How Leslie Jones’ Live Tweeting Makes TV Watching Enjoyable
Written by SOURCE on March 25, 2021
Live tweeting a show or movie really takes the watching experience to the next level, and no one does that better than Leslie Jones. The Saturday Night Live alum’s Twitter has been a source of entertainment for years since she’s become notorious for using the platform to share her excitement and commentary on any content she consumes. Jones is really the best example of what a superfan should be. It helps that she is a comedian, so no matter what her take is, anything she says in reaction to what she’s watching is downright funny. And her recent tweets about Justice League somehow make sitting through a four-hour movie sound promising. She even accompanied her tweets about the superhero movie with the hashtag #longassmovie.
People have been anticipating her takes on multiple moments in pop culture, since her live tweets on the 2016 Olympics and Games of Thrones, back when it was still airing on HBO in 2019. The Coming 2 America actress took it upon herself to share her thoughts and reactions to the final season of the show on Twitter, which made the already-beloved series even more exciting to watch. Her hilarious takes quickly went viral, getting thousands of shares every Sunday night. GOT fans loved her reactions to the final season so much that Late Night With Seth Meyers saw it as an opportunity to create the segment “Game of Jones: Leslie Jones and Seth Watch Game of Thrones.” Jones and the talk show host would sit down in front of a TV to watch the latest episode of the show and film their reactions, and it made for some top-of-the-line entertainment.
When Avengers: Infinity War came out on digital HD in August 2018, the comedian wasted no time before she hit play on the superhero flick and tweeted through it. The results were just as thrilling as the movie, and she might not be a Marvel expert but her takes on the dramatic action scenes were a treat for the franchise fans and anyone who loves a good action film. The best part was hearing her genuine confusion and surprise whenever a key moment took place in the film, and in one tweet she even compared Thanos to former President Donald Trump. She also kept it real from the start and said she would be taking two days to watch the nearly three-hour-long movie, which made her takes on the movie even more relatable to anyone who had already watched it.
But that wasn’t all. Her over-the-top tweets during the 2016 Olympics were such a hit that she was actually invited to attend the games. She also memorably provided her own coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics, where she shared her thoughts on figure skating, snowboarding, and more—and it was epic. She has shown a wide range of interests through her live tweeting and even made watching the news in 2020 a somewhat enjoyable experience. Listen, there was so much heaviness in the news last year, but she somehow found a way to make watching MSNBC less daunting. She would comment on the Zoom backgrounds journalists used during their interviews, pointing out their artwork and decor, and even joked about some guests needing haircuts. That’s really what comedians do at the end of the day: They reflect on the current moment and share their wittiest thoughts, jokes, and observations on any topic in a way that makes us all laugh.
Fast forward to 2021, and the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League via HBO Max on March 19 gave us another one of Jones’ remarkable live tweeting journeys. The comedian sat down for the four-hour movie on Sunday, March 21, and her commentary was as just as amusing as usual. She usually shares a video of her TV screen showing the particular scene she’s watching with each tweet. For most people, that would mean that the tweet gets taken down for copyright infringement, but HBO Max might not mind that the actress shares her reactions with her 1.4 million fans, while getting thousands of likes and retweets. Her captions are usually short and to the point, but it’s her voiceover commentary in the videos that makes it all so damn entertaining. In this case, she also added the appropriate hashtag #longassmovie as she broke the movie down scene by scene, adding her laugh-inducing takes. Even if superhero and action movies aren’t your thing, just one of Jones’ tweets from this weekend will have you reconsider.
She has a way of making these action-packed events even more thrilling. Finding a way to utilize her die-hard love of GOT and enthusiasm for the Olympics for entertainment, the actress has turned her Twitter into an extension of her work. People who aren’t familiar with her stint on SNL or who’ve never watched her movies or stand-up could come across one of her tweets organically and be exposed to her humor. Not only is she entertaining the masses, but she’s also cementing herself as a treasured and valued voice in pop culture that fans look forward to hearing from.
There are millions of takes on social media of people sharing their commentary on the latest movie, show, or cultural moment. But what sets Jones apart is that her off-the-cuff style isn’t forced or pretentious—it’s real. And that’s the difference. The Ghostbusters (2016) star is a good example of how we should all be viewing the media we consume—never taking any of it too seriously. If you love it, share your enjoyment with the world, and try to find humor even in stressful action scenes or while cheering on Team USA in a luge competition. The Supermarket Sweep host is just getting started, and fans deserve to see her hosting her own show where she gives her best takes on whatever the world is watching at any given moment. I would pay good money to listen to her narrate almost anything. Check out some of her most hilarious live tweets below.
