1.The Internet Lore of Keanu Reeves
The October 4th episode of Sekai e Hasshin! SNS Eigojutsu on E-Tele was a full 25 minutes on the actor Keanu Reeves.
_(cropped).jpg)
Over the years Reeves has become an internet sensation, with accounts of encounters and sightings elevating his reputation to god-like status. On the show, we featured a viral video of a casually dressed Reeves riding the NYC subway, and giving up his seat when he notices a woman nearby holding a large bag. We also talked about a story circulated through news articles and social media posts back in March, when Reeves was aboard a plane out of San Francisco that was forced to emergency land in Bakersfield en route to L.A. Reeves helped arrange for cars to transport the passengers to L.A., and internet video shows him in a car reading off facts about Bakersfield to his enthralled audience.
Reeves’ reputation is helped by the fact that he has an unmistakable physical presence and very peculiar mannerisms—which make him prime internet meme material. The most notorious of such memes is “Sad Keanu", inspired by a paparazzi photo of Reeves hunched over on a city bench, eating his lunch alone. Netizens had a field day photoshopping the seemingly lonely Reeves into a variety of different environments and scenarios.
The older I get the more I “get" #sadkeanu and the bigger a fan I am of him as an actor. pic.twitter.com/UQ5nHrvpFW
— Gentleman Geek(@luis_sosa) November 22, 2018
Reeves is also known for his idiosyncratic delivery of dialogue and effortlessly philosophical answers in interviews. In June 2019, when he appeared on stage at a promotional event for a new video game that contains a character that bears his likeness, he told the crowd that the futurescape depicted in the game was “breathtaking”. When a man in the audience shouted out “You’re breathtaking”, Reeves chuckled and didn’t miss a beat in responding, “You’re breathtaking! You’re all breathtaking!” The exchange was quickly disseminated online, and naturally, it took the internet a while to catch its breath.
Breathtaking... #XboxE3 #Cyberpunk2077 pic.twitter.com/xkIc11iZmf
— Xbox (@Xbox) June 9, 2019
Another viral social media post revealed Reeves’ respectful way of interacting with female fans (and Dolly Parton): when posing with women for a photo, he extends his arm around their waists, but doesn’t actually physically touch them. The internet fell head over heels yet again for its beloved gentleman.
Lol Keanu ain’t taking no chances.
— KA Lindsay (@KemziLinzi) June 9, 2019pic.twitter.com/nnfIOZKbT1
Anecdotes like these can be found all over the internet and social media, passed on from person to person like legend. The sentiment is perhaps best summed up in a June 2019 article in Time entitled, "Why Keanu Reeves Has Always Been the Internet’s Soul Mate." Reeves and the internet were meant for each other.
2.The Keanussance and the Summer of Keanu
In recent years, Keanu Reeves has also been experiencing a career resurgence of sorts as an actor. This past summer, he appeared in several high-profile films of differing genres, either as the star or as a featured actor who pretty much steals the show. As a result, the actor’s popularity has reached a fever pitch, and the phenomenon has been dubbed “the Keanussance" and “the summer of Keanu".
This career resurgence was largely driven by the John Wick series, with the first installment being released in 2014, and the third installment being released earlier this year (or in Japan’s case, the beginning of October). The series is a pure dose of action mayhem for action junkies, made by a filmmaker and a star that know the genre better than anybody else. Sequels usually offer diminishing returns, but the John Wick series has only grown with each installment; John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum became the highest grossing film of the series just 10 days into its U.S. run. (For more on the film, check out LANGUAGE & EDUCATION #035.)
Reeves also voices a down-on-his-luck motorcycle daredevil/stuntman from Canada in the Pixar animated film Toy Story 4. The character’s Canadian origins and downtrodden demeanor are clear references to Reeves’ public persona, and audiences couldn’t get enough of the actor hamming up the part in self-parody. (For more on Toy Story 4, you can read about the interview I did with the film’s director, Josh Cooley, in CINEMA & THEATRE #018.)
And earlier in May, Reeves made a cameo appearance as himself in the Netflix rom-com Always Be My Maybe—a rare Hollywood film centered on Asian-American characters and authentic to the Asian-American experience. (Reeves’ grandmother was Chinese and Hawaiian.) I say “as himself", but it is an uproariously self-deprecating turn that presents Reeves as affected rather than genuine, as the biggest douche in Hollywood rather than its nicest star.
Reeves is often known for his self-serious, stoic persona, but Toy Story 4 and Always Be My Maybe revealed his sense of humor and willingness to poke fun at himself—both swoon-worthy qualities that made the Keanussance an undeniable fact.
3.The Renaissance Men of Hollywood
This trend of adding the “-ssance" to the end of actors’ names to signify a career resurgence has become a thing in recent years. It all started in 2014 with the McConaissance, where the actor Matthew McConaughey shed his shirtless pretty-boy persona to reestablish himself as an actor of considerable range and fearless commitment.
In the first half of the 2010s, McConaughey appeared in a string of critically acclaimed works. He played a male stripper/club owner in Magic Mike (2012), an AIDS-afflicted rodeo cowboy in Dallas Buyers Club (2013), a stockbroker living on the edge in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and a widowed NASA pilot whose love for his daughter transcends space and time in Interstellar (2014). His work in Dallas Buyers Club would win him an Academy Award for Best Actor.
The McConaissance was spurred by the actor’s decision to renew his focus on his craft and choose roles that interested him for their depth rather than the paycheck attached to them. At the same time, it was the internet and social media that played an undeniable role in reminding society at large of the actor’s charms and introducing young moviegoers to his early work in the 90s. His Texas accent and easygoing demeanor made him eminently likeable and meme-able, and his Oscar speech for Dallas Buyers Club was quickly disseminated to the internet masses via social media. By throwing himself into roles such as an experienced male stripper and a Wall Street money monger, he also showed his sense of humor and self-awareness. Self-deprecation is one of the most sure-fire ways to endear oneself to the internet.
4.Why the Internet Stans Keanu Reeves
There are many parallels between the McConaissance and the Keanussance, but McConaughey and Reeves are very different when it comes to their reputation as actors. For one, Reeves is not a method actor, nor does he possess McConaughey’s range or instinct for embodying a role.
While it’s true that Reeves also had somewhat of a surfer-style pretty-boy persona at the outset of his career, Reeves’ often stilted delivery meant that he was never as believable a romantic lead as McConaughey; he also lacks the latter’s smug confidence and sexual charm.
Reeves was never the type of actor that would undergo a physical transformation or adopt a serious accent for a role—nor is he the type of actor who could pull such a feat off. But therein lies his own brand of charm: Reeves does not seek to “make a statement” or otherwise impress with capital-A Acting. His trademark as an actor is doing as little as possible, often to great effect. By exuding his natural unknowable charisma, he allows audiences to project their own thoughts and emotions onto the canvas of his performance. That is the secret to Keanu Reeves’ longevity as an actor.
Another important point is that Reeves usually chooses projects and roles that are off the beaten path. Whereas the Hollywood machine is consumed by the drive to churn out hits and movie stars—riding a perpetual wave of sequels, prequels, franchises, remakes, and reboots—Reeves chooses to appear in films like The Matrix and John Wick, which are both cinematic wonders that are pure distillations of their respective creators’ vision.
While Reeves is unwavering in his desire to navigate Hollywood on his own terms, it is clear the actor couldn’t care less about his public persona. He seems to transcend worldly desires, uninterested in selling the public a manufactured image and certainly not dependent on the approval of others. He lives on a different planet, which is perhaps the natural result of the fact that he has made enough money to last several lifetimes. All the more reason why his genuine earnestness has won him the affections of the internet.
Taking all of this into account, it starts to become clear that his entire reputation—for being a gentleman, a decent human being, or for being sad or lonely—are not so much objective truths as they are projections that we have forced upon him. Keanu Reeves is always Keanu Reeves, no matter the movie and no matter the role, but at the same time, Keanu Reeves has nothing to assert and nothing to prove. We have watched the actor for thirty years, but how much have we really learned about him in that time? Truly, Keanu Reeves is an actor of the most excellent caliber.
5.My Wardrobe This Week
Black vest by KASHIYAMA the Smart Tailor
Beige button-down shirt by Le Canon
Brown “Coraux" loafers by Paraboot
