Oh, Internet! Steven Spielberg Couldn't Kill A Triceratops EVEN If He WANTED To
Never underestimate the gullibility of all the social media generation. NEVER! For whoever thought a photo of Steven Spielberg from the sets of Jurassic Park with a Triceratops, which in reality became extinct 66 million years ago, is real than the whole of humanity is doomed.
By Sadho Ram — 13 Jul 2014, 03:27 AM — Updated over 10 years ago
Lately, there's been a lot of outrage on Facebook about people posting photos of hunting and killing animals
There was Texas cheerleader Kendall Jones who had her hunting photos taken down by Facebook, then there was Melissa Bachman, a self-styled "hardcore huntress" who likes doing what she does, and now Steven Spielberg for hunting... a dinosaur.
bit.ly
On 7 July 2014, this photo of director and producer Steven Spielberg on the set of Jurassic Park went hugely viral
It was posted by Internet humourist Jay Branscomb on his personal Facebook account with the following caption:
"Disgraceful photo of recreational hunter happily posing next to a triceratops he just slaughtered. Please share so the world can name and shame this despicable man."
facebook.com
Something that was supposed to be an elaborate joke turned into protesters rallying together. They thought he really had shot a dinosaur. This person called him an "inhumane prick".
In response to the deluge of confused comments, Branscomb replied with this another photo of Spielberg perched atop the fake shark used in Jaws
The above photo carried the following caption:
"Folks, we need your help identifying the vicious shark-killer shown posing with his illegal prey. Sharks are essential to the ecosystem and their waters are protected off the coast of California. If you have any knowledge of this fiend’s identity or whereabouts, please contact authorities immediately."
nationalpost.com
Since Branscomb's post, a myriad of websites have claimed that "gullible" people on the Internet were "outraged" after believing that Spielberg had actually killed a Triceratrops
Fox 8 declared the photo "outraged the Internet," LAist claimed the photos "sparked massive outrage," and Buzzfeed asserted that "a whole bunch of people" believe Spielberg really downed a Triceratops.
Intrepid HuffPost Weird News reporters took a deep dive into the thousands of comments on Branscomb's photo, and found that in reality, a miniscule number of Facebook users -- if any -- believed the photo shows a real dinosaur.
Even some of the examples specifically cited by other outlets as gullible morons did not hold up to close inspection. Gawker and Buzzfeed both mocked Vincent Smith for this post:
But Smith was almost certainly kidding
He made DOZENS of comments on the post, including "At this rate triceratops will be extinct in -6 million years," and "Hollywood killed all the dinosaurs." He also stated he "likes BBQ triceratops."
Commenters themselves pointed out that most of the "outraged" posts were actually in on the joke:
We have to admit, though, there is this newly created page called Boycott Steven Spielberg the Triceratops killer that we truly aren't sure about. But if it's for trolling, it's doing a great job.
In any case, there's one thing that we are sure of: We've had enough Internet for the day!
