Deconstructing Pee-wee
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I KNOW YOU ARE, BUT WHAT AM I?
On Pee-wee Herman
by Cait McKinney
University of Minnesota Press
92 pages, $10.

IN A SHARP and succinct monograph, Vancouver-based author Cait McKinney delves into the late Paul Reubens’ most important achievement, that of creating and sustaining the show starring his alter ego, Pee-wee Herman. The book’s main title, I Know You Are, But What Am I?, invokes one of Pee-wee’s favorite catchphrases. The book serves two main purposes: it is an eloquent eulogy for Reubens and his importance for the generation that grew up watching his Emmy-winning show, and for young queer fans in particular; and it provides an overview of critical writing about Pee-wee and his body of work.

            McKinney had a lot of material to work with. Over the span of five seasons (1986-91), Pee-wee’s Playhouse offered viewers entry into a world that was beautifully childlike and naïve while simultaneously full of sly parodies of gender stereotypes. As McKinney points out,

Matthew Hays, co-editor of the Queer Film Classics book series, teaches film studies at Marianopolis College in Montreal.