Beauty is Embarrassing

Wayne White puts words in paintings of landscapes. And he created puppets for Pee Wee's Playhouse. Quite the career, and one we find out about in Beauty is Embarrassing.

(I'm nearly tempted to go off on a spiel about 'what is art?', given that he starts with landscape paintings that he gets from thrift stores and then 'defaces' them by putting words on them, which then go on to be new words of art... but a) is it any different from using other found objects to create art? , and b) he's hardly the first to use images created by others.)

Wayne White certainly has covered a lot, and is one of those successful people that managed to change their careers mid way through their lives (he says enviously). I never watched Pee Wee's Playhouse, but I hear it was something that the kids liked? Certainly, Paul Reuben got enough attention over it. And half of this movie is about that time and Wayne's involvement with Hollywood, and that's an interesting look at behind the scenes. The other part of the movie is about his life in which he creates his own art for himself, and is successful at that. (If you want to know what I'm talking about, and can't be bothered to google Wayne White Word Paintings, there you go.)

We also get some talking heads with other people, such as Paul Reuben and Matt Groening (who Wayne's wife worked with), and his friends and family. And we get to see some really large puppets.

It's a lighthearted documentary, which is a nice change from the more typical fare I watch of heavy real world problems.

[END]