A mask of unadorned misery: how Ben Affleck became the world’s biggest meme

Ben Affleck at the Grammys … a man weighed down by the punishing, relentless burden of life on Earth. Photograph: Rob Latour/Rex/Shutterstock

Ben Affleck has a life that many of us would kill for. He is rich. He is handsome. He has reached the peak of his career behind the camera (winning two Oscars as a writer and director) and in front of it (the guy was literally Batman). He has been romantically involved with some of the most beautiful women on the planet, and is currently married to Jennifer Lopez. Whichever way you look at it, everything about Affleck’s life is wildly aspirational in almost every single way.

And yet, look at him at this weekend’s Grammys. In picture after picture, Affleck seems utterly dejected. He is staring off into space, unmoved by his proximity to glamour. He doesn’t smile; he doesn’t even try. He looks like someone who has successfully disassociated from everything surrounding him, like someone who would rather retreat to the comforting vortex of his own mind than indulge in any of the revelry.