Elisabeth Hating on Sue

Editor's Note: This entry contains minor spoilers for the 2024 film The Substance; read at your own caution.

About

Elisabeth Hating on Sue or Elisabeth Mocking Sue refers to a video and GIF caption meme using a scene from the 2024 horror film The Substance in which the character Elisabeth Sparkle (played by actress Demi Moore) watches a televised interview with Sue (Margaret Qualley), a younger version of herself, and mocks her responses in envy. Starting in November 2024, the scene has been used as a meme format, often being paired with captions about older celebrities hating younger ones.

Origin

On September 20th, 2024, body horror film The Substance premiered.^[1] In one scene of the film, the character Elisabeth Sparkle, portrayed by Demi Moore, watches a televised interview with Sue, a younger version of herself portrayed by Margaret Qualley, while cooking. Envious and resentful, Elisabeth mocks the responses Sue gives during her interview (abridged version of the scene shown below).

On November 23rd, 2024, X^[2] user @aerinsouI posted a clip from the scene with the caption, "how it feels to see someone younger than you be more successful." The post (shown below) received over 20.5 million views, 15,000 reposts and 145,000 likes on X in two months.

Spread

On November 24th, 2024, X^[3] user @livyoncee used the video for a meme about pop singers Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo. The post (shown below) received over 2,400 reposts and 48,000 likes in two months.

In the following months, the caption format saw extensive use on X / Twitter. For example, on December 4th, 2024, X^[4] user @loonsunshine captioned the video, "Pop Crave when Pop Base debuted," making a joke about two popular pop culture news accounts. The post (shown below) garnered over 5,100 reposts and 100,000 likes in one month.

The format maintained popularity on X through December 2024, often used for jokes about older and younger celebrities, as well as about new popular media in a genre previously defined by an older installment.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References