny, and not really cruel. But still, probably not quite worth the two kinds of trouble – The Onion might lose a few of their fans, and the nine-year-old Ms. Wallis may briefly suffer some confused embarrassment or sadness that was probably better avoided. There’s no racial angle to it at all, though. I’m sure of that. Interesting that Nzinga’s ex-colleagues at that other board missed the boat on that one. I’m not questioning the history which led them to make that mistake, but mistake it is, and a subtly pernicious one in the long run. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/28 "2013-02-25T12:45:30Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > I don’t blame you for laughing and I can understand how it can be seen as funny. I enjoy plenty of gallows humor and sick jokes myself. I get the joke they were going for, although I don’t find it funny. The difference between a dead-baby joke and calling a nine-year-old actress a cunt is that _the dead babies aren’t real_. She is an actual human being with feelings. Do you want to be the one to explain to her, “no, honey, you see, it’s actually a meta-joke, so they weren’t _really_ calling you a cunt, so it’s all OK!” > > There’s no justification for it. Humor doesn’t justify it, edginess doesn’t justify it. The guy writing for the Onion’s twitter account is simply a bully who got a boner by making fun of a little kid in front of millions of people. If you think the guy who made the joke is a bully who got a boner by making fun of a little kid, then you actually _don’t_ get the joke they were going for. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/29 "2013-02-25T14:00:34Z")
The concept behind the joke is fine; it’s the use of language that’s the problem. Using “diva” would have been just as funny – you could riff on that very nicely. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/30 "2013-02-25T14:07:45Z")
“Diva” would not have been as funny. I spent some time thinking about this while I was at the bus stop this morning. “Cunt” is what makes the joke hilarious. It’s shocking, blunt, and also it just sounds funny. “Diva” would have made this joke meh and unmemorable. “Cunt” makes it funny. My reaction was to laugh at it, but yet to understand why people were outraged. I’m not mad at the Onion for making the joke, but I’m not mad at them for taking it down, either. I can see someone over there thinking, “OK, it was a funny joke, but on further reflection I am not sure I want to be responsible for a 9-year-old kid reading that someone called her a cunt.” ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/31 "2013-02-25T14:09:34Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Who the fuck is Elizabeth Hawksworth? Just some random dipshit, apparently. Apparently. And while admittedly I don’t remember her being called a “cunt,” Dakota Fanning was lampooned pretty relentlessly back when she was… er, a young woman of colorlessness. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/32 "2013-02-25T14:13:49Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The concept behind the joke is fine; it’s the use of language that’s the problem. Using “diva” would have been just as funny – you could riff on that very nicely. “Diva” is absolutely not appropriate. It misses the entire point of the joke. The joke is that there’s this young girl that’s pretty much the opposite of a cunt and it’s ridiculous to call her such. A 9 year old can absolutely be a diva. There’s nothing ridiculous there, it’s reasonable that you could call a 9 year old that, and is actually mean. Calling her a diva is much more mean than calling her a cunt. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/33 "2013-02-25T14:15:00Z")
“Dick” might have worked, but I still think “cunt” was funnier. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/34 "2013-02-25T14:20:48Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > If you think the guy who made the joke is a bully who got a boner by making fun of a little kid, then you actually _don’t_ get the joke they were going for. Yeah, Quevanzhane herself was absolutely not the target of the joke. I thought it was funny, but it was meta enough I’m not at all surprised at the people who didn’t get that. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/35 "2013-02-25T14:41:04Z")
Once the phrase “nine year old woman of color” has been uttered for the outrage side, it’s hard to take them seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/36 "2013-02-25T14:47:55Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Deleting the tweet was a big mistake. They should have just said “We’re a satirical newspaper, go fuck yourself.” I read your post, and said, out loud, “Absolutely!” Then I saw your name and :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/37 "2013-02-25T14:49:47Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > I don’t blame you for laughing and I can understand how it can be seen as funny. I enjoy plenty of gallows humor and sick jokes myself. I get the joke they were going for, although I don’t find it funny. The difference between a dead-baby joke and calling a nine-year-old actress a cunt is that _the dead babies aren’t real_. She is an actual human being with feelings. Do you want to be the one to explain to her, “no, honey, you see, it’s actually a meta-joke, so they weren’t _really_ calling you a cunt, so it’s all OK!” I’ll do it. Next time she’s headed to the bank, have her driver swing by my place. I’ll hop in the back of her limo and explain that one of the reasons she gets everything in life she wants is that she is famous and one of the draw backs of being famous is that people will makes jokes bout you. I’m sure she’ll snap to the concept. Hey 'Zing, wot means “dragged”? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/38 "2013-02-25T14:51:55Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > I’ll do it. Next time she’s headed to the bank, have her driver swing by my place. I’ll hop in the back of her limo and explain that one of the reasons she gets everything in life she wants is that she is famous and one of the draw backs of being famous is that people will makes jokes bout you. I’m sure she’ll snap to the concept. > > Hey 'Zing, wot means “dragged”? You’d be doing her a big disservice then because the joke’s not about her. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/39 "2013-02-25T14:55:10Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > “Diva” would not have been as funny. I spent some time thinking about this while I was at the bus stop this morning. “Cunt” is what makes the joke hilarious. It’s shocking, blunt, and also it just sounds funny. “Diva” would have made this joke meh and unmemorable. “Cunt” makes it funny. > > My reaction was to laugh at it, but yet to understand why people were outraged. I’m not mad at the Onion for making the joke, but I’m not mad at them for taking it down, either. I can see someone over there thinking, “OK, it was a funny joke, but on further reflection I am not sure I want to be responsible for a 9-year-old kid reading that someone called her a cunt.” This. “Bitch” might have worked, and caused a little less knee-jerking. Does anyone have a shadow of a doubt that alcohol was involved in the tweeting of this joke? At that hour? OTOH, taking it down doesn’t really prevent Quevanzhane from finding out about it or other people from having vocal opinions about it. Such are the perils of twitter. There are no real take backs. Maybe the old carpentry adage needs to be reworked for the new era: Think twice, hit send once… ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329/40 "2013-02-25T15:08:34Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > You’d be doing her a big disservice then because the joke’s not about her. Pretty sure it is. > [@](#): > > Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhané Wallis is kind of a cunt, right? The outrage in this thread is that she personally would be offended. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-calls-quevanzhane-wallis-a-cunt/651329.md?page=3)