Jennifer Aniston called out for 'tasteless' joke about pandemic Christmas

When faced with adversity and depressing situations, there are plenty of people who turn to humor as a mechanism to help them get through it. Several studies have looked at this phenomenon in even the worst of times, in fact, there have been records of concentration camp prisoners using this form of expression as a means of coping with and even surviving the Holocaust.

There are many individuals however who argue that there is a fine line between making a joke at someone's expense and making one to help make a situation easier to live through. And when it comes to a recent photo of a customized Christmas ornament that Jennifer Aniston uploaded to Twitter, folks are divided.

The Friends star uploaded a customized wooden ornament marked with the phrase "Our first Pandemic 2020". Throngs of people responded to the tweet, penning Jennifer's tweet as either being callous and removed from reality.

The ornament photo appeared on her Instagram story, which also included pics of her dogs: Clyde and a new pupper by the name of Lord Chesterfield as she spent her 2020 Christmas at home.

It was the Christmas ornament that received the most attention online, however. Some people asked outright, "Is Jennifer Aniston okay?" While others wrote, "I've had enough of rich people....." and "celebrities really live in a different world." There was a general consensus that the actress was mitigating the deleterious effects the pandemic had on humanity, citing the 1.77 million global death count as plenty of reason to not "joke" about the far-reaching virus.

Others were a bit more offended, asking Jennifer Aniston to summarily "delete" it, and expressed their confusion as to how she was talking about "'our first pandemic' like it's a baby shower." Others wanted to perish the thought that the "first pandemic" ornament was indicative of wishful thinking that we were going to have a second one.

However, there were also just as many people who seemed to appreciate the humor in Jennifer Aniston's post, commenting that the ornament was ostensibly a joke that was an attempt at making light of a not-so-ideal situation, namely the fact that spending Christmas with loved ones and close friends and family is pretty much impossible if you're taking COVID-19 protocols seriously.

In Jennifer Aniston's case, it certainly looks like she's not only taking social distancing and mask-wearing seriously (she spent Christmas at home) but she's also been a vocal supporter of those in need during the coronavirus pandemic. Several users pointed out her activism geared at assisting small businesses during Christmas Eve, as well as her political donations throughout 2020. 

Others found it "ridiculous" that so many individuals took offense to her posting a single ornament photo on her Instagram story, especially while ignoring her largely "un-problematic" past and history of being charitable. There were several users who also urged others not to engage in "faux rage" while there are "actual things in the world that we could be offended by?"