It is a different kind of obsession, it's nothing like the other obsessions I have. It is simple and instantly heartwarming.
Typically when I obsess, an intense word, I know, but I like it, I learn everything there is to know about something or someone without watching videos or interviews. I have very large chunk of what may be considered trivial information in my head, but information that I like to have nonetheless. I can't stop watching certain movies, or certain people, and I like to keep up on lives and information that piles up in my brain. For Keanu, I actually have read and watched interviews, but that's only recently. I made a list of all his films and I've been marking off the ones I've watched which is over 30 now. I have been watching and rewatching his films since I saw John Wick Chapter 3 in theaters. It has been a very calming and fun thing for me. I meant to make a big post about him after I saw the film but life got in the way, so now I'm doing it and Keanu has blown up the Internet since then. I've been looking at all the old and new memes about him, I have read an article a day about him. I like to call it a respectful obsession, whatever that may mean to you, but I will get to it later.
John Wick Chapter 3 is the first movie I've seen in theater in quite some time, after a few weeks I went and saw it again. Rewatched the others in the series as well. There is something so exciting about the John Wick series, and so original compared to many action films, especially when you learn more about the preparation and the art of everything they do. I could list all the articles I've read in regards but I won't go that far. The thing that blew me away was the director, I had no idea he was the very same stunt double that filled in for Brandon Lee when he died in the process of filming my favorite film The Crow. That particular article had me in tears as the director spoke of his time working on The Crow, his time with Brandon Lee, his experience filling his shoes in the wake of his death. The pain that was on that set as well as the pain that brought the John Wick character and Keanu alike. It becomes another, yet incredible, story of love, loss, and revenge, my favorite kind of story. The Fountain is another one of my favorite films that also shares that theme of love and death. Realizing all the ties just got me right in my heart.
Let's start at the beginning, when I was young I saw Speed and it was one of my favorite films at the time. I remember loving Sandra Bullock as an actress, I have vivid memories of thinking of her, her character and the movie Speed while swimming in my pool. I loved how badass they were, surviving all that. That is my earliest memory of knowing the names of the people in the movie and being one of my favorite actor and actress. The earliest film I remember loving was The Labyrinth, but I didn't know who anyone was, I mention this a bit in a previous post about David Bowie. With Speed I also remember being really creeped out by Dennis Hopper, his character was just so creepy and demented and intelligent and yet real. I read something today that Keanu said a little about his experience with Dennis and that he was a very open man with a good sense of humor and a great outlook on life and that Keanu was grateful to be in his life. How fucking sweet is that to say. To this day, I still think about the movie Speed. Almost everyday I ride in a bus for work, a bloodmobile, and I always feel like I'm in the movie and it cracks me up. I recently rewatched Speed for the first time in many many years and I am left with the thought that this movie is still so fucking good. So good that I would easily watch it again anytime. It's intense and it is done so well. I already know what is going to happen, yet I'm still at the edge of my damned seat. That concludes my first known experience with loving Keanu.
In high school The Matrix become a huge fucking sensation and I didn't want anything to do with it. I was young and stubborn. I might of disliked Keanu around that time, I had a short phase that a lot of people have where I thought he was a bad actor. I had a boyfriend at the time that was really into The Matrix and we made a deal right before the third one was released, I would watch the series if he would watch one of my favorite movies at the time which was The Queen of the Damned. About that, I know it is not the best film, but I loved everything about it and still do. I watched the first two of the Matrix series and then saw the third in theaters, a midnight showing on a school night. I fell asleep in the theater, and that was the only time that has ever happened to me. So needless to say The Matrix didn't mean much to me at the time. I have recently watched the first one and I think it is great and the concept behind it, the action in it, is something I appreciate deeply now. I plan to watch the others again this summer.
Later in high school Constantine came out. The biggest draw that movie had for me was that A Perfect Circle had a song on the soundtrack and the singer of Bush, Gavin Rossdale, had a role in it. But in watching for those reasons I loved Keanu again. I can't exactly say how many times I've watched that movie but I love it and wish they would make more. The darkness of Constantine then drew me in, drew me into Keanu again.
I'm not certain the time frame of this one, it came out before I was in high school but I'm not entirely sure when I first saw it, but it was either before or after Constantine. Sweet November is a another big one. I only was first interested in the film because of the name. I was born in November, therefore it is a significant month for me. I personally think that Charlize is a great actress too. Every damn time I watch this movie it makes me cry, Charlize is the driver of that for me, but Keanu plays a very interesting role as well. This is probably the first love story that I have watched with Keanu and it showed him in a different way for me. I didn't fully love his acting in this, but I'm sure that will change when I rewatch it. At the same time, it did not, in any way, put me off him. It was just different. This is another love and death film, one that I will watch every few years until the end of time. Despite knowing how it ends, it is a journey every time I watch it. It has a stronger effect on me than I'm able to write about now, perhaps I should add more about this later.
Some time after I watched Something's Gotta Give and became instantly more obsessed with Keanu again. His character, Julien, is everything that I could possibly want in my life. I loved the story and watched that movie countless times. I then started watching more and more of his movies. Generation Um..., Knock Knock, Destination Wedding, Neon Demon, and so on. Surprisingly I don't feel I've ever seen Bill and Ted, it is very likely I did, I just can't remember for sure. A close cousin of mine liked those films and from him I learned that small part of one of those films was set at my high school. Sometime soon I'll get to those, definitely before they release the third one. But back to Keanu in Something's Gotta Give, that's when I really noticed his eyes. The way he looked at his love interest, played by Diane Keaton, made me melt inside. It was the first time I looked at him in a completely different light, it always gives me feelings, if you know what I mean. I always wished he had a bigger role in the film. I really would like to see an alternate version where he stays with his love interests rather than her going off with Jack Nicholson's character. I recently read an article that describes Keanu's work in this film and it perfectly describes everything that I was feeling but put it in better words than I could of possibly realized, you can read it here. Oddly enough, this article validated everything I was thinking. It blew my mind that others saw it too. The idea that he satisfies the female gaze. That concept, is something I think about often, without actually realizing the name of the concept itself. As a female, I, to put plainly, get off on how men look at women and I don't mean in a chauvinistic way, but in a way of tenderness, love, affection, attraction, and pure adoration and respect. When I watch a movie or watch couples around me, or the man that is into me or involved with me, I always watch their eyes. It gives you a high. It feels astounding. And he does it really fucking well. The article also got into the commonly held concept that he is a bad actor, but spins that around to actually prove that he is the exact opposite. All of it makes so much more sense to me, it was a really great read.
Knock Knock is definitely one of my other favorites, directed by Eli Roth, staring Roth's then wife as one of the two girls that seduces Keanu's character, a happily married man with kids. For me, cheating is a gross immoral act, a red flag, a hard pass, a deal breaker for me, but because of that I've always been strongly intrigued by it and why people do it. Not only do I recognize the sexual appeal and excitement of it, but deeper, farther in, I'm most intrigued by the human nature of it, the concept of monogamy and polygamy and whether they are natural or unnatural. Due to this fascination I happen to watch a literal shit ton of movies that revolve around this theme. The reality that there are so many movies about this also astonishes and at the same time does not surprise me. The mind can be a safe place. Anyhow, this film is sexy, intensely captivating, and then just straight up fucked up. I've watched, and watched, and watched it because simply I love how Keanu plays this role. Every fucking move he makes, every awkward move of his head, where he allows his eyes to linger and where he chooses to avert his eyes. There is a long build up, and that in itself is very exciting. If someone thinks he is a bad actor still, they need to watch this. Based on my memory, Generation Um... has some similarity to this film, but it's been a long while since I've watched it.
The first time I watched John Wick, may have been at a friend's house, after a night of drinking. I was planning on going home, but I couldn't stop watching it. From then on, I was doomed. I watched it again when I got home and then the second. I don't recall seeing either in theaters, which I regret now. As I've said and said again, the theme of love and death has a very strong gravitational pull for me. I can't resist it, no matter how fucking depressed it might make me feel. Love and death are probably the purest obsessions I have. I don't mean pure as in the concepts are pure, but the obsession is completely innate, from the start of my life. Purely within me. And unfortunately beyond a concept for Keanu, for him it's a reality. Until recently I actually knew very little about Keanu, which honestly is rare, because I do have endless pop culture knowledge. I never sought it before, which is why I call this obsession a respectful one, it's not that I know everything about him, I don't, it is an obsession because I want to completely fill up my time with thoughts of him, references, articles, memes, videos, pictures, quotes, movies all because it makes me happy. It has a strange effect of bringing light to my day, my life. In my own head, I've been referring my life in the past few years, particularly lately as a punching bag. My life, is a goddamn punching bag. Bad and good things happen, as per usual, but I got fucking Rocky punching this, I have no time to bounce back unless he takes a break. I'm making a joke, one that I'm not even sure makes sense because I have never watched Rocky, but for fuck's sake, life has me down and I keep trying to get up. I am able to stand but only for so long until the next worst thing hits me. Considering all of the metaphors and the realities of my existence, I feel like I'm doing pretty okay. Pretty okay is as much as I will say. However, this is a tangent that was best saved for last as I still have more to say on the topic of Keanu. So move on, I must.
John fucking Wick, is an entity, a story of love, loss, revenge, and everything that is badass and not just another action film. It is different. It is a feeling, something harder for me to put to words, but a feeling that you get from a movie as intense as this, means it's a good fucking movie. I read something recently where Keanu describes the film being directed by a stunt man who has so much experience on the other side of the camera, brings something entirely different from behind the camera. These are my words of course, I'm paraphrasing, but it is a good point. There is an art to these films, and if you really look, you can see it in every frame. An art to and of the action. And it gets your heart pumping. Keanu is perfect for this role and I wouldn't want to see it any other way. The thing that delights me is that Keanu says he will keep doing these films if we keep watching them. And you bet your ass we will. I love this series so much that I actually have to stop talking about it because it will take me all night.
After Chapter 3 came out, I was awaiting the Netflix release of Always Be My Maybe, staring and directed by Ali Wong, who I think is so hilarious in so many ways, the things she says, the way she says it, her facial expressions, the way she moves her body, she is so animated and even vulgar, a great combination. I had watched her stand up on Netflix and got sucked in pretty quickly, so when my best friend mentioned the movie I was excited. The trailer itself I had to watch multiple times because of Keanu's appearance. Holy shit, the trailer is dirty, but the film itself shows him as exaggerated version of himself minus the dirtiness in the trailer. He missed her soul, oh man, I watched the scenes with him three times in a weekend. It was so hilarious and even more great that he agree to do it. The more I learned about the making and casting of the film the more I had respect for him and the rest of the cast. They wanted Asian Americans to be represented and since casting Keanu for that, what followed was very interesting. People began to see him in that light, even I did. As I said before I never really knew much about him. I always thought he was Lebanese but a transplant to Canada/America. What I didn't know until recently was that he was a Virgo (I knew but then forgot), with Chinese and Hawaiian descent, amongst others including Portuguese. I didn't know that he considers himself Canadian, at least according to Wikipedia. I didn't know that he rides motorcycles and lost some teeth because of it, he also has his own custom motorcycle production company. What I did know before was that he was left handed, generous, kind, and had been dealt a difficult hand in regards to love and death.
I have a weakness for Virgos. I love left handed people, especially when discovered in the public eye, because they always seem to have something that divides them from the rest. I could go on about these things and about motorcycles, but I'm getting into fangirl territory and that's not what this is about. I'm sharing really, what I think is an incredible human being and why it makes me happy. What provoked this post on this particular day was that I spent my morning reading a very long Reddit post that occurred 5 years ago where Reddit members could ask Keanu anything. He responded to over a dozen questions and every single response was so genuine, there was a tone that was different from typical responses you read or listen to in interviews with celebrities. The realness is what made me enjoy it so much. The fact that he didn't always respond to every aspect of a question even reminded me of texts with friends, it was real, there was no frills, no bullshit. What I loved most was that he confirmed that he is the type of celebrity that doesn't mind if people say hi to him, he appreciates what they do it for. He isn't an asshole and genuinely seems to understand the intentions of people and takes that at face value. Plain and simple, he cares about people. There was one other really intense moment on the forum that I was unaware of, but one person took the time to notify Keanu that there is another Reddit forum made years prior called Thank You Keanu project with 627 messages of people thanking him for the differences he made in their life. Consider this post an addition, it may not be full of all the details but it definitely touches of the main parts. (Yes, there's even more to this!)
Since Always Be My Maybe came out, another line of memes were created, and it made me so happy, one of them is called Keanu Walking to Music. Someone took the slow motion scene from the movie that plays one of my favorite bands. Awolnation's "Sail" originally plays in his entrance scene (which got me so damn excited) and the Twitter meme changes the songs based on requests and no matter what song is added, it still fits the scene. It is instantly bound to make you smile or laugh. Seriously, it is only 20 seconds of music and Keanu walking, how pure is that? This type of positivity on the Internet is so rare with the exception of animal videos. To show a human doing something and not mocking or turning it into some political shitshow, it is so refreshing, simply lighthearted and fun. Not only that, Keanu seems to enjoy the memes and positive attention and finds humor in them as well. The world is so harsh and profoundly depressing, that this is the light that myself and others have been seeking as simple as it is. I deleted my Twitter account not too long ago and this, and only this, has made me reconsider joining again just so I can request a song. The movie itself is wonderful as well.
To attempt to conclude this comma infested story of my obsession, since the Internet has dubbed Keanu its "boyfriend," friends of mine have been periodically sending me memes to that keep my days uplifted. Whatever this is, it's working. The Reddit story I read this morning was an ultimate highlight, time and time again people refer to Keanu as down to earth, grounded and his response is always simply honest. "Gravity," he said in a recent video, is what keeps him down to earth as he gives a chuckle. Really, the response I read in the article today is a reminder to the true message that I've gained from all this Keanu craze:
We walk on it every day...
I have been in dark moments, days, weeks, months, years of depression, anger, shitty days, what have you, and lately I catch myself and sometimes I think to myself, "What would Keanu do?" and it helps me be the better person that I know is in there, under all the trauma, emotional turmoil, the day to day grind. And it helps and serves as inspiration. For that, thank you Keanu.
In case you haven't been following the singling out of Keanu recently, you may not know but there is a petition, a petition! To make Keanu Time's People of the Year and you bet your ass I signed it. Not right away, but after some thought I had to. I'm pretty sure I'll be back here for more. I have more movies to watch and rewatch and so much I did not touch on. So to be continued for awhile.
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