Keanu Reeves Attempts to Save our Planet — Onscreen and Off
by Suzanne Byrne | December 18th, 2008 | Comments (3)
topic: Celebrity Planet, Inspirational Media | tags: jennifer connelly, keanu reeves, the day the earth stood still
Keanu Reeves in The Day the Earth Stood Still
I had a day off this week, so I did something I rarely do — I went to the movies.
Watching The Day The Earth Stood Still — which opened over the weekend — on the gigantic IMAX screen, I expected it to be just your regular run-of-the-mill Keanu Reeves movie, where he speaks s-l-o-w-l-y and appears as stiff as a corpse. Keanu’s performance was exactly what I expected, but the interesting twist was that the plot had a heavy focus on the planet and the damage humans are causing to it.
Keanu’s character, an alien, comes to Earth to try and reverse the environmental damage that humans have inflicted on the planet. So there are lots of scenes with him and Jennifer Connelly’s scientist character talking about the human mistreatment of our great planet.
While promoting the film, Keanu and Jennifer talked about their real-life eco-friendly practices.
“I do all I can to be green,” Reeves told the Sun Times. “I recycle. I have a couple of solar panels, and I participate in rainforest conservation.”
As for Jennifer, who’s married to actor Paul Bettany, told Star magazine: “We bought a Prius. We recycle. We turn out the light switches when we can — though my husband’s better at it that I am.”
Talk back …
Did you see The Day The Earth Stood Still?
Do you like how Hollywood is incorporating important real-life environmental issues into films?
Weigh in below!
Didn’t see the film and don’t want to. Keanu gives me the creeps.
I do think it’s cool though that there’s an eco-theme.
Saw it this past weekend as well. Actually, got to work in the film as an extra. I found it surprisingly good.
It’s important that Hollywood incorporates relevant, current issues into films that reach a large audience, and should make every effort, without being “preachy”. Movies, like music, books, and other art forms, can inspire people to find out more, to change habits, or challenge beliefs.
Better than glorifying murderers, psychos, adultery, and corrupt politicians…
Unfortunately I haven’t seen this film yet, but I am planning on it. I love science fiction, though films that deal with the planet breaking down are becoming more science and less fiction.
I watched the latest X-Files film, “X-Files: I Want to Believe” on dvd last night. Chris Carter, the director and creator of the series spent a segment discussing how to many films more green. He noted there was tremendous waste created during his last film, and is devoted to the “greening” of Hollywood.
Larry Fessenden’s independent film, “The Last Winter” deals with corrupt Big Oil attempting to drill in Alaska, with “greenies” hired to do environmental impact statements. It is a fatalistic view of what will happen to our climate if we continue to destroy the earth. The movie is advertised as a horror movie, but I didn’t find it fits that category exactly. Environmental collapse is horrifying, but the movie delves much deeper into our conflict over fossil fuels. People seem to love the film or hate it. I loved it, but wasn’t expecting a scary film. People who were expecting a horror film were disappointed. I would expect people who are environmentalists would get something out of this film in particular.