Analysis: Keanu Reeves is having a Keanussance with the John Wick series. But did he ever really go anywhere?
By Travis M. Andrews Travis M. Andrews Pop culture reporter covering music, movies, TV, comedy and celebrity culture Email Bio Follow May 21 Ahh, the comeback.
Reeves, on the other hand, just continued doing the things at which he always excelled. There was no big controversy. No tarring and feathering by an outraged Internet mob. No public descent into addiction. Just a string of forgettable movies that slowly faded his star. Until now. There was a still of a shocked Reeves from “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” that became known as Conspiracy Keanu. It was usually accompanied by text exploring fake conspiracies so ridiculous that they’re funny. One reads, “What if the CIA invented dinosaurs to discourage time travel?”— Leigh Hogan December 17, 2016 Another, called Sad Keanu, came from a paparazzi shot of a sorrowful-looking Reeves sitting on a bench, eating a sandwich.
The memes didn’t really bother Reeves personally, though they might have changed how a younger generation viewed him. As Alex Pappademas wrote in GQ last month: “He regards his own meme-ification from a disinterested distance. Actually participating further in the process is not for him, but he’s also not judging anybody who does play along.
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