Idris Elba Eating Chicken Wings

What's in the frame

Idris Elba, in a white T-shirt, sits against a dark background. In front of him on the table are sauce bottles with yellow and red caps, empty glasses, and a watch on his wrist. He is slightly squinting and grimacing, as if trying to cope with the burning and find the right words.

This is not a posed portrait but a freeze-frame from a video program. The facial expression conveys a mix of bewilderment and pain, and it is exactly this that became established as the reaction.

About the show

Hot Ones is an internet show on the First We Feast channel, hosted by Sean Evans. Guests answer questions while eating chicken wings with increasingly hot sauces: from mild to extreme.

The episode with Idris Elba aired in the summer of 2019; a Daily Dot article from August 14, 2019 called his reaction a new internet meme. At one point, according to the same descriptions, the actor coughed and blurted out a curse, but he kept participating and made it to the end.

Why the frame became a meme

Viewers enjoyed the contrast between the actor's familiar image and his reaction to the hot sauce. But the frame is especially convenient for memes because there is no shouting in it: the face expresses restrained suffering that can be attached to anything.

Another reason is the ready-made metaphor. Spicy food has become a symbol of any situation that turned out sharper than expected: an unexpected conversation, bad news, a blunt question.

Caption examples

“Mom: ‘This isn't spicy.’ It's spicy.” The caption shows the gap between others' expectations and reality.

“When they said the reply to the email would come ‘a bit later,’ and it's already the second week.” Everyday awkwardness expressed through restrained suffering.

“After the first sip of ‘barely bitter’ coffee.” The meme would work for food and for any flavor disappointment.

“Reading the comment under my post: ‘Well, overall it's fine, but…’” The reaction anticipates what comes next.

What sets such frames apart from posed reactions

Reactions from Hot Ones are valued because the guest does not know which sauce will be the next in strength and has to answer questions while their mouth burns. This makes the facial expression lively rather than rehearsed, and viewers happily turn such frames into templates. The Idris Elba frame is also good because it is calm: the actor does not distort his face beyond recognition, so the caption is better delivered in a restrained tone than with loud headlines. The sauce bottles at the bottom of the frame additionally hint at the context and mean the topic doesn't need explaining.

How to use the template

The frame suits jokes about spicy things, and also any situation that started harmlessly and then became unpleasant. It works best in the format “the other person's words — the reaction.”

Keep the caption short: the face in the picture already tells the whole story. Don't make the frame a joke about the actor personally: he is a real person who took part in the program, and the meme should remain a joke about the situation, not about him.