# Why do people hate Ben Affleck?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 25, 2005, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673 "2005-11-25T10:53:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/1 "2005-11-25T10:53:22Z")
And I mean HATE. He gets more stick than Jar Jar Binks. He’s not that bad an actor. He seems to come across as a reasonably cool guy. Whats up?
---
### Author:  [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/2 "2005-11-25T11:42:48Z")
I don’t hate any celebrities. Of course, I don’t care enough about them to love/hate them.
I assume it was that Ben/Jennifer media coverage that drove people to hate them.
Or that GIGI movie.
---
### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/3 "2005-11-25T13:00:06Z")
It was Bennifer, of which **Gigi** was taken to be a manifestation.
The hate really seems to have died down now that he’s keeping a lower profile.
---
### Author:  [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/4 "2005-11-25T13:03:53Z")
> [@twickster](#):
>
> It was Bennifer, of which **Gigi** was taken to be a manifestation.
>
> The hate really seems to have died down now that he’s keeping a lower profile.
Gigi wasn’t bad. Gigli OTOH was pretty bad.
---
### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/5 "2005-11-25T13:05:15Z")
> [@twickster](#):
>
> **Gigi**
Ah, yes. You remember it well.
🙂
---
### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/6 "2005-11-25T13:28:29Z")
What, you guys don’t remember the scene in the dance hall, where Maurice Chevalier is talking to Louis Jordan? If you look carefully, Bennifer is at the next table.
---
### Author:  [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/7 "2005-11-25T13:40:26Z")
His last hosting of SNL was hysterical. He’s a fellow RED SOX fan, so he’s ok in my book.
---
### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/8 "2005-11-25T14:08:10Z")
Well, he’s not a great actor who was very lucky to hook up with Matt Damon on Good Will Hunting. After that, Matt Damon has generally tried to do quality movies that have a certain level of intelligence. Affleck, on the other hand, does movies like Reindeer Games and Surviving Christmas.
Having said that, I don’t hate him. He just comes accross as that stupid, preppy, athletic sports guy who, instead of working at the Gap after college, actually _becomes_ a movie star.
By the way, has anyone seen that Family Guy clip with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck writing Good Will Hunting?
\*\*
Matt Damon: Ah there. Finished. Good Will Hunting by Matt Damon.
Ben Affleck: Hey, uh, you think we could put both our names on there?
Matt Damon: What? You’ve done nothing but eat Breyers and smoke pot for the last six months.
Ben Affleck: Oh that’s ridiculous! C’mon, I helped.
Matt Damon: Oh yeah? Okay, uh, write a line. Just, just right now, just pitch me a line. Right now.
Ben Affleck: Okay (farts). How about that?
Matt Damon: That wasn’t a line. You just farted.
Ben Affleck: Is there anymore pot?
\*\*
---
### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/9 "2005-11-25T15:02:16Z")
I don’t think he is a great actor, but on the Tom Cruise scale he is a good actor.
He was very good in the early Kevin Smith Movies. He even mocked himself in Jay and Silent Bob strike back.
Of course he is a loud and obnoxious Red Sox fan so I do feel some hatred towards him for that. 😉
Kevin made him wear Yankee Hats in a couple of scene to mess with his head. 😃
Jim
---
### Author:  [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/10 "2005-11-25T15:20:02Z")
Affleck has an ineradicable smugness about him – the air of a sarcastic bastard who takes _himself_ deadly seriously. That’s why _I_ don’t like him. YMMV.
---
### Author:  [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/11 "2005-11-25T16:04:47Z")
What Beware of Doug said.
Also, I’m a Sox fan and I think it’s fair to question his credibility on his claim of being a Sox fan–after all, he brought J Lo, a Yankee fan, to one of the 2003 playoff games against the Yankees and they sat in the owner’s seats; i.e., the best seats in the house. No true Sox fan would bring a YANKEE fan to that game–you bring your best friend, not your girlfriend.
---
### Author:  [@Glassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glassy)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/12 "2005-11-25T16:09:18Z")
I think Ben Affleck is a very decent character actor. He was good in both **Good Will Hunting** and in **Shakespeare In Love** - but he’s so handsome that he gets starring roles, and he’s not very good in them. He’s a hottie, but not charismatic enough to carry the whole film (unlike Matt Damon, who is less handsome but more charismatic). But if he’s in a quirky role on the sidelines he does great.
---
### Author:  [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/13 "2005-11-25T16:11:41Z")
Did you all forget _Pearl Harbor_, I know I have tried. I think the hate started there.
---
### Author:  [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/14 "2005-11-25T16:22:50Z")
> [@KSO](#):
>
> What Beware of Doug said.
>
> Also, I’m a Sox fan and I think it’s fair to question his credibility on his claim of being a Sox fan–after all, he brought J Lo, a Yankee fan, to one of the 2003 playoff games against the Yankees and they sat in the owner’s seats; i.e., the best seats in the house. **No true Sox fan would bring a YANKEE fan to that game–you bring your best friend, not your girlfriend.**
Whenever there is chance to bring someone over from the dark side, we must try. 😉
---
### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/15 "2005-11-25T16:25:52Z")
😕 I know who Ben Affleck is, but who are these “Sox” and “Yankees”?
---
### Author:  [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/16 "2005-11-25T16:31:11Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> 😕 I know who Ben Affleck is, but who are these “Sox” and “Yankees”?
Strange, strange people. Don’t go near them, son. 😉
As to Ben Affleck, I don’t hate him. He’s somewhere above Keanu Reeves on the acting scale but way below, say, Philip Seymour Hoffman, so I just can’t really care.
---
### Author:  [@Elret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elret)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/17 "2005-11-25T16:33:01Z")
> [@Glassy](#):
>
> …(unlike Matt Damon, who is less handsome but more charismatic)…
Really? Wow. Despite his somewhat eerie resemblance to Hilary Swank, I find Matt Damon far more attractive than Ben Affleck.
---
### Author:  [@marymargaret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marymargaret)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/18 "2005-11-25T16:34:43Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> By the way, has anyone seen that Family Guy clip with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck writing Good Will Hunting?
>
> \*\*
Hilarious!
---
### Author:  [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/19 "2005-11-25T16:36:16Z")
> [@Elret](#):
>
> Really? Wow. Despite his somewhat eerie resemblance to Hilary Swank, I find Matt Damon far more attractive than Ben Affleck.
[Hilary Swank](http://www.moviemaze.de/celebs/0198/main.jpg)
[Matt Damon](http://www.mattdamon.com/pm/gallery/special/crewcut.jpg)
:eek: Oh my God.
---
### Author:  [@Squee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squee)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673/20 "2005-11-25T16:41:10Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Really? Wow. Despite his somewhat eerie resemblance to Hilary Swank
Holy crap! I’ve never noticed this before, but you are completely right! Eeewww.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-hate-ben-affleck/332673.md?page=2)