Paparazzi have a knack for capturing photos of celebrities at the worst times imaginable. But that's their job, we suppose. The whole point is to take photos of anything and everything that goes on in Hollywood, stalking more than anything. Then the tabloids can spin those photos into whatever stories they want, some more unsavory than others. The more scandalous the photo, the better.
But the paparazzi get some bizarre photos sometimes. Photos that are neither enlightening nor incriminating. Sometimes they catch some hilarious moments and prove celebrities are just like us. Ben Affleck knows all about this.
Paparazzi have made it their thing to stalk Affleck's front door, and let's just say they've continuously caught him doing some unflattering things, to the delight of the internet.
Affleck Runs On Dunkin'
In January 2021, Affleck was photographed on his own doorstep trying to do something we've all tried before. Taking in multiple packages precariously piled on top of one another with a coffee cup stacked right on the tippy top, sloshing away.
We wonder if Affleck constantly checks his Ring cam for the moment the Amazon guy drops his packages off, just like we do too.
But that's just the thing. Everyone started talking about this photo not only because it's hilarious and memeable but also because it showed us a celebrity doing something all of us have done before.
Vanity Fair called the photo gorgeous, "but not because they’re surprising. When you’re an older non-athlete, doing it all in one trip is the closest thing you get to playing sports. The drama, the stakes, the balance. It’s a small thrill one can look forward to."
The photo dropped just after Affleck broke up with Ana de Armas "and is well-practiced in the art of the existential everyman paparazzi shot at or near his Los Angeles home. This series fits square in the oeuvre."
We love this photo and the many others of Affleck collecting his Dunkin' off his porch for so many reasons, really.
Why Are We Obsessed With This Moment?
Vanity Fair is right; there are too many metaphors to attach to the photo.
They wrote, "The packages are our fractured lives in the pandemic, and Affleck is all of us? Is he himself, and the packages the tabloids that contain every anonymous source willing and able to speak on his breakup? Is he balancing his selfhood, the Dunkies, on top of too much outside input? Does the man simply have baggage?
"Well, packages. This man has packages. He is holding a lot of them, all stacked on top of one another, at his own door. So maybe it’s best to move from the metaphorical realm to the speculative one. What’s in that one? What’s in that one or that one? Maybe they contain things he needs around the house—a light bulb here, a thing to fix the thing there.
"But also maybe these packages are meant to fill the Ana–sized hole in his heart. You know, like self-care stuff. A cream for the aching eyes. A little aromatic thingamajig for zhuzhing the smell of the place. Baby Foot for shedding the callouses that all those pandemic walks built. It looks like enough purchases to successfully become a whole new him."
Unfortunately, that Dunkin' iced coffee isn't "helping to fill the hole, nor is it especially self-care-y. It’s more like a crucial layer that gets him to zero every day. He must know by now that it’s driving all the Ben watchers on the internet wild whenever he is photographed with one (which is almost the number of times he is photographed, since he has one every day) and so he must be doing it on purpose now—the Dunkies, the cameras, the postures of absolute and abject humanity."
They continue to say that Allfeck's "awareness doesn’t really take the fun out of the photos—though it’s always better aesthetically if he’s giving the camera a hard, surly look, rather than the smile we have here—and it would be great if he never stopped doing it for the rest of his days, with self-awareness or not."
Maybe he knows that these photos will give the internet a laugh, and that's why he makes sure he's looking at the camera? There have been many more like it, and they've become almost as famous as Affleck himself.
One fan on Twitter wrote, "Imagine being Ben Affleck fumbling around with a tray of Dunkin' Donuts coffees and treats only to see some A***E paparazzi filming you. GO HELP THE MAN D**IT. Ppl are so weird."
In regards to the photos of him fumbling to get his Dunkin' order in the house, another fan joked, "Paparazzi caught Ben Affleck trying to carry the DC Cinematic Universe."
Most people online say that these photos of Affleck collecting his Dunkin' will never get old. They make people happy; at least there's that. The paparazzi stalking Affleck's front door isn't right by any means, but if they're just capturing him collecting his Dunkin', something we can relate to, there really isn't any harm. It's almost like he orders Dunkin' so much just to give us more source material.
Vanity Fair concluded their article imagining Affleck talking about his love for Dunkin' when he's 80 years old. "He still gets all 34 ounces of Dunkin’, and some future paparazzo, also 80, is there to bear witness." We don't doubt it.