In a revelation full of emotions from beyond the grave, comedian Paul Reubens shares a tragic message that exposes his pain for the controversies that tormented his life.
In his recorded statement, Reubens reflects on the devastation of having been branded as “pedophile” after his arrests in the 1990s and 2000s, a label that, according to him, destroyed his life after finding love in the hearts of millions as the capricious Pee-Wee Herman.
“At the moment I heard someone tagged as, I’m just going to say, pedophile, I knew I was going to change everything, advancing and backing,” he confesses.
The words, pronounced posthumously in the film, now have additional intensity.
For Reubens, the accusation was more than a blow to his career; It was a definitive scar that reformed his identity before the public.
“More than anything, the reason I wanted to make a documentary was that people see who I am really and how painful and difficult it was to be tagged as something that was not,” he says.
Recorded just one day before his death in 2023, the disturbing statement resonates in ‘Pee-Wee as Himself’ by HBO Documentary Films, which premiered on Thursday at the Sundance Film Festival.
Rubens’s last words reflect his painful desire for understanding and redemption.
In a revelation full of emotions from beyond the grave, Paul Reubens, loved by millions such as the capricious Pee-Wee Herman, left a heartbreaking message that exposes his pain for the controversies that tormented his life.
In his recorded statement, Reubens reflects on the devastation of having been branded as “pedophile” after his arrests in the 1990s and 2000s, a label that, according to him, shattered his life. Paul Reubens riding a bicycle in a scene of the movie ‘The great adventure of Pee-Wee’ of 1985
“I wanted to talk and understand what it means to be labeled as outcast, that people are afraid of you, that you are not sure of you, to distrust, or see what your intentions are through some type of filter that is not true, ‘ says.
“I wanted people to understand that sometimes, where there is smoke, there is not always fire.”
The message was recorded without the producers asking for it and saw it record it alone.
His words serve as a defense and supplication, and as a desperate attempt to rewrite the narrative of his life after his voice had already been silenced.
The documentary, led by Matt Wolf, offers an unwavering look at the meteoric rise of relubens to fame, his overwhelming drop in disgrace and his desperate desperate desperate desperately see him as it really was.
The two -part docuserie deepens the life of Reubens, with the help of more than 40 hours of interviews and its extensive personal file of photographs and videos.
However, even when Reubens revealed much of himself to the filmmakers, he hid a critical truth: his private battle against cancer, a diagnosis that he kept secret until his death and that not even the filmmakers knew, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Through sincere interviews and file material, ‘Pee-Wee as Himself’ analyzes the crucial moments that led to the public misfortune of Reubens.
The film deepens its arrest in 1991 for exhibitionism in an adult cinema in Sarasota, Florida, as shown in the police photography above. The film also analyzes its arrest in 2002 accused of possession of child pornography, positions that were later retired.
The film suggests that Reubens became a victim of a homophobic cultural reaction. In the photo, Pee Wee’s Playhouse de CBS was a children’s television program starring Paul Reubens and John Paragon. Photographed here in 1986.
Created for the stage, Pee-Wee, with its thick white moccasins and its red bow tie, became a cultural constant in entertainment for both adults and children for much of the 1980s.
The film deepens its arrest in 1991 for exhibitionism in an adult cinema in Sarasota, Florida, and its arrest in 2002 for possession of child pornography, positions that were later retired.
They imposed a small fine, but the damage to his career was incalculable.
It became the frequent target of the jokes of the night interview programs and the perception of Reubens changed immediately.
“The moment when I realized that my name was going to say in the same phrase that” children “and” sex “was really intense,” Reubens told NBC in 2004. “That is something I knew from that same moment, whatever. If that point happens, there is something in the air that is really bad.
In both cases, the documentary suggests that Reubens became a victim of a homophobic cultural reaction.
Reubens publicist, Kelly Bush Novak, describes the 2002 case as a “homophobic witch hunt”, accusing the then municipal prosecutor Rocky Delgadillo of Malinterprette the collection of Erotic Gay Vintage of Reubens as child pornography.
Although the charges were reduced to a minor crime of obscenity, the damage to the reputation of Reubens was already made.
For three years, he was required to register as a sexual offender, a punishment that reinforced his departure from both the industry and the public.
For three years, Paul Reubens had to register as a sexual offender, a punishment that reinforced his departure from both the industry and the public. Reubens appears in the photo filming ‘Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday’ in May 2015
Once acclaimed as the lovely and eccentric star of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, Reubens was labeled as “diverted” and “pervert.”
His previous arrest in 1991 for exhibitionism was equally catastrophic.
Once acclaimed as the lovely and eccentric star of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, Reubens was labeled as “diverted” and “perverted” by her fellow actors Phil Hartman and Soupy Sales.
The consequences were quick and implacable: the CBS abandoned the distribution of its beloved children’s program and Reubens became mockery in the tabloids.
The documentary continues to explore not only the controversies but also the art that defined the life of Reubens, celebrating its ingenuity and creativity, which captivated the public for decades, despite the fact that their personal life became an object of implacable scrutiny.
After his arrest in 1991, he spent the decade mainly characters that were not Pee-Wee, including papers in the 1992 Burton movie ‘Batman Returns’, the movie ‘Buffy, La HuntoVampiros’ and a guest star in the series of Television ‘Murphy. Brown.’
He also appeared in the 1999 comedy film ‘Mystery Men’ and in the Drama about Narcotraficantes de Johnny Depp of 2001 ‘Blow’.
Reubens, who never lost his youth appearance even at age 60, would gradually reintroduce Pee-Wee and finally make an adaptation of Broadway from ‘The Pee-Wee Herman Show’ in 2010 and the 2016 Netflix movie.
He made his last appearance on screen during a cameo in maybe Lady de Hulu.
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