web pulp 2.0

So in case you haven’t seen it, the latest meme going around the interwebz is Sad Keanu Reeves – a paparazzi photo that has lead to a spontaneous snowball of everything from “We love Keanu” support, charity tie-ins, Photoshop mashups and the kind of downright silliness only an internet meme (especially a Reddit-powered one) can randomly spew.

So why is Keanu sad? Well firstly I don’t know that he is, I mean for god’s sake the man is looking at the sandwich he is eating. Maybe he looks a bit bummed out but that could be because his sandwich was disappointing or maybe he wishes that he could eat a sandwich without these bloody paparazzi spying on him. Who knows, it could be many things. I do wonder what he thinks of all this online attention he’s been getting lately because of this stupid snap shot. He is usually such a private guy and avoids most publicity.

His professional success aside he certainly has a lot of reasons to be sad. The guy had a very unstable childhood with a father imprisoned for selling heroin and a mother who travelled the world marrying different guys and divorcing them every 5 minutes. Despite all of this he has managed to maintain a strong sense of family and is devoted to his sisters. Being a dyslexic he didn’t enjoy his school time very much and did not excel in academics. He was very good at ice hockey but an injury crushed his dreams of playing hockey professionally. Tragedies in Keanu’s life include; a beloved sister diagnosed with leukaemia, a best friend dead from a drug overdose, a child still born and a fiancé dead in a car crash. That’s some heavy stuff!! Most of us would have a really hard time dealing with half the shit on this list.

I guess one good thing that’s come out of all this is that a lot of people have come out with personal stories telling what a nice, caring and down to earth guy Keanu Reeves is. Apparently he is really nice to work with and is incredibly generous both with his money and kindness. I think that’s commendable in a world where it’s all about status and how much money you make and how high up you are on the social scale.

People always talk about how dumb he is and what a crap actor he is. Well one of those things must not be true, how else can you explain not only his lengthy and successful career but the amount of really good films he has been in? Either he is a really good actor or he is really clever and knows how to choose the films he is part of and the people he works with. I personally think people are jealous of him and maybe a bit confused by his nonchalant approach to Hollywood and fame and aversion to all the publicity which other famous actors can’t exist without.

I’ll leave you with the brilliant “Hey There Keanu”

This is a guest post by Theodora, a blogger, actress and photographer who enjoys a good opinionated rant every now and again. She currently works for a site specialising in laptops and netbooks and takes great pleasure using them to cruise the web looking for the next meme or reading ridiculously long Reddit comment threads.

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