Forums / Discussion / Meme Research

I think it has a lot of potential since it's Keanu Reeves, but I'm not sure it's widespread enough.

I lol'd. But I'd say this is pretty widespread. I've seen this video before, and there's a ton of results on google, and a few videos about it on youtube.

reaction:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EQc5zpqEeo&feature=related&safe_search=on
make it a sub-meme to the keanu is sad entry
ive already seen a reference to it on said page

@Remington: are there other versions of the idea or would you consider this (just) a viral video?

@Christoper: enough links for an entry?

@butterin: it looks like the video was made in 2009 whereas 'Sad Keanu'/'Keanu Is Sad' started 2010. You may be onto something as there's probably some sort of Keanu Memeplex going on:

Also, relevance: activity around the 'Keanu Is Kind' reddit thread: http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/cb8uo/keanu_more_sadness_in_comments/
http://kottke.org/10/06/keanu-reeves-is-a-really-nice-guy
http://thankyoukeanu.com/

I thought about it and realized that Keanu Reeves in himself is a meme, a human meme if you will. From quotes and pictures of him spawn memes, much like Billy Mays or Chuck Norris.

I would think hes a meme, only gonna get more serious when cowboy bebop the movie comes out.

Also saw a thread on 4chan about this same subject yesterday.

I'm so waiting for that live action CowBoy BeBop movie te finally come out.

I don't know about this "Keanu doesn't age" thing, but I'm seeing TONS of "sad Keanu" everywhere I look.

related Reddit thread: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cbree/reddit_why_this_sudden_obsession_with_keanu_reeves/

Also this:

So is the "Keanu is sad" the meme or is Keanu Reeves some kind of meme muse?

@Rem

A person cannot be a meme as you cannot recontextualize a person, or remix a person, or shoop a person into multiple images across the web, or do anything else that you can regularly do for things that have become memes. It is impossible.

BUT, if there are certain things that this person did/made/sang/danced/posed as/etc. that has been recreated/imitated/reconstructed/etc. in numerous ways by plenty of people on the web, that would be the meme because it is possible to do all those things to these videos/pictures/gifs/etc of these person.

TL;DR: No, Keeanu Reeves cannot be the meme; but, his sad pose being shooped into photos vastly on the web would be the meme.

@Jostin

Quite a few memes follow the guidelines you just presented for me, but many memes are not that simple. From what I learned of memes confirmed on this site, they're much more complex, which you probably already know. After a while of enjoying this site when I first came across, I decided to become a member, and as a member I wanted to contribute. I racked my mind, searching for something I came across in the past that was not represented on this site, when I remembered "Keanu Reeves is Immortal." But you may have noticed by this thread, I was not certain. After studying said Keanu video and coming across other Keanu content, I came across a realization. Keanu Reeves was more than one simple meme, he had inspired many, a meme muse(as I had stated before(also the word is pending approval)).

This is not just true with Keanu Reeves, it is also true with confirmed memes Bill Cosby and Billy Mays. I will even go further to include Chuck Norris. It may have begun with the facts, but he has inspired so much more.

So I must respectfully disagree with you, a person can be a meme.

Ah, see. That's where I must respectfully disprove you, kind sir. I must debate you with what I believe I know about how memes work.

You see, if we agreed to doing what you suggest, we'd have to document every single famous person to have ever existed as they each have their own edited images/funny videos/fan works/etc. It's just what people do for their favorite celebrities. It's nothing new to have funny conspiracy theories about stars. In fact, there's a blog for this sort of thing. Keeanu Reeves is just one of many other movie stars/singers/comedians/etc. that have been given the privilege of a funny set of paraphernalia. Nothing really memetic going on there.

Now, to account articles of people we have documented. Bill Cosby is not the meme but his strange zany behavior and unique speech delivery gave people something to remix/make fan art and image macros of/etc. That tribute to his character made him liable for an article. Same thing would go for Billy Mays. Chuck Norris on the other hand has been made into an internet personality, he himself is not a meme. People have turned him into this crazy-powerful god-like monstrosity capable of doing impossible tasks and whatever whatnot. That is something called recontextualization which accounts as this person's memetic quality and thus notability. That's why I think that Keeanu himself is not the meme but his sad position on that bench being shooped into countless photos is. His image has become exploitable.

Thirdly, I'm sorry to disappoint, but "meme muse" already has an existing term for it. It's called a Memeplex. You can read Wikipedia for more information about memeplexes.

Sad Keanu = meme
Keanu is Immortal = probably a meme

Keanu Reeves = Actor. Played Neo and Ted Theodore Logan. Might be a robot.

I'd say that as Keanu-related memes appear, we could create entries for them, and if there turn out to be enough of them, then we could create a Keanu Reeves parent entry to link the memeplex together.

I will begin by dropping meme muse, it's obviously not important.

Now secondly, every celebrity image/funny video/fan work/etc.is not a meme, but a few have made it, but I hardly consider this a game changing point in this debate.

NOW, Bill Cosby's zany personality is not some mythical separate being, it's his personality. No one would say they saw meme of his personality and character, they saw a meme of Bill Cosby.

Oh hold on, wait a second. You just wrote that a person can have memetic qualities, and I belive Chuck Norris was being referred too. Now I'm not sure if Keanu Reeves is widespread enough to be in himself a meme, but a person can be a meme.

Ah, I shake your hand for spying a mistake in my last post. I meant to say "character" as that is a more accurate description for what people have made Chuck into.

As for Bill Cosby, it can't deny that you may be right about that and most people would probably agree. Though, for me, I personally believe that a person's personality is separate from his own self being so that's why I think it's fine that he have an article for himself (that and the fact that "Puddin' Pops", "With the bippin' and the boppin' and the zippin' and the zoppin'", and "Pokemanz!" are all somewhat popular sub-memes of this meme in their own retrospect, making Bill's entry more of a parent article than an actual documentation of people's interpretation of his zany personality OTI).

Though, I think we're just dragging this debate on when it seems that Chris has found us a compromise. I will allow articles about people if, and only if, these entries are meant to be parent entries. I still don't believe that individual persons themselves can be memes but the idea is always up for debate.

Well, I enjoyed this while it lasted, Rem. I hope you did as well. I find it interesting to learn other peoples' opinons on what a meme can be as, to be honest, there really is no right answer to it. The better question to ask about something you may think is a meme before submitting it here is, "Is it notable enough?".

If a person was a meme, they would have derivatives, so there must be more bill cosbys out there some where…

You mean like this?