--- title: Jennifer Garner Oscars 2018 Freakout Becomes a Viral Meme description: Jennifer Garner's major epiphany at the 2018 Oscars has become a hilariously relatable viral meme. canonical: https://time.com/5185749/jennifer-garner-oscars-2018-meme/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-05T15:24:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:51:05.809Z og:title: Jennifer Garner's Oscars Epiphany Is the Most Riveting Meme og:description: The Internet can't stop obsessing over what she was thinking og:url: https://time.com/5185749/jennifer-garner-oscars-2018-meme/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt830a7807be1e69dd/6989299c096a94aed86a1b4b/gettyimages-927551662.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-OSCARS-VANITY FAIR og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jennifer Garner's Oscars Epiphany Is the Most Riveting Meme twitter:description: The Internet can't stop obsessing over what she was thinking twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt830a7807be1e69dd/6989299c096a94aed86a1b4b/gettyimages-927551662.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jennifer Garner Having an Epiphany at the Oscars Is the Most Riveting Meme by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Mar 5, 2018 3:24 PM UTC  Jennifer Garner attends the 2018 Vanity Fair Oscar Party following the 90th Academy Awards at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, on March 4, 2018. Jennifer Garner attends the 2018 Vanity Fair Oscar Party following the 90th Academy Awards at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, on March 4, 2018.Jean-Baptiste Lacroix—AFP/Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Mar 5, 2018 3:24 PM UTC Jennifer Garner’s mini freakout at the [90th Academy Awards](http://time.com/5181916/oscars-red-carpet-photos-2018/) has become a cinematic meme. The former _Alias_ star was clapping in the audience during the [2018 Oscars](http://time.com/3529650/jen-garner-elle-work-life-balance-ben-affleck/) ceremony when something important dawned on her. One minute, Garner was applauding like everyone else, lulling viewers into a false sense of security. The next minute, something hit her and the world shifted on its axis because nothing would ever be the same. It was like she slid her own mini-movie into the Oscar contention mix, unintentionally. Twitter user Bobby Finger captured her abrupt revelation, and posed the question on everyone’s minds: “what realization did Jennifer Garner just come to?” Twitter users quickly moved in to spin Internet gold out of all the possible answers, and it became an instant obsession. People related to Garner because it was a humanizing moment. People really related to her because she seemed just as forgetful as we all are sometimes. People really, _really_ related to her because maybe she just realized she messed up the chicken. Whatever she was thinking, everyone could get down with the emotional revelation. The Internet has been clutching to this moment tighter than Leonardo DiCaprio holding onto his first Oscar. If you see one film this year, let it be this. > [](https://twitter.com/bobbyfinger/status/970500799284555777) See a selection of reactions below. > [](https://twitter.com/jemelehill/status/970511963158646784) > [](https://twitter.com/hillyeahhh/status/970519499035291648) > [](https://twitter.com/mordkhetzvi/status/970501003941474304) > [](https://twitter.com/reagandpierce/status/970510420619530240) > [](https://twitter.com/itsaharrr/status/970529401963143168) > [](https://twitter.com/OptimusWine1/status/970511147295301634) > [](https://twitter.com/adm%5Fgrahamuel/status/970678247066349568) > [](https://twitter.com/editsbynichole/status/970570836649312256) > [](https://twitter.com/trevorphillips/status/970631603037835264) > [](https://twitter.com/gillianxleigh/status/970574367162855424) > [](https://twitter.com/littleylittley/status/970549095462039552) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5185749/jennifer-garner-oscars-2018-meme/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5185749/jennifer-garner-oscars-2018-meme/"},"headline":"Jennifer Garner Having an Epiphany at the Oscars Is the Most Riveting Meme","datePublished":"2018-03-05T15:24:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:51:05.809Z","description":"The Internet can't stop obsessing over what she was thinking","url":"https://time.com/5185749/jennifer-garner-oscars-2018-meme/","keywords":["Newsfeed","awards","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt830a7807be1e69dd/6989299c096a94aed86a1b4b/gettyimages-927551662.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt830a7807be1e69dd/6989299c096a94aed86a1b4b/gettyimages-927551662.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-OSCARS-VANITY FAIR","caption":"US-OSCARS-VANITY FAIR","creditText":"Jean-Baptiste Lacroix—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5185749/jennifer-garner-oscars-2018-meme/","name":"Jennifer Garner Having an Epiphany at the Oscars Is the Most Riveting Meme"}}]}] ```