Pee-wee Herman and the myth of difficult genius
21 things that turned me out in June, like HBO's Paul Reubens doc, '28 Years Later,' and a Cyndi Lauper deep cut
This month, the passage of time came for our throats through Midwest emo music, sharks gave us the ol’ razzle dazzle, and “Materialists” stanned the broke boys. Here’s what else turned me out in June.
Also, I’m trying a new format. Does anyone care? Do I? Sound off in the comments. Call your representative. Send a cryptic VHS message through the mail. You pick.
I know you’re an egomaniac, but what am I?
Matt Wolf, director of “Pee-wee as Himself,” will see heaven. He crafted this two-part HBO bio-doc about the late Paul Reubens as a collaborative eulogy for our greatest human cartoon. When Wolf isn’t revealing archival treasures, he’s pointing the camera at Laurence Fishburne or Elvira or another Playhouse associate.
The result is funny, shattering, and creatively inspiring. And sometimes, it’s like watching “Saw,” because Reubens seemed like a fuckin’ pill to work with.
“Pee-wee as Himself” centers Wolf’s interviews with Reubens, captured in fits and starts before the artist died in 2023. The documentary relies on his voice, and he cooperated with the production, except for all the times he didn’t. Reubens could be a capricious, controlling collaborator. That’s not hearsay from the King of Cartoons or, like, Chairy. God bless that upholstered freak. Wolf wrote an essay about his hair-pulling relationship with Reubens for Vulture. An essential companion piece!
The documentary thrives on this friction. For one thing, it’s a tidy way to avoid hagiography. “Pee-wee as Himself” also emerges as a miracle cure for an enduring plague of cultural bullshit: the idea of a “difficult genius.”
Few tropes get under my skin more. You know this person, a vaunted dude—and they’re almost always a dude, unless they’re Madonna—whose volatility perpetuates a sexy, iconoclastic myth. This is Reynolds Woodcock in the film “Phantom Thread.” It’s Steve Jobs and Kanye. It’s that one guy at the office. Being a dick is the cost of greatness. We’re never told that brilliance is built on kindness and congeniality.
In “Pee-wee as Himself,” Wolf sidesteps the difficult genius notion entirely. He neither fawns nor wags his finger at Reubens’ faux-playful hostility in the interview chair. Instead, Wolf reacts to his subject’s rough edges with honest but empathetic frustration.
The film actually welcomes Reubens’ antagonistic streak. Complex people make good stories. Crucially, that facet is never depicted as the why or the how of his colorful, enduring world. The audience is invited to accept his foibles as the stuff of humanity, not brilliance. (If anything, Wolf sensitively and perceptively positions Reubens’ long-obscured sexuality as the missing variable in his confounding creative equation.)
It’s hard to fathom that Reubens would be anything but delighted by Wolf’s findings. We learn that Pee-wee was born from the artist’s subversive wit, loyalty to his friends, collector’s eye, talent for remixing mid-century aesthetics with 1980s pop instincts, and dogged pursuit of a big adventure.
The documentary unknots that famous red bowtie with sensitivity. Reubens gets the last (secret) word, and his genius is easy to love.
“Pee-Wee as Himself” is streaming on HBO Max.
8 more movies
“The Phoenician Scheme” (2025, dir. Wes Anderson): I think it was about real estate? Or imperialism. Anyway, a guy explodes in the first five minutes. Funniest—and bloodiest—Wes joint in a hot minute. (In theaters)
“Lady Terminator” (1988, dir. Tjut Djalil): For a sexy Indonesian knock-off of “The Terminator,” it’s a feast for the senses. Except taste. (Not officially streaming, but it’s out there)
“Blue” (1993, dir. Derek Jarman): Did you know! If you ask people, “Do you want to watch a static blue screen for over an hour? It’s about AIDS,” you will not get a lot of yesses. Somber and poetic, yeah, but Jarman’s final feature is also quite funny in parts. (Streaming on YouTube, Kanopy, and Plex)
“28 Years Later” (2025, dir. Danny Boyle): I didn’t expect to leave with a crush on the alpha zombie. I didn’t expect Ralph Fiennes to be orange. I didn’t expect a lot of things. (In theaters)
“Boom!” (1968, dir. Joseph Losey): There’s a moment when Elizabeth Taylor bleats out “whaaat?” and it sounds exactly like my favorite video of her. (Not officially streaming, but it’s out there)
“She-Devil” (1989, dir. Susan Seidelman): It’s like a venomous prototype for “The First Wives Club.” Have you ever considered that Roseanne and Björk could play sisters? (Streaming on Tubi, Pluto, and Prime Video)
“Hard Ticket to Hawaii” (1987, dir. Andy Sidaris): Beautiful people who might be softcore porn stars fight drug traffickers and a mutated snake that the movie forgets about until precisely the correct moment. Sorta like if you remade “Foxy Brown” with white people. And a snake. (Streaming on Tubi and Plex)
“Rear Window” (1954, dir. Alfred Hitchcock): Accurate depiction of photojournalists. (Streaming on Netflix)
6 songs
“Picture Perfect” by Nuovo Testamento: It’s 1995. Milan. You’re zooted on four lines of goof dust and five Zimas. Tonight, love will find you in the club. (Listen)
“When You Were Mine” by Cyndi Lauper: A fabulous Prince cover gasping for air between “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and “Time After Time” on Cyndi’s debut album. (Listen)
“Tomás” by Empress Of, Chromeo, and Girl Ultra: A silver-plated summer kiss-off en Español. (Listen)
“Me and My Imagination” by Sophie Ellis-Bextor: The best Kylie Minogue song that she never recorded in 2007. (Listen)
“Mad at Me” by Samia: Love a pop song that weaponizes your anxiety. Wisely, the track (co-produced by Rostam) goes bare bones for this lyrical heater: “Hurts to be somewhere, ’cause you gotta stay there/ After you say what's on your mind.” (Listen)
“Where Have All the Cowboys Gone” by Paula Cole: Started a new playlist with this and k.d. lang’s “Constant Craving.” Something strange and lesbian is happening to me. (Listen)
6 wildcards
Katya Zamolodchikova in the Criterion Closet: Do you know the feeling you get when someone from your hometown hits it big, and you’re like, “Aw, good for them!” That’s how I feel about Katya getting to pick a David Lynch movie out of the Criterion Closet. (Watch the video)
“Runaways” No. 1: A new comic miniseries written by Rainbow Rowell with art by Elena Casagrande, in which Marvel’s premier delinquents run afoul of Doctor Doom. Fun; angsty. (Next issue out July 23)
Jonathan Groff’s Tony Awards performance: This man—MY man—gave a spit-flecked tour de force and straddled Keanu Reeves on national television, and they still gave his Tony to Darren Criss. Stop the steal. (Watch the video)
This black-and-white Porky Pig clip: Spherical Porky supremacy. This is from a 1936 short titled “The Blow Out,” which is pretty dark. The pig kills a guy!
“Avengers Academy: Assemble” No. 1: One of my favorite writers, “Dayspring” author Anthony Oliveira, headlines a wholesome digital comic about Marvel super-recruits. This is a print one-shot collecting the first six installments. (New issues come out weekly on Marvel Unlimited)
Alexander Skarsgård on TV in these shorts:
Thank you for the blessed photo of Alexander Skarsgård on TV in these shorts! It gave me a good laugh