About

Jessica Chastain at the Computer / The Savant refers to a series of image macros and tweets using an image from the upcoming Apple TV+ show The Savant, showing the protagonist, nicknamed "The Savant" (portrayed by actress Jessica Chastain), wearing glasses and looking at a computer screen in the dark.

Her character is a professional investigator of online hate groups tasked with preventing extremist attacks by infiltrating and pretending to be a member of the in-group in online forums and on Discord. When the show's trailer was posted to Twitter / X in late August 2025, some internet users believed that the premise was absurd and humorous, mostly because the character was a middle-aged white woman. Viral posts mocking the show used the image of Chastain looking at the computer and paired it with captions that imagined what Chastain's character might be thinking, writing or reading. The captions portrayed her as clueless and innocent, often missing the point of the edgy memes and internet slang commonly referenced and used by problematic online hate groups. Slang terms like "glowie" and "fed," short for "federal agent," were also used to describe The Savant. The official X account of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also used the meme template in early September 2025. It was later announced that the show's premiere was postponed a few days before the show's first two episodes, which inspired more discourse on social media and an official response from Jessica Chastain on Instagram.

Origin

On August 26th, 2025, the X^[1] account @FilmUpdates reposted the trailer for the upcoming Apple TV+ show The Savant, starring Jessica Chastain as an investigator, nicknamed "The Savant," who stops extremist attacks by infiltrating online hate groups.^[2] The tweet received over 2.6 million views and 4,200 likes in a week.

The show was based on a 2019 profile in Cosmopolitan^[15] about a woman nicknamed "The Savant," who, according to the report, "[infiltrated] online hate groups to take down the most violent men in the country."^[9]

Multiple users quote-tweeted the trailer in the following days. Many of the viral quote-tweets criticized the show's plot.

For instance, on August 29th, X^[3] user @Heminator quoted the video, writing, "Can't wait for the new TV show about the liberal deep state woman with a multiracial family that stops right-wing terrorism by monitoring our internet! They've really got their finger on the pulse with this one, I tell you." The post gained over 26,000 likes in four days.

On August 30th, 2025, X^[4] user @Delicious_Tacos used the screencap of Chastain looking at the computer screen in a dark room, seen wearing glasses with a reflection of the monitor visible. @Delicious_Tacos paired the image with a screenshot that showed she had been blocked by X user @PaulSkallas, also known as LindyMan. Over three days, the tweet received over 950 likes. It is currently the first known memetic use of the screencap.

Spread

On August 31st, 2025, X^[5] user @Delicious_Tacos used the image again, adding a caption that read as a direct quote from Chastain's character, reading, "'Each one posts a single letter… it’s some kind of code…'" The caption was likely referring to the comment section trend of separate users each commenting a letter to collectively spell out a slur (known as the N-Tower). Over two days, the tweet received over 18,000 likes.

On September 1st, X^[6] user @escapefrommelos used the image, captioning it, "There has to be a mistake… our data ID’d 'AryanCumGroyper88', but it says here he’s from an upper middle class Pennsylvania Jewish family." In a day, the tweet received over 11,000 likes.

Also on September 1st, 2025, X^[7] user @DayDreamHetero shared a video of Jessica Chastain at the Computer next to a montage of X accounts related to journalist Will Stancil, Groypers and the Will Stancil Grok Lawsuit, receiving over 2,900 likes in a day.

On September 1st, the official X^[8] account of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), @DHSgov, used the meme template, captioning the image, "'They protest against the deportation of illegals to foreign countries, yet wave flags of the same foreign countries at these protests. Interesting.'" The tweet received over 31,000 likes in a few hours.

The Savant Postponement

On September 23rd, 2025, an Apple TV+ spokesperson gave a statement to outlets like the Hollywood Reporter^[9] and Deadline,^[12] announcing that the premiere of The Savant was going to be postponed. The first two episodes of the series were set to release on September 26th. The Hollywood Reporter noted that the show's postponement came in the wake of the Charlie Kirk Assassination.

On September 23rd, the X^[11] account @DiscussingFilm echoed the report from Deadline in a tweet that received over 15,000 likes in a day.

The post gained viral reactions in quote-tweets and replies, like one QT shared by X^[13] user @MrPrudentialist on September 23rd, 2025, who used the original meme format by captioning the image, "'They canceled a show with just a meme.'" The post gained over 25,000 likes in a day.

On September 24th, Jessica Chastain shared a Reel on her Instagram^[14] account, @jessicachastain, in which she addressed the postponement of The Savant. She wrote in the caption, "I want to say how much I value my partnership with Apple. They’ve been incredible collaborators and I deeply respect their team. That said, I wanted to reach out and let you know that we’re not aligned on the decision to pause the release of The Savant." The Reel gained over 18,400 likes in two hours.

Chastain's response was reported on by several outlets on that same day, including the Hollywood Reporter.^[10]

Various Examples

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Search Interest

External References