| Punching Back - as I write | |||
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| 2009-05-30 23:43:01 | |||
ADMIN  Forum Posts: 3074 Comments: 405 Reviews: 1 | With thanks to LucaM for the quotes, and everyone else for everything.  Prologue "Let's examine a case: a given actor, foreigner, worked for more than 20 years abroad; has worked on TV, theatre, and mostly cinema, going from insane blockbusters to arty, little-known independent films; has starred as lead in genre, generational defining films in both comedy and action; holds two of the most iconic characters in movie history, both of which are as diverging as one can get; has worked with the most important names in the industry; was one of the top earning actors in one of the most competitive show business markets in the world; and in the mean time is known for not exploiting his private life to enhance the career, showing the utmost respect for his colleagues, directors and the entire crew he works with, knowing his and everyone else's lines, being the first person on the set and the last person to leave it, land himself on projects with professionalism and passion, being polite to his fans, and being humble, to the point of being disinterested about the wealth he has accumulated. However, if you peg a certain name in that description, then suddenly some people seem to go out of their way to disavow it. Then, suddenly, "I don't think his career is that great". Unfortunately, many of these people hold a status as opinion makers about Cinema. And the situation is such that, once you get yourself marked in a certain way, it pretty much goes down the hill in an increasing snow ball sort." - ckage, Keanu SWAT Team * This is not a biography. The world does not need another Keanu Reeves biography. It does not need to know that his name is pronounced kay-ah-nu; that it means Cool Breeze Over the Mountain in Hawaiian; that he was born to a British mother and a Hawaiian-Chinese father in Beirut; that he suffered a string of tragedies in the form of dead loved ones at the peaks of his success; that he started out with no more than $3000 to his name and rose to become one of the most highly-paid celebrities in Hollywood and one of its most reluctant stars. The world already knows that. What the world does not know as well is how his life has impacted so many other individuals, for good or bad. The many fans who see him as far more than just an actor, but also as a role model and constant source of inspiration. The fans who have stood up and defended him from countless ungrounded attacks against his talent, intelligence and personality. The many fans whose lives he has changed by the simple act of existing and being the person he is. The fans whose obsession has driven them over the brink of sanity and into mental hospitals and courtrooms. And on the other side of the card, the many more detractors who insist on perpetuating the opinion that Keanu Reeves is the Worst Actor Ever. It is not enough to ask why; if one is honest it is obvious that, whatever one's opinion on Reeves' skills as a thespian, he is far from the worst actor in Hollywood or anywhere else. We know how a single opinion can take hold and build and spread far out of control through the singular power of the media, bolstered by the Internet and millions of people who wish to be heard and accepted as cool. The question is how to stop it and right the wrongs that have been done. Perhaps this seems like a frivolous task--after all, why does an opinion about some rich celebrity matter, when there are people dying of starvation and war and all sorts of other horrors that plague this planet and surely deserve more attention? Which is actually a very good question. So I won't stop you from putting down this book and going to save the world. Tell me about it when you're done. But I would also argue that to dismiss this issue is to underestimate the power that celebrity and the media hold on millions of lives. This is not just about Keanu. This is about truth and integrity and the dreams of countless people who turn to the shiny glamour of Hollywood and the entertainment industry as escapism from their own harsh realities, whose lives have in some way been affected by these celebrities and the ideals they represent. The media - Hollywood movies in particular - are in many ways a great leveller. Rulers of countries and beggars on the streets can find common ground in a favourite movie; fandom is the backbone of many great and lasting friendships and many changed lives; films have inspired people to greatness just as they have provided fuel for minds bent on destruction. What seems on the surface to be unimportant fluff is often representative of bigger problems underlying the whole structure of the media, especially new media like the Internet. The mechanisms that lead to a bunch of self-important netizens declaring Keanu the Worst Actor Ever are the same forces that can topple politicians and change the future of the world. Big stuff, the Internet. Understand it and you understand people; understand people and you understand the world. But back to Keanu, because that's who this book is, ultimately, about - the furious debates over his acting ability, the smug dismissals of him as an oblivious, dumb surfer dude who got to where he is on looks alone, the angry and often disproportionately violent death threats levelled at Mr. Reeves because of his acting, and the few of us who have, through the years, valiantly stood our ground to defend what we believe in. This is our fandom. And this is our story. * new page * "Bashing Reeves for his acting skills, supposed "inferior" intellect, even his lifestyle... people, take a minute and think about it: it's a fucking mainstream trend. The whole idea of it clashes with what Keanu Reeves is all about - so OF COURSE he is the one punched and ridiculed all the fucking time, especially since he's so off the mainstream actors'/male characters' typical persona. Take a look around and show me one guy from Reeves' generation that has taken this unbelievably odd career route like he has. You won't find one, at least not a "major star" like Keanu's dubbed to be. And that is why it's so easy to make fun of Keanu. That, and his quirky persona. Personally, what I love about Keanu as an actor is his dedication, his persistence: he may not be the most naturally gifted actor around (and he definitely isn't - just listen to his flat tone of voice), but he's always had this drive to be "a good actor", like I remember him saying once in an interview when he was younger. The guy knows how to mix professionalism with punk attitude. And he fucking did it, man. He burst out of the 80's and he damn well survived the 90's, didn't he? He's a cool dude. And very, very fun to watch." - pretendyouredead, Keanu SWAT Team "...In fact, if one thinks about it, it's hard to think of some other known actor that catches this much flak. Of course when Tom Cruise was announced for the remake of War of the Worlds, the general consensus was not particularly positive. Then again, the animosity against Cruise was most likely due to his personal antics with Scientology and Oprah spectacles. Which makes this continuous hostility concerning Keanu's work all the more unfair: I mean, when was the last time you heard about any kind of scandal provoked by this actor? Or any kind of PR tricks concerning him? ... But now you might jump up and say "Ah-ah! If Keanu still gets criticism it's because his work HAS to be bad!". And I say sure, because that's what you agree with. In all fairness, I look at his performances and I don't see the unintelligence, or the dumbness, or the woodiness some keep complaining about. At all. I see an actor with talent that pushes himself for his work; I see a guy who's able to convey emotions with a mere expression; an actor who is not scared about the physicality of a part, and a professional who is willing to go out, try a new challenge, get snubbed over it, but still come back for more." - ckage, Keanu SWAT Team "It's like getting punched in the face and not being able to punch back." - Keanu Reeves, regarding the media * newpage * ________________________________________ PUNCHING BACK Fandom, the Internet, and Keanu Reeves ________________________________________ 1. It's Not What It Looks Like Identifying the bandwagon 2. There Is No Keanu The constructed image of celebrity 3. Consider the Source Journalistic integrity and the lack thereof 4. Acts of Vengeance and Brotherhoods of Justice The Keanu SWAT Team 5. Free Your Mind Confronting the fish 6. Deliver Us From Freedom The pitfalls of Internet free speech 7. You Should Let Me Go The psychotic edge of obsession 8. A Tiny Pension and a Cheap Gold Watch What there is to gain ________________________________________ I. It's Not What It Looks Like Identifying the bandwagon "If an idiot were to tell you the same story every day for a year, you would end up believing it." - Horace Mann "It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place." - H.L. Mencken ________________________________________ "In show business, there are few universally accepted articles of faith, but one of them would seem to be this: Keanu Reeves is a bad actor." So wrote journalist Adam Sternberg in October 2001. His observation is true, if a bit of an understatement. The media frequently presents Reeves as some epitome of bad acting, an opinion often driven more by bandwagon than truth. If a situation or article calls for a joke about bad acting, bring in Keanu Reeves. Or Paul Walker, or Sylvester Stallone, although they seem to bear the brunt of such jokes far less than Reeves does, possibly due in part to their lower star status in Hollywood. I have reason to say that these attacks have little grounding in truth, for every now and then I encounter a puzzled person--usually not a Reeves fan--who asks why all these even exist. When I mention how I spend my free time defending him on the Internet, there will inevitably be those who ask why he needs defending in the first place, their knowledge of Reeves limited to the films of his that they have seen. It is often only those exposed to popular film culture who feel obliged to jump in and loudly agree that they too think that Keanu Reeves sucks, though when pressed, many of them admit to having seen only a handful of his films, in some cases none of them. Then there are those writers who start off praising Reeves, only to check themselves along the way: "I thought he was good in this film, but otherwise I think he sucks"; "I think he's a nice guy, but I don't think he's a good actor", and so on. That qualifier is always there, that conditional statement, as though to leave Reeves completely unscathed is taboo if one wishes to preserve one's reputation as an intelligent and discerning film critic or individual. (Before going any further, I would first like to say that--as with any other artiste--there are those who genuinely think that Reeves is a bad actor and have valid reasons and solid argumentation to support their stance. I respect their differing opinion and marvel at the diversity of human experience. They are not the ones I am targeting here.) And the degree of this is quite frankly disturbing to behold. The first time any film of Reeves' is first announced and the news released on blogs and news sites around the world, the comments are always, inevitably, filled with insults directed at him. On any moderately-popular entertainment site, there are comments that we have come to expect and tick off on our mental checklist: At Least One of the Following: 1. "NO!" with a varying number of 'o's; 2. Declarations that Keanu Reeves is the Worst Actor Ever; 3. Interesting swear words, sometimes comprising the entire content of a comment; 4. Sincerely expressed wishes that Keanu kill himself, and that they would be willing to help in any way they could; 5. A picture of a wooden object, usually, but not limited to, a plank of wood; 6. Philosophical, desperate questions to the universe regarding how Keanu is still getting roles; 7. Someone claiming that Keanu cannot act, but that they couldn't care less because they think he is hot; 8. "Whoa"; 9. People who go out of their way to mention how they hate Keanu out of the bottom of their very souls and how the very sight of him causes their apparently sickly bodies to violently disgorge the remnants of their previous meal; occasionally, but not always, coupled with #4. 10. On pages announcing the 2008 Day the Earth Stood Still remake, the phrase 'Keanu barada nikto' would make at least one appearance, often with one or more of the three words grossly misspelled; 11. People who cannot spell 'Keanu'. Less Common, But Still Frequently Observed: 1. Fervent declarations of newly-discovered atheism; 2. People who then declare that Reeves should rot in Hell; this is especially curious when coupled with #1; 3. The postulation that Reeves cannot act his way out of a: -------a. Paper bag -------b. Wet paper bag -------c. Perforated paper bag -------d. Torn paper bag -------e. Phone booth. 4. People who cannot spell 'Reeves'; 5. People who can spell 'Keanu' but cannot spell 'Reeves'. In all my years as a movie buff who spends too much time on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), I have never seen any other working A-list actor in Hollywood get this degree of automatic, instinctive resentment. This is often with good reason - actors who make it to the A-list in Hollywood (26 of them the last time I checked, plus Johnny Depp and Will Smith on the A+ list) are generally acknowledged to have earned their place there; they have proven themselves in a highly competitive industry, demonstrated that they can bring a certain level of box-office draw, and basically shown themselves competent thespians worthy of their place on the A-list. They are on the way to Oscars and assured positions in the annals of Hollywoodian history; they have distinguished themselves from the talentless pretty airheads who get shunted off to bad C-grade flicks to have sex and scream a lot and get eaten by CGI monsters. ...That is, if their name is not Keanu Reeves. I find this discrepancy utterly fascinating. What makes him so different from his peers, so much the target of vitriolic insults all over the Internet; I mean, sure, every actor gets his share of critics, but in those cases they are usually the minority, and there are always an equal or larger number of people who will stand up for them and make opinions of detractors close to negligible. Whereas with Keanu, this does not seem to be the case. He has become synonymous with bad acting. If there is a non-objective article about him or his movies, people practically expect at least one joke about his talent or the perceived lack thereof. An online entertainment writer (name concealed for privacy) whom I recently e-mailed admitted: "the temptation to pander to your audience by giving in to Keanu-bashing when recapping one of his movies is impossible to resist." And so the cycle continues. Media says Keanu sucks, so it must be true. People convince themselves that it is true. They expect the media to reinforce this belief. The media willingly does so. And it goes on. I'd like to sidetrack here for a moment to go deeper into this and how such cycles are, I think, the basis for the majority of conflict in the human race. I have used the example of religion and anti-religion in America (arguably ground zero for this particular conflict) to illustrate this point, and for convenience's sake I'll reproduce that here with minor edits: I continue to stand by the belief that if there were a sudden end to miscommunication and everyone started to perfectly understand other people's views and why they believe the things they do, the world would suddenly be a much, much happier place, everyone will finally be excellent to each other, and people will give Reeves' oeuvre an honest appraisal free of prejudice and conclude that he does not, after all, suck. My basic conclusion is that there does exist a bandwagon that bears the bulk of responsibility for the perceived image of Keanu as the Worst Actor Ever. Part of my conclusion is due to the simple fact that I was once on it. An extract from an online conversation with a good friend, dated somewhere in 2006 after I had been a Keanu fan for almost two whole years: I could defend the words of my insufferably dense younger self by pointing out that, as of that point, the only films of Keanu's that I had seen were the Matrix trilogy, both Bill & Ted films, and Constantine. Being the humble teenager that I was, I also figured that my opinion counted for nothing, and since just about all the esteemed, experienced film critics who should know better said that Keanu was a bad actor, they had to be right, and if I wished to get anywhere important in the film industry it would do me well to align my critical tastes with theirs. But on hindsight, I was no better than the countless masses who continue to suggest various types of paper bags that Reeves should try act his way out of. The bottom line is that I was trying to sound funny and discerning, bashing Keanu's acting is funny, and to that end I was willing to ditch any personal convictions about his acting and simply follow the crowd. Because I did have personal opinions that differed from the popular one - as mentioned, I was already a Keanu fan at the point of time when that conversation took place, and a very large part of this was due to how I had watched Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure at a time when the only other Keanu film I had seen was The Matrix (which I loved). I had been totally blown away by how two such widely differing characters as Neo and Ted had been played by the same actor. In short, I had been completely impressed; and that made me a fan. But somehow that all counted for nothing in the teenage world of bad jokes and peer pressure and attempts at being cool, even in the nerd/geek circles I hung out in. (To add on to that conversation, I once joked that neither of my favourite actors (Michael J. Fox and Keanu Reeves) could act - because Fox had Parkinson's Disease, which got in the way of his acting career. Yeah, I suck and deserve to be hit by a <strike>speeding bus</strike> phone book, but then I wouldn't be able to finish this book and redeem myself.) I liked to think of myself as one of those profound, intelligent movie critics, and such people - from what I learnt from reading movie magazines and such - had to agree that Keanu couldn't act if they wanted to be respected in any way. Those who did were the sad pathetic masses who agreed with any drivel the Hollywood machine fed them, the ADD generation who thought that The Matrix was really really cool and were too enraptured by the cool shades and cool trenchcoats and cool special effects to actually pay attention to the acting and plot and things that mattered. And then - somewhat related to that - there are the many folks who seem convicted of the notion that if one believes that Reeves can act, they are either straight females or gay males (or bisexual), hopelessly attracted to The Anu, and that it is only the non-androphiliac people - such as the highly sensible and mature straight guys - who are able to look past the surface and see The Truth about Reeves' acting abilities or lack thereof. It is a tactic especially effective among homophobic straight males; the last thing they want is to be thought of as gay. For them and many other people, admitting to liking Keanu's acting would challenge their perception of themselves and threaten their egos, after all that has been said about the supposed intelligence levels of the Reeves fan club. People don't want to be part of that group - that alleged hormonal screaming bunch of ADD kids who wouldn't know bad acting if it hit them in the face. That's not a nice group to be associated with, and in the general public's eye, that's the group you belong to if you like Keanu and - worse still - actually believe that he can act. You can no longer be taken seriously. Your opinion on films is no longer worth listening to. You are most likely mentally disabled in some way. On the Internet, at least, these accusations fly thick and fast the moment someone mentions that they happen to be a Keanu fan. As said earlier, I do not wish to put forward the generalisation that this is the case for every Keanu critic in the world, because it isn't. There exist valid criticisms of Keanu's acting style, and these will be dealt with later. But I am nonetheless certain that bandwagon riders make up the bulk of them, especially on the Internet, where one of the most common examples of anti-Keanuism tends not to be an analytical breakdown of acting methodology but rather some variant of: Keannu cant act lol. Or my personal favourite, from an IMDb poster named cairopimp07: your the Keanu fan yet im the retard? It is also telling how many of those supposed critics persist in watching Reeves' films despite their loud claims that they can't stand the sight of him and wish he would quit Hollywood altogether. So many of those people have, when pressed, admitted to enjoying his films - mostly The Matrix, Speed, Point Break, Bill & Ted - and if this had been any other actor, most likely than not they would consider themselves fans; rather than hurrying to assert that they enjoyed those films in spite of Keanu, and that they would have probably been even better films if some other actor had been in his place. I once encountered someone on IMDb who had seen no less than 45 Keanu films - more than most diehard fans I know - but despite this still did not include him amongst his proudly-displayed favourite actors list. There are many closeted Reeves fans out there, hiding in the shame that they themselves help to reinforce. There is a bandwagon very much in existence. If there were not, the majority of criticisms of Reeves would be more than single-line sentences attempting to be funny; they would actually make some substantial comment on his acting rather than regurgitate the same old tired clichÚs about paper bags and ungrounded, untrue digs at his intelligence and personality; they would actually be willing to argue their point rather than call us names and then vanish in the face of our rebuttals and demands for them to back up their claims. * to be continued. | ||
| 2009-05-31 07:30:02 | |||
| Forum Posts: 330 Comments: 131 Reviews: 0 | Excellent... And I've only seen one word that maybe should be another - convicted should probably be convinced And then - somewhat related to that - there are the many folks who seem convicted of the notion that if one believes that Reeves can act, they are either straight females or gay males (or bisexual), hopelessly attracted to The Anu, and that it is only the non-androphiliac people - such as the highly sensible and mature straight guys - who are able to look past the surface and see The Truth about Reeves' acting abilities or lack thereof. It is a tactic especially effective among homophobic straight males; the last thing they want is to be thought of as gay. Apprentice tells me that you are rocking right along on this thing - keep it up, it's looking really good! | ||
| 2009-05-31 13:56:38 | |||
ADMIN Forum Posts: 3074 Comments: 405 Reviews: 1 | Nah, convicted works too.  In that context it means 'guilty of believing'. I think. *googles* ...and apparently that definition went out of use several centuries ago and my usage might be slighly off. Ok. I'm behind the times. But hey, Keanu does that too! Ancient definitions ftw.  | ||
| 2009-06-01 01:20:48 | |||
Forum Posts: 28 Comments: 1 Reviews: 0 | Wow, Ani! This is awesome! | ||
| 2009-06-02 18:58:13 | |||
| Forum Posts: 330 Comments: 131 Reviews: 0 | Well I was thinking of that as I wrote for convinced - that it did work archaically and might actually jar the reader enough to get their attention - if they're not already in the Man's corner  And very likely he will appreciate the usage | ||
| 2009-07-16 01:49:17 | |||
| Forum Posts: 4842 Comments: 381 Reviews: 13 | any developments ? | ||
| 2009-07-16 09:00:06 | |||
ADMIN Forum Posts: 3074 Comments: 405 Reviews: 1 | So far not yet. I've been multitasking too much. :\ | ||
| 2009-07-16 15:55:35 | |||
| Forum Posts: 4842 Comments: 381 Reviews: 13 | thought that was the case  | ||
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