Paul Reubens wanted to control every aspect of his life — from his creations to his publicity. When scandal hit, that wasn’t possible and a different man — a man unlike Pee-wee Herman — emerged.
In the uber-long two-part documentary, “Pee-wee as Himself,” filmmaker Matt Wolf tries to get under the surface and show who he really is. In some 40 hours of interviews, Reubens talks about his early years, his collaborations, his success and all seems right with the world. Then, he’s arrested for indecent exposure and the image he so carefully curated starts to crack.
In the second half of the film, Wolf tries to get at the fallout, but Reubens isn’t an easy interview. The actor baits Wolf many times, forcing the director to cover the arrests through media accounts.
If there’s a disappointment, it’s that Reubens doesn’t open up more about his feelings during the scandalous times.
Paul Reubens talks about his life onstage as Pee-wee Herman in "Pee-wee as Himself."
Friends and family explain some of the charges — a pornography claim, for example, related to his collection of erotica. (One look at his storage facility, it’s clear he collected a lot of things and porn from the 1950s was just one of them.)
Because he had so much invested in Pee-wee, Reubens has nowhere to go when the character disappears from public view. Had he played other characters at the same time, it might not have seemed so all or nothing. The isolation, the shame, the sorrow come through, but largely through footage of him tacking black drapes over his windows so photographers can’t see in.
In those interviews recorded just before his death in 2023, Reubens is playful and feisty. He lights up when he talks about his early years and the creativity that blossomed at the Groundlings in California. Phil Hartman, a participant and writer on those early shows, gets an opportunity to join “Saturday Night Live” and he takes it. Reubens wanted the opportunity, too, but was passed over — largely, he says, because Gilbert Gottfried filled the same niche. Hartman says there was an estrangement and a relationship that meant so much just evaporates.
That demand for loyalty could have been his greatest weakness. Those who stuck by him throughout most of his career offer apologies for some of his behavior but those on the outside are more forthcoming.
After the indecent exposure charge, he was “like a bird that had gotten hit by a truck,” according to friend Debi Mazar.
Wolf, too, got a taste of that quirkiness. Reubens didn’t complete his final interview with the filmmaker but sent an audio tape recorded just before he died. Control continued right up to the end.
Live shows gave Pee-wee Herman exposure that later helped build his television shows.
What “Pee-wee as Himself” does provide is a look at the building blocks that made the quirky character. A fan of old children’s shows, Reubens wanted to be in that world. His dad made him a home stage to produce shows and, because he was a child actor at a theater company in Florida, Reubens saw a life in show business as a real possibility. Pee-wee became a factor at the Groundlings. Borrowing line readings from an old boyfriend, grabbing a child’s tie and a tight suit, he got a character. Appearances on “The Gong Show” and “The Dating Game” helped him test the waters. Something as simple as a harmonica — that said “Pee-wee” — gave birth to his name.
Coming at the start of the Punk movement, Pee-wee became a poster boy for many. He got exposure on David Letterman’s shows and soon attracted broader attention. A collaboration with Tim Burton proved crucial; their film, “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” made Herman a global superstar — and a target.
Fans of the character will marvel at the work it took to put together something so simple. Wolf knows how to pull them through the story — even when Reubens doesn’t want him to.
He’s a tough character — but that may be what made Pee-wee Herman so popular. Behind the phony smile was a very calculating mind.
