Keanu Reeves, from self-destructive depression over the death of a daughter to spiritual guru for many
Reeves is one of the most respected, striking and loved movie stars by the public
The actor, with a legion of fans not only for his characters, will star in Matrix 4, one of the most anticipated releases for 2021
A year ago, during an interview, the American presenter Stephen Colbert asked Keanu Reeves what he thinks happens after death. The actor's response ("I think those who love us miss us") caused a sensation on the internet and went viral, amidst the enthusiasm, stupor and applause. It is by no means the first time this has happened: Reeves is one of the most respected, striking and loved movie stars by the public. Everything he does or says is greeted with joy as if it were a guru of wisdom and is shared on social media by people who have not seen a movie of his for years. What is this phenomenon about?
The episode with Colbert is quite revealing of Keanu Reeves' status. For starters, the mere fact that the host asks that question already says a lot about the actor's public image: Colbert probably doesn't get into such metaphysical issues with Ryan Reynolds, Chris Evans or Eddie Redmayne. But for some reason it does make sense for me to discuss mortality with Reeves, a mysterious fellow who inspires philosophical musings and who speaks with such solemnity that the comedy show's audience, prone to laughter and applause, heard Reeves' response on be quiet.
Only after the presenter's approval ("that's a great answer") do the witnesses break into applause. This is the same reverential attitude that people on social media have towards Keanu Reeves and he has earned it by walking the world with simplicity, pragmatism and humanity. Three characteristics that, of course, are also present in the phrase "I think those who love us miss us."
His generosity with those around him: inspiration for networks
The Internet is full of folkloric anecdotes about Reeves' generosity. He gave $ 20,000 to an operator from the filming of 'Matrix' who was going to be evicted, he entertained the passengers of a flight when they were informed that the takeoff was going to be delayed, he allocated part of his salary from the sequels of 'Matrix' to technicians who he considered charged less than they deserved, bought an ice cream so he could use the ticket to sign an autograph for a ticket office, bought a Harley for each member of the crew of the scene of 'Matrix Reloaded 'in which Neo fights dozens of Agents Smith as a thank you for their sacrifice and pays out of pocket for breakfast and lunch for film workers whose diets are not covered by production. All these stories are known because the benefits of him have been told, never because Reeves has boasted of them.
That is why Keanu Reeves is above his movies. It acts as a kind of moral compass for the internet, which on the one hand reads too much between the lines at times (that image of the actor eating a sandwich staring into space while a pigeon pecked at his side was celebrated as a portrait of the futility of human existence ) but you definitely need a figure like Reeves. In a world full of noise, egomaniacal discussions and audiovisual stimuli, Keanu Reeves exists as a haven of peace, a contemplative man and, ultimately, a celebrity who has never wasted time with nonsense or complained about anything.
He rejected 'Speed 2' by overwhelming logic ("it's called 'Speed 2', but an ocean liner is slower than the bus in the first part") and Hollywood turned its back on him as ungrateful. After many years stumbling around, he has found his niche in the industry thanks to the 'John Wick' saga. In it he plays a murderer who does not seek revenge or justice or to restore order for the greater good. He seeks to be left alone.
And when he says "you're going to die tonight" he doesn't sound like a threat but an irrefutable fact. This pragmatism that leads him to never fight to do harm, but exclusively to kill, fits perfectly with the spirit of Reeves. A man who uses the right words to say what he has to say and who shoots the films he wants to shoot without responding to a commercial, artistic or advertising strategy.
This year he has appeared in 'Maybe forever', a Netflix romantic comedy where he plays himself as a parody: a cool guy, who only opens his mouth to spread philosophical wisdom and who ends up giving up his girlfriend because he knows that is in a movie and that the protagonists have to end up together. Although he has recognized that he does not fully understand the phenomenon that awakens on the internet, he has finally decided to embrace it when he realizes that this collective passion is harmless and does much more good than harm. The Internet is sometimes a dung heap of insults, scorn and condescension, so stopping to observe what Keanu Reeves is doing (literally, there is a Twitter account that only posts images of "Keanu doing things") brings a serenity as inexplicable as undeniable. Keanu Reeves is much more than the sum of his acts, Keanu Reeves is a state of mind.
Example of serenity in the face of misfortunes
The dignity with which Keanu Reeves has gone through his personal tragedies, without ever commenting on them in public, has contributed to building around him a certain mythology about the resilience of the human being. His father abandoned him at the age of three, his best friend (River Phoenix) died of an overdose in 1993, his only daughter was stillborn, the baby's mother died in a traffic accident after two years of depression and he himself has suffered several motorcycle accidents due to what he defines as "demonic trips" in which he drives at full speed without lights. Behind one of them, as he lay on the road with two broken teeth and an open chin, a woman stopped and asked for an autograph.
All these personal misfortunes have been forging that character that now fascinates the public so much. Reeves occupies space as if the world is not with him, as if his material possessions are irrelevant and as if nothing he says, does or thinks really matters.
Perhaps Keanu Reeves arouses so much interest among people because he seems to have understood something about the world that other human beings are not capable of perceiving. As if he, indeed, he was a supernatural being. Or maybe he's just a guy who has managed to be at peace with himself by behaving with decency, honesty, and generosity. An oriental philosophy that neither Hollywood, nor fame nor money have managed to contaminate. That is why it is worth not only admiring him, but trying to imitate him: in the face of doubts, in difficult moments and in the face of noise, you have to be more Keanu Reeves.
