If Ben isn’t one of your favorite celebrity meme generators, you and I are not the same. It’s pretty undeniable that Ben has ascended to true icon status through some of his viral moments, but it’s hard to pinpoint just why he’s so relatable. Now, in a recent interview with GQ, Ben took the time to look back on some of his moments in the public eye and reflect on why he’s the “object” of a lot of surveillance.
“I think I don’t present in a very careful way,” Ben mused. “So I’ll go out and pick up the packages or deliveries and I don’t really care that people are there to take my picture. And some people are probably, I guess you’d call them smarter or more strategic because they think, well: ‘I don’t want to be seen wearing some T-shirt or spilling some drink.’ And I just think: ‘Oh fuck it, man, I could give a shit. I just want to get the coffee.’”
If you need a reminder, Ben’s referring to some coffee-related incidents that went mega-viral in the past couple of years. Back in 2020, the internet went nuts over pictures of Ben unsuccessfully attempting to carry a rather large Dunkin’ Donuts order into his house. And honestly, they went viral for good reason — I think about them every time I attempt to hold more than two items.
“So maybe that’s a part of it. Because people are accustomed to a more presented, curated image. My life is actually pretty drama-free,” he continued, before explaining that the reality of his life would bore most folks. “I’m a middle-aged guy,” Ben explained, talking about how he works a “9-to-5” at the office of his production company, Artists Equity.
Ben then reflected on the reasons why he’s able to speak so well about being in the public eye so much, and explained that he naturally analyzes his actions and spends time trying to figure them out. “Naturally you go, like, ‘OK, maybe I’ll just wear the same outfit every single day, so the pictures won’t be distinguishable,’” he said. “Or maybe: ‘I’ll just look like a slob,’ and I’m like, nope – then you become the sad Affleck meme spilling the coffee. Which I have to say I think is kind of funny.”
I’m glad Ben finds the Sad Affleck meme funny, because it truly might be one of my favorite moments of the 2010s. He has addressed the moment a few times before (which, if you aren’t familiar, refers to a 2016 press junket for Batman v. Superman, where he looks particularly forlorn) and concluded that what people thought of him was ultimately out of his control. “I got to a place where [the public perception] was so different from who I am that I just stopped reading and stopped caring,” he told the LA Times in 2022.
And, hey, while we can all recognize that Ben is totally right, and that he’s so much more than snapshots of him doing menial tasks, I’m happy he can find the humor in them. Because whether it’s exasperatedly smoking a cigarette or balancing a coffee on six packages, I will always feel spiritually seen by Ben Affleck memes.
What are your thoughts? Have you got a favorite Ben moment? Let me know in the comments below.
