WWBKD?

While reading everything I could about the man who fascinates me as much for his life story as for his brilliance as a filmmaker, I found that certain themes began to emerge. Commentators such as Richard Lewis (actor/comedian and fan in this short clip), Paul Merton (host of the BBC Special "Silent Clowns"), or Edward McPherson (author of Keaton biography "Tempest in a Flat Hat") all seemed to find it necessary to talk about the circumstances under which they first encountered Buster. I am no different. Like falling in love, we want to remember every detail of when we 'met' this man.  (I met him through Sherlock Jr :) My post about it describes the details).

Beyond just wishing to share our first encounters with him, I think there lies a common desire to believe we are something like him. People strive to recognize a bit of themselves in what we so value in him.

The desire to find ourselves in Keaton touches on a transcendent theme that is itself remarkable. Keaton plays an everyman whom we experience as one of us. We feel like him and want to be like him, and, best of all, we somehow believe that we could. He is fundamentally accessible. But these feelings are remarkable given that he was not a regular guy at all. He was extraordinary! -- in face, form, talent, creativity and calm.

Seriously, Keaton was a beautiful man, with a phenomenal classic nose, high cheekbones, thick hair, and of course those stunning and expressive eyes. Yet, somehow he isn't seen as a sex symbol nor filmed with an eye toward glamor. He is just a boyish fellow with a "great stone face." Similarly, he had an amazing physique with which he could accomplish astonishing feats of skills that most of us couldn't dream up, let alone do. Yet, he often portrayed an almost bumbling, down on his luck, guy just muddling through life.

But in the face of life's crazy turns, how many of us can sit zen-like in the middle in a state of supreme acceptance? Keaton can and he wins us over heart and soul for it.

Despite his awesomeness, despite his extraordinary talent, skill and beauty, Keaton manages to never feel out of reach. His films make you feel good because they simply sit right. We imagine ourselves behaving in the same great centered way -- accepting our fate completely and living within it. His genius is in allowing us all to share both the emboldening impact of his skill and the lovely accepting tone of his movies.