Applauding Keanu Reeves' love life shows how low the bar is for Hollywood men

For all intents and purposes, Keanu Reeves, 55, seems like a great guy. On Monday night, the widely beloved actor stepped out for the first with his business partner Alexandra Grant, 46, holding hands at a LACMA Art +Film event and looking decidedly cute together. The two have been rumored to be dating for a while, but their hand-holding appeared to be a confirmation.

Across the internet, Grant and Reeves' coupling was rejoiced — partially because Reeves hasn’t been spotted with a woman on the red carpet since the passing of his partner Jennifer Syme in 2001. For many people, it was nice to see one of Hollywood’s most beloved leading men looking happy and cherished. But the other reason Reeves’ relationship earned so much attention is because of the appropriateness of Grant's age in relation to Reeves. Basically, the bar for celebrity men (and you know, all men) is too low.

Grant is 46 and has silver hair — she’s beautiful, and she also looks like a grown woman. That’s unfortunately not very common when it comes to the romantic partners of Hollywood’s most famous men.

The most glaring example is Leonardo DiCaprio, whose commitment to dating women twenty years his junior makes it seem like he’s permanently auditioning to be the male lead in a harlequin romance novel. It’s a disturbing pattern, and he’s far from alone.

There’s Dennis Quaid, 65, the actor from movies like The Parent Trap and A Dog’s Purpose, who is currently engaged to a woman named Laura Savoie, a 26-year-old Ph.D. student. Comedian and actor Dane Cook, 46, is dating Kelsi Taylor, a 19-year-old singer and fitness instructor. The list goes on, and the age differences remain troubling.

And then there are the countless men who have been accused of sexual assault, harassment, and misconduct.

James Franco — who admitted to knowingly pursuing a 17-year-old fan over Instagram — has also been accused of sexual misconduct by former students at his film school. Johnny Depp was accused of domestic violence against his ex-wife Amber Heard. Matt Lauer has been accused of rape, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse. All three of these men deny the allegations against them, and they’re just a handle full who have been named as alleged abusers since the #MeToo movement gained a foothold in recent years.

In light of all of this, it really seems like Reeves is performing some herculean task by not dating a woman who is young enough to be his daughter, and who has no violent allegations casting a cloud of suspicion over his head. But that’s not because Reeves is particularly spectacular — it’s just because so many other famous men fail to be decent.