Advertisement
Culture

‘Put him in a pool and delete the ladder’: People think Elon Musk’s gestures are giving off serious Sims NPC vibes

‘He thinks every pose he makes is potentially going to put him on the cover of Time’

Photo of Anna Good

Anna Good

Tweet that says 'put him in a pool and delete the ladder' above retweet that says 'people have noticed similarities in the way Elon Musk and Sims characters move and act' above a split of elon musk and a sim with their arms up

Elon Musk’s controversial salute continues to trend on social media, and with it has come a deeper dive into how the tech billionaire moves and gestures — particularly their resemblance to Sim characters from video games.

Featured Video
Tweet about Elon Musk's movements looking like Sims. Comment reads, 'People have noticed similarities in the way Elon Musk and Sims characters move and act.' with a video of Elon Musk beside a video of a Sims character.
@DropPopNet/X

In a video posted by @DropPopNet on X, the account compares a side-by-side view of Elon Musk’s poses for the camera on the left and a Sim dressed like the tech billionaire on the right. 

The video comes from his red carpet appearance at the Breakthrough Prize Ceremony on Apr. 13, 2024. In it, Musk poses for cameras in progressively disjointed movements, shrugging, striking a pose, then changing to a more neutral standing pose between each while laughing with people off-camera.

Advertisement

Dubbed “the Oscars of Science,” the Breakthrough Prize is Silicon Valley’s grand celebration of cutting-edge research and innovation. Founded by tech leaders Yuri Milner, Sergey Brin, Anne Wojcicki, and Mark Zuckerberg with Priscilla Chan, the annual event brings together the scientific elite and a number of Hollywood stars for a night of prestige and awards.

Users on the X, which Musk purchased for approximately $44 billion on Oct. 28, 2022, have had a field day with the comparison. They offered up suggestions for what could be done to Musk as a Sim NPC character in comments and subsequent quote-retweets of @DropPopNet.

For those unfamiliar, the Sims is the wildly popular life simulation game series developed by Maxis and published by EA Games. In the games, characters often exhibit exaggerated, stilted movements, such as slow turns, slightly delayed reactions, and an overall aura of uncanny valley as they simulate real life through dating, marriage, and (a popular trick by Sims players) getting trapped in the pool with no way out. This kind of disjointed movement is exactly what viewers saw in Musk’s red-carpet demeanor.

Advertisement

Tweet about Elon Musk's movements looking like Sims. Comment reads, 'put him in a pool and delete the ladder.'
@RoxyTall/X

“Which is extra funny since ‘NPC’ is a fave insult of theirs,” @jbroome noted in a response.

Tweet about Elon Musk's movements looking like Sims. Comment reads, 'He moves like he's trying to get a picture that will go viral and turn into a meme. He doesn't realize that memes are very, very rarely forced, they always come through happenstance.'
@RoxyTall/X
Advertisement

Another person said, “None of my Sims have ever given a Nazi salute though.”

Tweet about Elon Musk's movements looking like Sims. Comment reads, 'Those being the moves the sim character does when you put the traits ‘insane’ & ‘evil’ … how fitting'
@WhoCouldTay/X

“I saw someone say he moves as though he’s always expecting the internet to turn him into the next big meme and it rlly does make sense when u look at it this way,” another X user pointed out in a quote-retweet.

Tweet about Elon Musk's movements looking like Sims. Comment reads, 'he thinks every pose he makes is potentially going to put him on the cover of Time'
@LeenaVanD/X
Advertisement
Post about Elon Musk's movements looking like Sims. Comment reads, 'Best believe, if Elon Musk was one of my Sims characters, I'd have him in a 1x1 wood fence and have the rest of the Sims throw popcorn kernels and a lighter at him for their sole entertainment.'
@LeenaVanD/X

The commentary about Musk’s mannerisms adds yet another layer of scrutiny to a public figure who seems to thrive on controversy and internet engagement. Musk’s behavior, whether intentional or simply a result of his natural demeanor, has fueled countless memes and discussions about his online persona. This latest moment highlights how even his most mundane actions are subject to widespread analysis, often with humorous or critical undertones. 

‘Even the Sims is making fun of Elon Musk’

Interestingly, according to some folks on BlueSky, it appears that a recent patch update to The Sims has added a Musk-like character to the game, who players have noted takes the game’s in-world social media websites down if you reject him.

Advertisement
Tweet about Elon Musk's movements looking like Sims. Comment reads, '
@sheogorath.bsky.social/BlueSky
Post about Elon Musk's movements looking like Sims. Comment reads, 'Even The Sims is making fun of Elon Musk' with screenshots from the Sims update of the 'Wealthy Weirdo' NPC.
@sheogorath.bsky.social/BlueSky
Post about Elon Musk's movements looking like Sims. Comment reads, 'Elon Musk catching strays from The Sims.' with screenshots from the Sims update of the 'Wealthy Weirdo' NPC.
@sheogorath.bsky.social/BlueSky

And then there are those who love to create both real life and fictional characters in their Sims games, such as this BlueSky user’s child, whose Donald Trump and Elon Musk Sims have gotten married and are expecting.

Advertisement
Post about Elon Musk's movements looking like Sims. Comment reads, 'My child has a great sense of humor. This is a picture of their Sims getting married. On the left, we have Donald Trump. On the right, his bride Elon Musk, who is in their 2nd trimester of pregnancy.' with a photo of the described scene.
@jennnne.bsky.social/BlueSky

The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.

 
The Daily Dot