Pee-wee as Himself on HBO Max

[MikeThomas]

Very interesting documentary on Paul Reubens.

 

[Rod Hagen]

In a later career article in the NYTimes Reubens said that the Walgreens (now closed) across from Arclight (Now Closed, thank you Forever Flu), was one of his favorite places in LA :-)

Edited May 26 by Rod Hagen

[d.anders]

19 hours ago, Rod Hagen said:

Reubens said that the Walgreens (now closed) across from Arclight (Now Closed, thank you Forever Flu), was one of his favorite places in LA

Did he say why?

[MikeThomas]

1 hour ago, d.anders said:

Did he say why?

nytimes.com

WWW.NYTIMES.COM

 

[d.anders]

On 5/27/2025 at 7:53 AM, MikeThomas said:

nytimes.com

WWW.NYTIMES.COM

Wow, that first paragraph. A serious English lesson in punctuation usage. My brain went on rodeo mode.

I was never a Pee Wee Herman fan, but I started to watch the doc last night. His story is fascinating. I'm looking forward to Episode 2. Paul Reubens was quite handsome and sexy in his late teen years, and his face could make the most wonderful looks and distortions. Perfect for character acting. The camera seemed to love him, along with audiences, and he seemed a natural for show business.

I was surprised to learn how he dealt with his being gay. It was a very different time, but I think he was right. Pee Wee Herman could not exist with its creator out and proud back then. Sad but true, and necessary.

[d.anders]

OMG, I finished E2. I had completely forgotten about the pedophilia accusation scandal. This guy's life is a roller-coaster of drama, with a very tragic end. Even though it was at times very painful to watch, I have to say I loved this documentary. In some ways, it should be a lesson for every gay man who chooses to live his life in the closet. I highly recommend that every gay person watch it.

[+ nycman]

Thank you for this. I’m a big, big, big Pee-Wee fan. Paul Rubens? Not so much. 

At times the documentary was painful for me to watch. I honestly believe that Paul was a loving and caring man. Unfortunately he painted himself into the corner (or closet) with his Pee-Wee Herman persona. Even late in life with nothing to lose, he seemed so detached, guarded, and controlling. 

The railroading he got over the non-existent "child porn" is tragic. It’s a miracle he didn’t "go postal" on the DA’s office during that period. And I always respected him for completely owning up to jerking off in an adult movie theater.

Grace Jones performing The Little Drummer Boy on his Christmas Special will forever be an epic moment when two wildly disparate parts of my life collided in orgiastic perfection.   

[MikeThomas]

I was living in LA at the time.  In fact, unbeknownst to me, less than a mile from PR.  The LA DA, Rocky Delgadillo, was a big time Democrat with huge political ambitions; he misused his office to show how tough he was on crime.  Where is he now?  He's a partner at one the country's largest law firms in Los Angeles.

 

 

 

[d.anders]

3 hours ago, nycman said:

At times the documentary was painful for me to watch.

At every turn, i was shocked by how much more pain I had to endure, especially in Episode 2.

3 hours ago, nycman said:

I honestly believe that Paul was a loving and caring man.

He had a good circle of loving, loyal friends who adored him. I loved the precious scenes with he and his parents.

3 hours ago, nycman said:

Unfortunately he painted himself into the corner (or closet) with his Pee-Wee Herman persona.

Exactly.

3 hours ago, nycman said:

Even late in life with nothing to lose, he seemed so detached, guarded, and controlling.

Mostly controlling. He seemed to feel the need to control everything. OTOH, he seemed to wear his deep emotions on his sleeve and be open to criticism, or was he just playing along? He certainly knew how to play a mystery, and keep all people around him on their toes, guessing. But honestly, after what he had to endure as a successful gay man in show business, I can't blame him too harshly. You don't really know what a comic genius you are until the shit hits the fan, and then what do you do to keep it all growing? It seems at a certain point his good luck ran out, all without selling his soul to the devil.

3 hours ago, nycman said:

The railroading he got over the non-existent "child porn" is tragic. It’s a miracle he didn’t "go postal" on the DA’s office during that period.

It is a miracle, especially knowing the deep darkness he fell into. He was so fortunate to have loving friends to help pull him out of that. Yet, he told no one about his cancer. Controlling to the very end. Very sad. I'm crying as I write this.

3 hours ago, nycman said:

I always respected him for completely owning up to jerking off in an adult movie theater.

OMG. I used to visit my aging parents in their conservative home town. There was an x-rated movie theater about 30 minutes away. I used to go there to get my dick sucked, masturbate, or suck dick with other like-minded men. Many of those cute, fun guys were in hetero relationships, starving for male intimacy. I loved chatting with them post-orgasm. When news hit about Paul, I fell to my knees. It could have been me! At the time, I hated what the media was doing to him. They were all hypocrites, feeding on the normal gay man for money. So many disgusting people in our society.

3 hours ago, nycman said:

Grace Jones performing The Little Drummer Boy on his Christmas Special will forever be an epic moment

Absolutely epic!

[d.anders]

3 hours ago, MikeThomas said:

Rocky Delgadillo,   Where is he now?  He's a partner at one the country's largest law firms in Los Angeles.

A lot of gay people have paid their lives to the ambitions of powerful people.