Somebody send help because I can’t stop watching this clip of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck that’s been circulating on TikTok and Twitter. There is always a slightly uncanny, world-weary vibe to photos of Affleck out in the wild, from his Sad Dad energy to his well-documented love of Dunkin’ Donuts, and this vid is no different.
The clip shows Mr. and Mrs. Affleck approaching their parked car, to-go coffee cups in hand. Affleck opens the car door for his wife, like a gentleman, then seems to use his whole body to shut it behind her with a disproportionate level of oomph. At the end of the clip, right before getting into the driver’s seat, Affleck notices he’s being filmed and pulls a slightly irritated face at the camera.
Over the original TikTok video, a creator wrote, “Ben Affleck shows chivalry isn’t dead,” referring to the fact that Affleck opened the door for Lopez. But others (myself included) are more preoccupied with the way he seemed to almost performatively slam it shut. Wrote one Twitter user who shared the clip, “I am screaming, why did he slam the door like that ? 😂. Ben Affleck is tired 😂.” On TikTok, commenters also made note of Affleck’s general aura of melancholy. “Chivalry isn’t dead, but it looks like happiness is,” wrote one observer. “Ben looks like he’s carrying all the world’s problems on his back,” another person commented.In fairness, when has Ben Affleck ever not looked completely miserable in candid photos? The actor’s resting sad face at the Grammys, on the beach, and smoking a cigarette, have all become memes of their own. Whole op-eds have been dedicated to Sad Ben Affleck. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean I’m any less fascinated by this clip.