Thanks to Pee-wee Herman, Gen X Got to Grow Up Weird and His New Documentary Is a Reminder of That

There are a million memes about how Gen X is a tough, often forgotten generation, and a million more about how we're also an apathetic generation (say whatever you want about us, I don't care). The whole "we drank from the hose and biked alone till dark" thing absolutely shaped many kids who grew up fiercely independent and resilient in the 1980s. But we were also one of the first generations to truly be babysat by TV and that also played a huge role in the lives of millions of lawless latchkey kids. It wasn't until I watched Pee-wee as Himself, the new two-part documentary on Max about the life and career of Paul Reubens, (aka Pee-wee Herman), that it hit me just how lucky we were to grow up at a time where a character like Pee-wee existed in the mainstream and the idea that something could be weird -- and embraced for that. Pee-wee's weirdness was obvious and evident in his films and on TV in Pee-wee's Playhouse. Here was this ageless man-child in a gray suit who lived alone, whose ... Read full article.