thank_u_next_marie_kondo.mp3 pic.twitter.com/Zvu9KOu01D
— Estelle Tang (@waouwwaouw) January 3, 2019
Tidying Up with Marie Kondo premiered on Netflix on New Year’s Day, just in time to help you with any resolutions about decluttering or getting organized. The series follows Marie Kondo — author of the bestselling books The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (published in 2014 in the U.S.) and Spark Joy (2016) — as she and her Japanese-to-English translator help families pare down their cluttered houses to only the objects that “spark joy” for them.
It’s called the KonMari method, and it’s sparked plenty of jokes. Some of the jokes make hay of the repeated phrase “spark joy”:
The year is 2035. Marie Kondo holds up the condemned man to the crowd. “Does this man spark joy?” The crowd jeers, “No he does not!” She nods silently and throws him into the pit.
— they/them might be giants ☭ (@babadookspinoza) January 13, 2019
Either there’s a @netflix glitch or @MarieKondo’s methods have escalated. pic.twitter.com/yzfR1bbC69
— William Hanson (@williamhanson) January 20, 2019
shoutout to the original Marie Kondo pic.twitter.com/GvYWwaVVF5
— Meg Watson (@msmegwatson) January 15, 2019
Marie Kondo quietly weeping as she attempts to do a Konmari with a dog that keeps finding joy in literally every object
— Dan Sheehan (@ItsDanSheehan) January 4, 2019
Other jokes poke fun at Kondo serenely cradling and thanking an object before discarding it. To be fair, this is a reflection of Shinto religious beliefs — thanking an object for its usefulness. And even if you aren’t religious, you may still want to thank that shirt you’re throwing out because, in Kondo’s words, “the shirt taught you that you do not like to wear shirts like this.”
But perhaps the advice of Kondo’s that has been least understood and most groused about is when she said she only has 30 books. Some people seemed to have thought she was recommending everyone throw out all but 30 of their books, which isn’t the case. In The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, she wrote, “Keep only the books that will make you happy just to see them on the shelves, the ones that you really love.” For her, that’s 30 books. For you, it may be more. For me, it’s all of the books. ALL OF THEM.
The misunderstanding led to a viral tweet telling people not to listen to Marie Kondo’s advice about books. The author of that tweet then had to set her Twitter account to private as a flamewar ensued between people mad about the idea of getting rid of books and people making fun of people who are mad about getting rid of books and this Twitter ouroboros will never stop devouring itself; it loves the taste too much.
https://twitter.com/dylanmatt/status/1084834627263651842
https://twitter.com/bettyfelon/status/1081285933893324800
I cant believe Marie Kondo said to destroy all books and then broke into peoples’ houses individually and made them eat all their books and then when they tried to protest she said “don’t talk with your mouth full of books, bookmouth” and all the cool kids laughed at them.
— Sam Sykes (@SamSykesSwears) January 5, 2019
people's photographic memory of Marie Kondo's advice pic.twitter.com/XnfEKF28Lp
— nina matsumoto 🌸 (@spacecoyotl) January 8, 2019
https://twitter.com/Kevin_Church/status/1081545295547297792
Marie Kondo has proved irrefutably that no one is more annoying than people who think owning a lot of books is a personality.
— Patricia Theresa McCarthy (@FruitOnBottom) January 14, 2019
But it wasn’t just the bibliophiles who were resistant to winnowing down their stuff:
Me watching “Tidying up with Marie Kondo” on Netflix while ignoring my closet #TUWMK pic.twitter.com/HBVQzjXuj2
— Maritza Moulite (@MaritzaMoulite) January 1, 2019
I don't want clothes that spark joy. I want clothes in which I can pause in a doorway, look over a shoulder, and utter something devastating before exiting.
— Elizabeth Hackett (@LizHackett) January 6, 2019
me laying in bed watching Tidying Up with Marie Kondo pic.twitter.com/KI5FUxCL1X
— stephanie (@ginge_herr) January 9, 2019
https://twitter.com/rjhours/status/1081871615200116736
https://twitter.com/sadydoyle/status/1080292727907119104
https://twitter.com/tvoti/status/1080200904173793280
https://twitter.com/ChuckWendig/status/1081625196187000832
https://twitter.com/figgled/status/1082567478637559808
Others were quickly won over:
https://twitter.com/ejnoodles/status/1084854260947398656
https://twitter.com/editoremilye/status/1084896919271333888
https://twitter.com/kchironis/status/1082467479081779201
people on twitter r acting like Marie Kondo is about to hoof down their front door and throw away their favourite jumper. forcibly fold their nan into a cupboard. alphebatise the children. relax gang. nobody cares if u like ur shit how it is
— Beth McColl (@imbethmccoll) January 5, 2019
me: *watches one episode of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo*
me, immediately: pic.twitter.com/09xcQMpw8d
— Anita (@DSMSIX) January 3, 2019
Soon people were looking for other parts of their life to KonMari:
My rent does not spark joy, so I’ve decided not to pay it
— jay (@jaykisokay) January 8, 2019
let’s be honest, the Marie Kondo method also applies to people in your life “do they spark joy? any emotion at all? mostly heartburn? then back into the giant mix n mingle you go”
— Aparna Nancherla 🇵🇸 (@aparnapkin) January 14, 2019
Others just enjoyed Kondo’s energy:
https://twitter.com/imtellingcaity/status/1080211838837522432
same energy pic.twitter.com/e1c6auF81z
— Netflix (@netflix) January 22, 2019
#MarieKondo subtly shading someone with the biggest smile on her face is my mood in 2019#TUWMK #TidyingUp pic.twitter.com/yhEskPMpgl
— offscreen babble (@offscreenbabble) January 1, 2019
https://twitter.com/pomatterpie/status/1080464981781434368
This account will now exclusively post pictures of Marie Kondo pointing quizzically at piles of shit in people’s houses pic.twitter.com/TNFve2XzgO
— adam (@adamjmoussa) January 3, 2019
Some took it too far:
When you throw out everything that doesn’t spark joy and you end up standing outside with your dog and your iPhone
— Gloria Fallon (@GloriaFallon123) January 15, 2019
https://twitter.com/MysteriousDrD/status/1081672428974231552
Then some took it even further:
https://twitter.com/cmendonor/status/1083682124325040128
https://twitter.com/kashanacauley/status/1082284404779638784
https://twitter.com/whatmaddness/status/1081001454301859843
People pitched new show ideas for Marie Kondo’s next venture:
I need a Marie Kondo whodunit where a bunch of dinner guests are bumped off one by one for not bringing joy.
— Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel) January 3, 2019
https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/1082021240817311745
Conspiracy theories were hatched:
https://twitter.com/mathowie/status/1080339640857419776
Did you know there’s an anti-Marie Kondo, who constantly sends you stuff despite you having no place to store it? Did you know it’s my mom?
— a glizzy of earthsea (@ICELEVEL) January 7, 2019
And people looked forward to the future:
https://twitter.com/gaywonk/status/1085315669061746689
Me waiting for the thrift stores to fill up with all the good stuff now bc of this Marie Kondo Netflix special pic.twitter.com/YtJvf7Gm2M
— auntie kat (@awahihte) January 7, 2019
Tidying Up With Marie Kondo is currently streaming on Netflix.
(Hat tip to Kotaku, Buzzfeed, and New Republic)