Paul Reubens, best known for his character Pee-wee Herman, tells all in this HBO Original Documentary. We dove into the two-part series and we were floored by what we learned.
This movie review of “Pee-wee as Himself” documentary takes a look at the story of Paul Reubens. Reubens, born Paul Rubenfeld on August 27, 1952 in Peekskill, New York, tells his story in full — or near full — for the first time ever. Reubens passed away in 2023 at the age of 70 while the documentary was in a sort of limbo.
Was the campy actor turned character just a kids’ show host? Or was this a multi-faceted brilliant creative mind filling the role of the sad clown?
Spoiler alert, we believe he’s the latter.
A little about “Pee-wee as Himself”
From a Warner Brothers Discovery release:
Driven by a soul-baring interview with Paul Reubens, the man behind the iconic character Pee-wee Herman, “Pee-wee as Himself” is the definitive portrait of the comedic performer, and a window into his never before discussed personal life. Determined to correct the record and tell the factual story of his life, Reubens excavates his kaleidoscopic influences, origins in the circus and avant-garde performance theater, and career choices, while reflecting on the reasoning behind, and the consequences of, severing his beloved alter ego from his authentic self.
About the production team:
HBO Documentary Films presents “Pee-wee as Himself”, an Elara & First Love Films Production. Directed and executive produced by Matt Wolf; produced by Emma Tillinger Koskoff; executive produced by Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Ronald Bronstein, Eli Bush, Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, Paul Reubens, Candace Tomarken, and Kyle Martin. For HBO: executive producers, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, and Sara Rodriguez.
Documentary structure
The documentary takes viewers on a journey through Reubens’ life. From early days as an actor, to getting his start with the Groundlings, to inventing Pee-wee, the creation of his movies, and into his latter days. We get glimpses of Reubens as a youth juxtaposed by his reflections in his twilight years.
The filmmakers did not know that Reubens was ill, this was something that he kept concealed from the public. The filming of the documentary occurred in 2023, one year prior to Reubens’ untimely death.
The team addressed this towards the beginning of part one:
Paul Reubens died on July 30, 2023.
Unbeknownst to the filmmakers, he has been privately fighting cancer for six years.
Before his death, Paul was interviewed for 40 hours.
From drama to comedy
Reubens explained his early artistic endeavors. He was heavily influenced by and involved in more avant-garde works. He was a serious actor — an artist. But that brought limited success.
“Comics were getting television shows and movies. I kind of said to myself, ‘You can do comedy really well.’” Reubens said in the documentary. “So I’m butting my head against the wall to like — be taken seriously as a dramatic actor. Why? Like, embrace comedy. Like do that.”
“Out of nowhere, the character popped out of me. When I say out of nowhere,” Reubens discussed the origin of Pee-wee, “It really wasn’t in a big way out of nowhere. It was a whole bunch of things that had just kind of never really connected.”
Reubens explained how he made Pee-wee a real person. By burying himself in the character, he did not have to expose who he was. It was Pee-wee doing the interviews. It was Pee-wee that got the fame.
“I decided that if I was trying to promote Pee-wee Herman as a real person,” Reubens said, “that it didn’t work if I was myself. I decided to become anonymous.”
Reubens got to hide his real self behind the persona of his invention: Pee-wee Herman.
Sexuality
Reubens was a closeted homosexual.
After a ending a long-term committed relationship with a partner, Reubens talked about his decision in the documentary to return to the closet:
I lost my entire personality of myself in being with somebody else and being part of a duo. I was really confused by it, and I got so freaked out I didn’t want to be emotionally involved with anybody in that way.
When we split up, I just made a conscious decision and went, “I’m not doing this again.” I not only wasn’t going to be openly gay, but I wasn’t going to be in a relationship. I was going to advance my career, because I could control that. So it was extreme.
I was as out as you could be, and then I went back in the closet. I could pass — for those of you very young people who don’t know what the hell we’re talking about, pass would be like you could pull off like somebody not realizing that you were gay, or not knowing you were gay. And I not only could do that, I strove to do that for a long, long time.
My career would have absolutely suffered if I was openly gay. And so I went to great lengths for many, many years to keep it a secret.
Controversy
We’re not making any moral judgements or statements on allegations of crimes that Reubens may or may not have committed. There’s an elephant in the room though; events involving Reubens and sexual controversy need to be addressed.
Viewers of “Pee-wee as Himself” might be waiting for the other shoe to drop throughout the entire documentary. Does it drop?
Arrests
The details of Reubens’ 1991 arrest for indecent exposure rocked Reubens’ world. As did a subsequent 2002 arrest — after making a comeback — for allegedly being in possession of child pornography.
Reubens’ run-ins with the law are covered mostly in part 2 of the film.
A witch hunt?
In the aftermath of Reubens’ second arrest, relating to his collection of kitsch early homo-erotica art, the prevailing idea was that this was a witch hunt. Was it? Some would say, “Yes.”
“This was a homophobic witch hunt,” said Kelly Bush Novak, a publicist and a producer. “You know, there’s a trope, obviously, that’s quite dangerous about pedophilia and LGBTQ community. It’s — it goes on today when a children’s entertainer is accused of possession of child pornography and those words; ‘Paul Rubens,’ ‘Pee-wee Herman,’ ‘child pornography,’ are in a headline, the damage is done.”
Archival footage of the late comedian Sam Kinison was included in the film. After the 1991 arrest, Kinison called for Reubens’ execution: “Make an example of him to other people involved in children’s programming.” Kinison died a year later in a car crash.
Reubens adamantly admonished the victim mentality when discussing the fallout from his first arrest — the indecent exposure allegations:
My biggest fear is — and where I think is, wherein lies the “rub,” no pun intended…is, how do I come off in this narrative? And what, what the goal is for me in this and not come off like a victim in some way, you know? Like I, I feel like it’s very easy to turn my story into, I’m a victim in some way, or I’m, you know, the man behind the mask, the tears of a clown. I mean, I know a lot of what it is, and I don’t, I rebel against it. I don’t want it to be that. I’m going to try to figure out some way to rise up above that, in the same way that I feel like I’ve been forced and had to kind of rise up above that in, you know, reality.
Should this define Reubens?
Should the arrests and allegations of Reubens remain as the defining moments of his life? Is there a much deeper story revolving around the man who made Pee-wee Herman and the accusations?
The takeaway about Paul Reubens, Pee-wee Herman, and the documentary is simple; there’s a lot of grey to the allegations and most of what we’ve been led to believe was misleading, misrepresented, or possibly false.
Most of the evidence of Reubens’ trial by public is on full display and individual viewers of the film are invited to make their own conclusions.
A deathbed conversation
The filmmakers working on “Pee-wee as Himself” noted in the film that Reubens became defiant about giving a final interview. The filmmakers wanted to address some of the allegations more head-on.
An on-screen statement towards the end of part two noted: “After a year of filming, Paul stopped cooperating with the production. He delayed completing a final interview about his arrests.”
They never got that final interview. However, the day before Reubens passed away, he recorded a statement. The filmmakers included the message from Reubens addressing some of the allegations, and if you want to hear it you’ll just have to watch the documentary — it’s worth it to hear this from Reubens himself.
Final thoughts
This documentary is a must-see film if you’re remotely curious. If you’re a product of the ‘80s or ‘90s, you know who Pee-wee Herman is. But do you really know Reubens, the man behind Herman? How about Rubenfeld, who doesn’t make an appearance in the documentary at all? That’s a layer of the onion that filmmaker Matt Wolf does not peel down to.
This two-part film dives deep into the arc of Herman being supported by the man Reubens. Journey through Reubens‘ early life developing himself as a comic, getting his own show, starring in and writing his own movies, and of course — take a glimpse at the underbelly of a tortured artist.
Anyone that has preconceived notions about Reubens should dive into this well-made documentary film. And, naturally, anyone who’s a Pee-wee fan really does need to watch this peek at the artist behind the art.
“And, you know, this is such a dumb thing to say, but you know, death is just so final. You know that…that to be able to, like, get your message in at the last minute or at some point is incredible.” — Paul Reubens
“Pee-wee as Himself” is available on HBO and is also streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Interested in some Pee-wee material? Check out some of Reubens’ most celebrated works HERE.
