Being a high-profile celebrity is difficult enough, but when every aspect of a person’s life and personality is magnified, it can take a toll on their mental health and self-esteem. Over the years, Nicolas Cage has remained the butt of many internet jokes and memes, and for a while, he wasn’t exactly cool with it.
In 2018, Cage opened up to IndieWire about his online reputation and discussed his unease with how some of his distinctive performances had been repurposed and mocked online. He explained, in part, “The issue is, with the advent of the internet, doing these mashups, where they pull these choice moments without the context of the whole film around it to support it, has created this meme-ification, if you will. It’s been branded ‘Cage Rage,’ and it’s frustrating.”
The flood of “Cage-Rage” memes has significantly died down over the years, and Cage has since grown to deal with being plastered on the internet. The actor told GQ in 2022, “You can’t go against that which is,” and is seemingly content with his digital reputation. So much so that in his 2022 film, “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” Cage plays a fictionalized version of himself and seemingly interacts directly with his own meme-d image. “I think it was a way of embracing what had happened to me,” he told the outlet.
