Since its inception in 1927, Time Magazine’s Person of the Year issue has profiled the person, group, object or idea that has had the biggest impact on the news of that year. The choices have included names like Adolf Hitler, JFK, Charles Lindbergh, Elizabeth II, Gandhi, MLK, Mark Zuckerberg and the computer. Now, some people are hoping that actor Keanu Reeves joins their ranks, and they have created a petition to make it happen.
An unidentified (he or she is listed as “John Doe”) champion has taken to Change.org to start a petition to make Keanu Reeves Time Magazine’s 2019 Person of the Year. The petition has been up for less than a week and over 1,000 people have already signed it giving Keanu their support. It is well on its way to 1,500 signatures.
Usually these kind of petitions make their case on the page as to why you should sign it, but the Keanu for Person of the Year petition assumes you already know why and settles for the succinct call to action “Keanu is the most wholesome person alive, make him the person of the year!”
Given that the love for Keanu Reeves seems to be at an all-time high right now, this petition does not come as a surprise. The actor is having a huge year, and if the Time Magazine Person of the Year goes to the person that has most influenced the news of that year, Keanu Reeves has a strong case, at least as far as the internet is concerned, as he has been dubbed ‘the internet’s boyfriend.’
The actor is the talk of the internet, from social media to his own dedicated subreddit, and a lot of it has to do with his roles in 2019. Some have dubbed this the Keanussance, and while that designation implies that Keanu Reeves went away in some way, the reality is that he hasn’t been missing. He is just really killing it this year.
From the major success of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (side question: Will he ultimately be remembered best for Neo or John Wick?) and his hilarious cameo in Netflix’s Always Be My Maybe to his scene stealing character Duke Caboom in Toy Story 4 and his role in the video game Cyberpunk 2077, Keanu is everywhere, in popular and well-received projects.
But it is not for his success that this petition advocates him to be Person of the Year, it is his wholesomeness. His prevalence on our screens in 2019 has resulted in us seeing more of Keanu Reeves, and that has shed light on who he is as a person.
From beautiful reflections on late night shows and countless anecdotes on the internet from those who have seen and met him to his respectful hands-off approach to taking photos with female fans and his iconic appearance at E3, he basically just seems to be a really good guy and the kind of person people want to root for in modern times.
Whether that makes him eligible for Time’s Person of the Year is debatable, but he has certainly made plenty of news. And while these kinds of petitions are silly and hugely ineffective, it is nice to see one that borne out of love and not anger or disappointment. I don’t think Keanu would even be particularly interested in the title, but he might appreciate knowing how much people support him.
Keanu Reeves’ current moment won’t be ending anytime soon. John Wick: Chapter 4 is already a go and the long-awaited Bill & Ted Face the Music is finally on the way. First though, you can catch possible Person of the Year (but probably not) Keanu Reeves as Duke Caboom in Toy Story 4, in theaters on June 21.
