Winnebago Man (2010)

1. I don't give a fuck.

2. I'm 78 fuckin' years old. Why should I put up with this shit?

3. You're gonna make no difference whatsoever

4. because the only thing it will ultimately come to is that,

5. "Well, this guy's been a fuckin' crazy all his life."

6. You know. That's not true. That'll humanize you.

7. Of course it is. No, it will not humanize it.

8. That'll make people understand who you are.

9. That's your opinion, Ben. It ain't mine.

10. But I don't understand. The movie's about me finding you.

11. Come on, don't tell me this shit.

12. This is about who you are and what your past experiences have been...

13. No, no. and what you've learned.

14. Oh, well, like, sure. You wanna talk about me?

15. Yeah. Oh, wonderful.

16. I'm trying to talk about you and you're not letting me. Yeah, well, I don't.

17. Why not? That's what I'm asking you. That's what I don't understand.

18. Ben, if you don't like it, pack up. Get the fuck out!

19. Ben Steinbauer: My introduction to Jack Rebney

20. came in the form of a V.H.S. tape,

21. a bootleg compilation of outtakes

22. from a Winnebago sales video made in 1989.

23. All right, here we go. Yep.

24. Like what do you mean? I gotta be able to move.

25. That's crazy. Here we go.

26. The Winnebago concepts and engineering departments

27. have developed a multifunctional bathroom.

28. Privacy— I don't even know what the fuck I'm reading.

29. I wonder what the fuck the real dialogue is!

30. What the fuck is this thing?

31. Call it a windshield for fuck's sake.

32. Oh, fuck. That didn't sound for shit, did it?

33. What we're doing is we're building a fuckin' industrial film,

34. trying to give these guys everything they can get.

35. I mean that's it. Fuck it.

36. is going to be very helpful

37. in keeping you from falling down,

38. you big dumb son of a bitch.

39. Oh, fuck!

40. Fuck. Fuck.

41. Fuck. Fuck.

42. Oh, fuck. Shit!

43. Tony, do me a favor, will you please?

44. Will you? Will you do me a kindness?

45. Leave? Yeah.

46. I didn't want to be walking in and out

47. if you're gonna fuck up and I gotta come back in again.

48. Doesn't make any difference to me at this juncture.

49. Thank you very much. I appreciate that, Tony.

50. Don't slam the fuckin' door.

51. No more.

52. I was immediately mesmerized.

53. I played it over and over again.

54. Who was this guy and where did this come from?

55. I decided to find out.

56. Yee-hah!

57. Meet innovation, money...

58. What the fuck was that? Son of a bitch!

59. I've gotta read it again because my mind is just a piece of shit this morning.

60. Oh, I've seen this before.

61. YEAH? Uh-huh.

62. I've seen this hundreds of times, man.

63. I mean, this guy's a legend basically.

64. Soon after I got the tape,

65. I found out that I wasn't the only one fascinated with Jack Rebney.

66. I don't think I can remember the first time I've seen it

67. because I've seen it several hundred times,

68. so it sort of all blurs together.

69. I just started bringing it everywhere

70. in my backpack just to put it on.

71. I'd show it to someone and then I wouldn't see them for a year.

72. And I'd see them and they'd go, "No more!"

73. You come upon someone that's seen it

74. and you speak the same language.

75. You just start quoting, "My mind's a piece of shit this morning.

76. I'm blinded by this hot light."

77. I'm blinded by that fucking hot light.

78. Commercials are meant to be

79. these picture-perfect, pristine things...

80. Why can't I— I wrote this stuff. Why can't I remember it?

81. with everything being scripted

82. and every composition being carefully composed.

83. It's our chance to look behind the curtain.

84. It's a real moment. What you're seeing on that tape

85. is probably the worst day of this guy's life.

86. I don't want any more bullshit

87. anytime during the day from anyone.

88. That includes me.

89. It was probably intended to be destroyed.

90. Every friend I played it to instantly would take it,

91. copy it, give it back.

92. If you loved the tape, you would make as many dubs as you could

93. and give it out to everybody you can.

94. It moves like a virus.

95. For almost 20 years,

96. V.H.S. tapes were passed hand to hand all over the country.

97. The tapes were copied and copied and copied

98. until the images were so degraded that by the time I got a tape,

99. it looked like this.

100. Just keep running. Bullshit.

101. I'm gonna slate this fucker.

102. I haven't got time to mark this motherfucker.

103. Here we go again. We can't hear anybody.

104. Nobody can talk to anybody.

105. I couldn't stop watching it.

106. I started showing it whenever I got the chance.

107. - Steinbauer: I'd show it on first dates. - Rebney: Son of a bitch!

108. - Steinbauer:I showed it to my grandmother. - What the fuck was that?

109. I even played it for the film class I teach at the University of Texas.

110. I've gotta read it again because my mind

111. is just a piece of shit this morning.

112. I had become obsessed.

113. I felt bad for the guy,

114. but that didn't take away from how much I loved the clip.

115. His unrestrained anger was somehow liberating

116. and it reminded me of every bad shoot I had ever worked on.

117. In moments of frustration, I'd find myself quoting Jack.

118. And at the end of a bad day,

119. I'd come home and pop in the tape.

120. Then in 2005, YouTube came along

121. and Jack became a viral video phenomenon.

122. He became known as the Winnebago Man, the R.V. Guy,

123. or most outrageously, the Angriest Man in the World.

124. God damn son of a bitch!

125. What do you mean when am I gonna fall off the fucking thing?

126. - Fuck off! - Steinbauer: And the outtakes were ranked by VH-1

127. as the third best viral video.

128. References to Jack started showing up everywhere.

129. Tony, do me a favor, will you please?

130. Will you? Will you do me a kindness?

131. Would you do me a kindness?

132. Look kids, do me a favor, will you please?

133. Will ya? Will you do me a kindness?

134. What does the goddamn line say, Tony?

135. Line? What's the first line?

136. I don't give a shit what the line is.

137. If I ask for the line again, don't tell me.

138. - Line.

139. I don't want any more bullshit

140. anytime during the day from anyone.

141. That includes me.

142. Any bullcrap from anyone, including me.

143. Jesus Christ. Fuck off!

144. - Goddamn son of a bitch! - Steinbauer: Friends in Hollywood

145. told me how Jack had become a kind of hero on film sets

146. with actors and crew members quoting him to each other.

147. There's even a painting of Jack as Shrek

148. that hangs in the DreamWorks Animation headquarters.

149. But where was Jack and how was all this notoriety affecting him?

150. So one night, I began searching around on Google.

151. After sifting through countless pages of blog entries and fan sites,

152. I came across an obscure posting on a sailing Web site

153. simply signed "Jack Rebney, Planet Earth."

154. "I'm looking for a boat.

155. I need a boat of approximately 50' in length and some 6'6" of headroom

156. as I am set upon a couple of years living out this lifelong dream.

157. It's true that I'm very old,

158. but also still capable of making any yacht sing her peculiar song.

159. I can fix just about anything except electronic devices,

160. which are clearly the work of the devil.

161. In short, I would love an oyster,

162. but I can only afford crackers.

163. But go ahead, walk out on that limb

164. by listing four boats from 40 to 50 plus feet

165. upon which you could set sail for Kiribati."

166. That strange letter was the only trace of Jack

167. beyond the infamous Winnebago Man clip.

168. Was Jack out at sea?

169. Was he sailing to Kiribati to get away from fans like me?

170. Or was he just living a normal life somewhere,

171. unaware that he had become a new kind of celebrity?

172. Ah!

173. Ow, ow, ow, ow!

174. I'm stuck. Ahh!

175. This hurts! This hurts! This hurts!

176. But this isn't exactly the kind of attention

177. that most people want.

178. One of the most watched Internet videos of all time is the Star Wars Kid.

179. In 2002, Ghyslain Raza made a video of himself at his high school

180. swinging a golf ball retriever as if he were fighting with a lightsaber.

181. Another student discovered the video and posted it online

182. where it caught fire immediately.

183. The clip was seen by millions

184. and people all over the world began making conversions of it,

185. adding music, special effects

186. and combining it with other well-known films.

187. - Brr!

188. But Ghyslain was humiliated.

189. The attention and teasing were so extreme

190. that he was put into a psychiatric hospital.

191. His family filed a lawsuit against four of his classmates

192. and settled out of court for $250,000.

193. The harassment of Raza created the term "cyber-bullying."

194. But this isn't just kids being cruel.

195. In some cases, it's as if there's a digital tarring and feathering going on,

196. like the story of Aleksey Vayner.

197. To be successful,

198. you must first know exactly what you want to achieve.

199. Aleksey was a Yale student

200. applying for a job in finance

201. who added a link to this video on his resume.

202. To achieve success you must first conceive it and believe in it.

203. He had made it as a tribute to his judo master.

204. Remember, impossible...

205. is nothing.

206. It was leaked online

207. and Aleksey became a laughingstock.

208. But he was easy to find through his blog.

209. In the end of those first few weeks,

210. I received over 7,000 e-mails—

211. Anywhere from just people making fun of the video

212. to— you know, to some people wanting to kill me, to deport me.

213. Ignore the losers.

214. Bring your "A" game, your determination

215. and your drive to the field, and the success will follow you.

216. You have to ignore the losers.

217. You have to bring your determination

218. and your "A" game and your drive to the field,

219. and success will follow.

220. Does this just go on? Yeah, yeah.

221. And success will follow wherever you go, wherever you need to go.

222. Did you see the Michael Cera parody?

223. Yeah, yeah, of course I saw it.

224. What did you think of it?

225. It takes some time to come to terms with the fact

226. that this is part of your life,

227. this is going to be part of your history.

228. Viral videos are a phenomenon.

229. It was— In my case, it was very unfortunate.

230. Yeah.

231. If Jack's experience

232. has been anything like the Star Wars Kid or Aleksey Vayner,

233. it's no surprise that he's nowhere to be found.

234. What these clips

235. usually have in common

236. is the degree to which

237. they humiliate the subject.

238. This is Douglas Rushkoff,

239. a media expert who coined the term "viral video."

240. There's the joy...

241. of watching another human being be humiliated—

242. you know, sort of that Roman spectacle,

243. torture of another person.

244. Why can't I— I wrote this stuff. Why can't I remember it?

245. - Your original interest in this guy

246. was the classic, "Oh, my God. What a buffoon. Look what he's doing."

247. But as a filmmaker, as someone who thinks about these things,

248. you start to think, "Well, who is this guy? What happened to him?

249. What did this experience do to him?"

250. Fuck.

251. Not even funny anymore.

252. You're paying the price for our collective cultural guilt

253. at having humiliated this person.

254. You're going back and finding, "Well, what happened?"

255. If I'm going to find Jack, I need some leads.

256. So I visit Charlie Sotelo and Cinco Barnes

257. who, years before YouTube,

258. hosted a TV show featuring underground videos.

259. They were among the first to discover the Winnebago Man tape.

260. Now the first time I got it, I had no idea what it was.

261. I just, you know, literally just like everything else, just kind of put the tape in.

262. You watch it and the first time you see it

263. is the first you ever hear of anything

264. because a lot of these clips come with handwritten notes.

265. People write "Winnebago"--

266. It would be something like "Winnebago guy,"

267. "Angry guy making a film about Winnebagos," and that's all you get.

268. Charlie tells me he was sent an even longer version of the Winnebago Man clip

269. with almost 10 more minutes of footage.

270. "Accoutrema" that you will need—

271. "Accoutrema"? What is that shit?

272. Get outta here, you fuckin' flies.

273. I'm in heaven.

274. But whoever mailed Charlie this tape

275. didn't include a return address.

276. Have you ever tried to find Jack

277. or anyone else in your videos?

278. I guess the ultimate question would be "Why?" Why would we want to do that?

279. I never got obsessed enough to do things like that.

280. It destroys the whole illusion. This is to be watched.

281. This is a cage. It's something on the other side.

282. I have no interest at all in getting to the person.

283. And I don't want the reality of it.

284. I want to see the buffoon on stage performing for me,

285. like the guy who falls and breaks his back or whatever.

286. Hey, hey, people.

287. Welcome back to the show! Yee-ooh!

288. It's funny when you don't know him, you know.

289. The EMTs that show up there and have to set all those bones,

290. have to tell the family or whatever—

291. That's tragic for them.

292. But for us, it's just those 30 seconds of that awful, awful mistake

293. and makes us reflect on shit that we hopefully will never do.

294. That's kind of the allure of it.

295. You don't know anything except "Industrial film, angry guy screaming."

296. Let's go. Play it.

297. And— And that's all you need to know.

298. Yeah, there's no reason to know the guy.

299. No, that really spoils it all.

300. Jack Rebney would be

301. the Holy Grail of stars to meet

302. from these videos that we've obsessed over for years.

303. Thank you for coming out tonight.

304. I head to New York to meet the co-founders of the Found Footage Festival...

305. I'm Joe. And my name's Nick.

306. who are known for finding the people in these videos.

307. So here now are the outtakes of Jack Rebney,

308. the world's angriest R.V. salesman.

309. Here we go. Jack Rebney!

310. I wrote this stuff. Why can't I remember it?

311. We've always wanted to have Jack on this thing,

312. but we always just assumed he was dead.

313. I think the speculation was that he was long dead of an ulcer by now.

314. Or a heart attack or something.

315. Based on the amount of anger in the video alone,

316. we thought there's no way this guy—

317. We did Google searches for him, you know,

318. but we never came up with anything.

319. and we could never find him, so we just assumed he was gone.

320. With no leads, I decide to take a more direct approach.

321. Good morning. Winnebago Industries.

322. Hi, I'm calling about a man named Jack Rebney.

323. Okay, I just... When I ask about the clip,

324. they send me to the P.R. department.

325. Winnebago knows the clip and they want nothing to do with it.

326. In their words, they "want to distance themselves from that material."

327. They've had no contact with Jack Rebney

328. since he finished the industrial videos in 1989.

329. Millions spent by Winnebago Industries

330. developing the motor home.

331. The Itasca Sunflyer—

332. The heart of our product line.

333. Let us get the fuck outta here.

334. I remember the bizarre credits

335. on the tape Charlie gave me.

336. I manage to find Mike Welckle,

337. the original cameraman,

338. and he leads me to the other crew members.

339. It turns out they're eager to talk about the shoot,

340. so I travel to Minneapolis to meet them.

341. Oh fuck! You're disturbing my— what's left of my brain.

342. We shot in August.

343. Every day was 121/2— Some were as long as 14-hour days.

344. My nerves were shot.

345. I just felt like, aw, how did I get through this?

346. During the shoot there was a lot of

347. getting in really tiny little spaces that were dark.

348. We had the same thing for lunch every day.

349. It was very taxing for a number of reasons—

350. Not how hot it was and how much we had to get done.

351. He was like a jerk all the time.

352. And he was swearing all the time and he was just—

353. When the camera— I actually think when the camera was on,

354. he was a little bit better behaved.

355. It was a major task just to complete the amount of shots.

356. Oh!

357. Six, seven, eight, 10, 12, 15—

358. Some of the take numbers were outrageous.

359. The script—

360. You were like, "What are you writing?

361. You think you're writing Shakespeare?"

362. Someone once said something about the journey of 1,000 miles

363. beginning with but a single step.

364. Of course if you throw your back out

365. on that first step, you stay home.

366. Tony, give me a towel for just a minute, please.

367. That—

368. Tony was an unpaid intern— Just out of high school, right? He had graduated that spring.

369. He wasn't getting paid. He wasn't a professional—

370. All this kind of stuff that we were trying to hold these lines on.

371. Tony was sort of a free bird.

372. And so he took that freedom and he back-talked and he threw the towel back.

373. Tony? Tony. Tony. Tony. Tony. Tony?

374. Tony, Tony. Tony.

375. Tony? Tone. Tony, get me a battery.

376. - Tony, open the door. - Got it.

377. Bring the slate in, Tony. Just bring it in here now.

378. Stand still, Tony. Get me a battery, Tony.

379. Open the door, Tony. Tony, it's the wrong angle, babe.

380. Tony, please back up. Tony, where's the slate?

381. This kind of does make me look like an idiot though.

382. I was much thinner and trimmer then.

383. - God, I can't...

384. Fuckin' make my mind work.

385. Jack brings a smile to my face every time I see it.

386. Thank you very much. I appreciate that, Tony.

387. Don't slam the fuckin' door.

388. No more!

389. I didn't see him as being angry.

390. I saw him as being really frustrated,

391. over his head, overwhelmed.

392. All the swearing and all that stuff—

393. It's because he couldn't remember a line,

394. he couldn't do this.

395. I think he probably thought that we were judging him

396. because we thought he was an idiot or something

397. and he was beating himself up.

398. It was done to get him fired.

399. Uh, so when the shoot was over,

400. the tapes were passed out to all the crew people and that was it.

401. We made a copy for the Winnebago execs.

402. Then somebody else made a copy. Somebody else made a copy.

403. And then it finally came out that Jack was fired.

404. So then we had to give some statements

405. to the vice presidents of Winnebago

406. who were very concerned at that point

407. of why— and what was going on.

408. I don't think they shot any more. I think that was it.

409. And I think within a month he was gone from there.

410. I felt bad. I felt bad.

411. I thought Jack was getting a bad rap.

412. I thought he wasn't as bad as the video had indicated.

413. I just kind of thought, "Okay, I'll let this thing slide

414. because everyone's squawking about it and talking."

415. "Have you seen the Winnebago"-- "Have you seen the thing?" It was getting passed around.

416. There was a part of me that felt kind of bad for Jack Rebney. I gotta say it.

417. It was really— And I'm gonna be very honest.

418. There's not a week that goes by and I don't think about that job.

419. I never really saw him after that

420. and I always kind of wondered.

421. All of my searches are dead ends.

422. The industrial video was the last and only time anyone has seen Jack.

423. Was he so humiliated that he went into hiding?

424. Out of ideas, I hire a private investigator.

425. Okay, how do you spell it?

426. It's R-E-B-N-E-Y.

427. And first name? Jack.

428. And we don't have any idea what state he's in?

429. He could be anywhere? Okay.

430. That's weird.

431. Multiple— Multiple P.O. boxes.

432. He's had a P.O. box at every place he's lived at.

433. There's nothing of any substance.

434. There's no property. There's no cars.

435. There's nothing employment-wise.

436. There's no hunting license. There's no voter registration.

437. What does that mean?

438. Anything from trying to change his identity

439. to you don't want anybody

440. to really know who you are and what you're about.

441. There's multiple things going on with this guy

442. and I don't know what they are.

443. So it would be quite a challenge, I think, to find him.

444. Hello, you've reached Ben Steinbauer. Please leave a message.

445. Hello, Mr. Steinbauer. This is Jack Rebney.

446. I received your letter today.

447. It's inconceivable to me that you would have any interest in this.

448. But if you want to talk, I'm interested.

449. Good day and I look forward to talking with you.

450. I can't believe it.

451. I sent letters to the list of P.O. boxes

452. that the private investigator gave me.

453. Miraculously, one of them found its way to Jack.

454. - Steinbauer: Yes, hello?

455. I nervously call him back. He's hesitant.

456. He doesn't want to stay on the phone long.

457. But after a little convincing, he agrees to let me come visit.

458. Clearly we could make some arrangement here.

459. That's when he tells me that he lives on top of a mountain

460. in northern California.

461. What's Jack doing all the way out here?

462. It's got a clip on it? Yes, it does.

463. Or you can just slide it in your pocket— whichever you like.

464. However it works. Yeah.

465. When we arrive, Jack is waiting for us in the driveway.

466. How are we gonna do this? What do you wanna do?

467. Well, how about you show us around?

468. Are you ready? All set.

469. Okay, roll camera.

470. Great. Action.

471. Hello, I'm Jack Rebney.

472. I'm the caretaker here at Rock Creek Lake.

473. This is a fishing resort, as it were,

474. with some of the fine fishing

475. in the north part of California, and for that matter,

476. probably some of the fine fishing in the entire United States.

477. We're at about 3200 feet.

478. Beautiful clean air, wonderful clean water

479. and big fish for consummate fishermen.

480. A lot of people have asked,

481. "How can you live up here alone? What are you, a hermit?"

482. Yes, I guess I am a hermit.

483. I have everything that I'm interested in.

484. I have my books. I have my computer.

485. I have a telephone which allows me to reach my friends.

486. That to me is entirely sufficient.

487. I don't need the sound of the subway

488. or the elevators going up and down in the skyscrapers.

489. I've been there. I don't need that anymore.

490. I'm quite pleased here.

491. Jack is so calm.

492. I almost can't believe it.

493. I thought there would at least be a little swearing,

494. but it's as if he spent the last 20 years

495. meditating and drinking green tea.

496. Come on, I wanna show you my luxurious 76-year-old cabin.

497. It has everything that I need.

498. It has books.

499. It has critical analyses of everything

500. from housemaid's knee to polycyclic organic matter.

501. It has a fireplace, yes.

502. It has shotguns.

503. Rifles.

504. I had never heard anything about it.

505. I had no idea that anybody had taken those outtakes and put them together.

506. Ultimately, one of my dear friends called

507. and he said, "Have you pulled yourself up on the Internet?"

508. "No."

509. He said, "There's this thing about the Winnebago thing,"

510. and so forth and so on.

511. And he said, "It's hysterical."

512. "It's hysterical. It's you. It's you."

513. The Winnebago concepts and engineering departments

514. have developed a multifunctional bathroom.

515. Privacy— I don't even know what the fuck I'm reading.

516. I wonder what the fuck the real dialogue is!

517. You know, the scary part is that of course all of this comes back.

518. And I remember the agony that I was going through.

519. It's going to be very helpful in keeping you from falling down,

520. you big dumb son of a bitch.

521. Well, it is amusing to me because it's—

522. Clearly what it is is it's some of the historicity of my youth, as it were.

523. There's a considerable amount of humor to it.

524. But for the life of me, truly I don't understand its popularity.

525. Jack isn't even fazed by the video.

526. He barely knew it existed and he doesn't seem to care.

527. Did I make too big a deal out of this?

528. Am I wasting his time with what he sees as a trivial event in his life?

529. When you and I first originally spoke,

530. I just said, "You want to what?"

531. "Who cares? Who cares?"

532. And you convinced me that clearly there are people that do.

533. It's a little odd for a 76-year-old

534. to choose to live alone in the woods,

535. but Jack seems at peace up here in his seclusion.

536. Rolling. Okay, action.

537. Jack, give us the clap, please.

538. Whatever the case, he seems to enjoy being on camera again.

539. You know, there's a further thought.

540. Certainly I'm known as the Angriest Man on Earth,

541. but I'm also known as the Winnebago Man.

542. And there is some considerable degree of pleasure in that.

543. Winnebago— I found the people there,

544. I found the corporate entity and everyone I worked with

545. to be just a splendid group of very kind, very gracious people.

546. And if I represented them 20 years ago in those marketing videos,

547. that pleases me.

548. I'm happy about that.

549. The old hermit bids you all good things.

550. Bye.

551. I returned home with my tail between my legs.

552. What was the big deal?

553. The clip seems at best a minor anecdote in Jack's life.

554. A week goes by...

555. and then the phone begins to ring.

556. Hello? Ben!

557. Jack starts calling regularly.

558. At first it's just to chat.

559. Oh, my God, "Steinburner-brunner- brinner-brauner."

560. How are you today? I'm so ebullient

561. that I don't even touch the ground when I walk.

562. But then he tells me he has a confession.

563. In that filming that we did, I was Mary Poppins.

564. He tells me that I was set up, that he was putting on an act.

565. I was being calm. I was nice.

566. I didn't slam my fist down on anything.

567. He explains that he'd been humiliated and angry

568. when he first found out about the clip

569. and wanted to sue everyone involved.

570. This is an illegality.

571. I didn't know this existed,

572. that these outtakes were maliciously put together.

573. It really galls me

574. when I think about the fact that my name

575. is plastered all over that fuckin' abysmal piece-of-shit Tube.

576. But he strategized that by acting like a calm gentle old man,

577. he could avoid going down in history as the angry Winnebago Man.

578. But now he's decided that he wants people to know the real Jack Rebney

579. and share his thoughts about the world.

580. I see this whole fucking country going to shit in an ass basket.

581. It's staggering to consider

582. how utterly brainlessly fucking stupid

583. the mass of people in this country are at this juncture.

584. I have a way with words.

585. I want to use that to effectuate some understanding

586. of what I see as a tragedy taking place in the United States.

587. This was the Jack Rebney I expected to find.

588. But I wasn't prepared for the rest.

589. He keeps reaching out to me, calling and sending me things.

590. He wants me to read newspaper columns he's written

591. and sends me a book he's writing about politics and religion.

592. The title of the book is Jousting with the Myth

593. and it has a subtitle, it's:

594. "An Heretical Analysis of God, Religion, Sex and Politics."

595. Almost everything is a commentary

596. about the failings of modern society.

597. He wants to get his concerns out into the world and thinks my film can help.

598. I find out that Jack was a broadcast journalist.

599. I used to produce programming for 50 million people.

600. My initial experience was at WBBM,

601. the CBS station in Chicago.

602. And then I went on and I became a news director

603. at various stations around the country.

604. I was greatly taken with news and news production.

605. I loved the concept. I loved the Ed Murrows and the Sevareids

606. and the Bill Shadels and the—

607. all of the old people who reported news.

608. They didn't give you any opinion.

609. That was the concept behind news.

610. It was fair. And that changed.

611. And I came to the point of where I concluded

612. I don't want this anymore.

613. I never wanted to see West 52nd Street again.

614. I never wanted to see Wilshire Boulevard again.

615. I never wanted to see Wacker Drive again.

616. Does that give you an idea?

617. I'm surprised to hear about Jack's impressive career in television.

618. I ask if he still has any tapes from his years as a news director.

619. But all he has is this.

620. Hello, I'm Jack Rebney for the Western Slope Network.

621. I want to welcome you to a Christmas reading:

622. "A boy who laughed at Santa Claus," by Ogden Nash.

623. "In Baltimore there lived a boy.

624. He wasn't anybody's joy.

625. Although his name was Jabez Dawes,

626. his character was full of flaws."

627. And as if to set the record straight,

628. he gives me the finished Winnebago sales video.

629. The Itasca concepts and engineering departments

630. have developed a multifunctional

631. privacy bathroom configuration

632. that will solve a lot of problems

633. and that will make you a real sales point.

634. These images take on a new meaning for me.

635. I no longer see Jack as a disgruntled R.V. salesman,

636. but as a serious journalist who gave up his career on principle

637. and ended up stuck in Iowa sweating through an industrial video shoot.

638. A full steel frame, a full compartment.

639. Jack is intent on clearing his name

640. and proving that he's not the irrational man in the Winnebago clip.

641. This could be really interesting.

642. But what if putting him back on camera

643. ends up humiliating him all over again?

644. To get some perspective,

645. I head to Las Vegas to meet Jack's oldest friend—

646. a corporate jet pilot named Keith Gordon.

647. Keith and Jack talk on the phone every day.

648. You have to understand

649. that one of the dichotomies about Jack

650. is that he's always wanted an audience,

651. he's always wanted to influence people's thought process,

652. and at the same time has always wanted to be totally isolated.

653. His dream was to always have some land

654. where he could build a cabin

655. and, as he would always say to me, "lock the gate"

656. and not have to deal with the outside world.

657. Well, it turns out he had done that.

658. In spite of that, the outside world blazed a trail to his door.

659. 35 years I've known him.

660. He never in his wildest dreams

661. thought that his notoriety would come from the Internet,

662. which he has nothing but disdain for,

663. let alone outtakes of an industrial film he did

664. for Winnebago Industries.

665. This is not the context that Jack Rebney wants to be known in.

666. Well, let's call Jack.

667. Oh, my God, you're still alive.

668. Well, listen, boobsky.

669. I have had the best time lambasting and libeling you

670. and telling all kinds of really, really bad stories about you.

671. There was a period in my life where I had hit rock bottom

672. and would have easily been living under a freeway overpass

673. or sleeping in my car.

674. Actually, I didn't even have a car at that point.

675. My car had been stolen. And Jack took me in.

676. He gave me a floor to sleep on and some clothing to wear

677. and literally kept me from being destitute.

678. Oh, you think this is all ending up on the cutting room floor?

679. Well, let me remind you, young man,

680. this whole thing started

681. with footage left on the cutting room floor.

682. You're not out of the woods yet.

683. Keith assures me that Jack really does want to be back on camera

684. and reclaim his reputation.

685. And I'm starting to realize that the Winnebago Man clip could be a blessing in disguise.

686. Maybe I can reach out to his Internet fans and show them a different Jack Rebney.

687. Better now 140, roger.

688. 5 Raider was called by Channel 1.

689. Okay, go ahead.

690. But I return home to some disturbing news.

691. Jack has been diagnosed with acute glaucoma

692. and his vision has deteriorated suddenly.

693. On a recent walk, he couldn't find his way home.

694. The local Sheriff's report was posted online and discovered by Jack's fans.

695. I call him immediately.

696. One thing led to another and then I became disoriented,

697. fell into a couple of deep holes and what have you.

698. So instead of walking,

699. I began crawling on my knees.

700. It began to lengthen into night

701. and I still wasn't finding my way out.

702. And it was cold and I was wet and...

703. and ultimately I saw this flashlight.

704. He came toward me and he introduced himself.

705. He said, "I'm deputy sheriff," blah blah blah.

706. It's a compelling moment, a very visceral moment

707. when you come to the conclusion

708. that I really can't do it anymore.

709. I return to Manton for a second visit.

710. Knock, knock.

711. Come in!

712. Hello? We're looking for the caretaker.

713. Well, he's taking a shit.

714. Come in and sit down, you goddamn mince.

715. Because I'm shitting doesn't mean that you have to stay outside.

716. Are you really shitting in there?

717. Jack, this girl is pretty wound up out here.

718. Yeah, she got into a skunk last night.

719. Can you smell it?

720. Now that you mention it, I can.

721. You have to speak up, Ben, for Christ's sake, I'm an old man, will ya?

722. Does that mean that the skunk is on our hands?

723. Of course. What the hell?

724. What earthly difference does it make?

725. You're in the goddamn wild.

726. This is not fucking Austin.

727. Hi, Jack. Nor is it the city limits.

728. How are you? I'm good. How are you?

729. I'm okay. It's good to see you again.

730. Buddha, get down. Buddha, get down.

731. I'm very old. I'm very crotchety.

732. I'm pissed off. What else is new, Ben?

733. You were pissed off the last time we came out.

734. No I wasn't. I was a gentle old man.

735. I was a— I was a nice—

736. Nice calm old man who just nodded

737. and did everything that you wanted me to do

738. and said all of that absolute trash that I said,

739. which was totally untrue.

740. And—

741. But forewarned,

742. you're still here

743. and I'm sure that you'll find this to be a bit different.

744. You stink.

745. God, you smell, you terrible...

746. Okay, so Jack, I want you to tell us

747. what's happened since we last saw you.

748. I've had the unfortunate circumstance

749. of having my vision leave me.

750. I— It's almost like a divorce.

751. I didn't understand what I'd done.

752. For practical purpose I'm helpless.

753. I can't drive.

754. I can't ride my unicycle.

755. This dog isn't big enough to harness and put behind— or in front of a sled.

756. So I'm trapped.

757. Come on, Buddha.

758. Come on, Buddhy.

759. Despite his sudden blindness,

760. Jack doesn't want to leave the cabin and give up his seclusion.

761. So tell me about putting up this monorail.

762. Well, the concept was that I would have the opportunity to go walking.

763. Because if you remember correctly, I learned my lesson

764. in the presumption that I could follow the roadway without getting lost.

765. And that turned out not to be the case.

766. So I got lost, Ben,

767. and found myself out in the boonies

768. and I didn't know where the hell I was.

769. How does it make you feel

770. that that was international news on the computer?

771. Ben, you don't get it, do you?

772. You simply do not fathom it.

773. The fact that it was picked up

774. by the local paper or the wire services or whatever it was

775. was completely irrelevant to me—

776. Totally irrelevant.

777. Come on, Buddhy.

778. Un-fucking-believable.

779. You're not gonna go for a drive, are you?

780. Just stand back and look out.

781. That's the essence of Detroit.

782. Now Mrs. Pritchard is coming to pick up the garbage

783. and she takes my truck when she does that.

784. Oh, okay.

785. Which means absolutely nothing to you.

786. When is she coming?

787. Actually you'd have to ask her.

788. I don't think Mrs. Pritchard has probably come

789. in maybe 15 years, but go ahead.

790. Where are we going now? We're going this way.

791. Here, put your hand on my shoulder.

792. We're going over to the car here.

793. You brought the limo? Hah, the limo.

794. Huh? That's right.

795. And I'm gonna be driving you around.

796. Where are we going? Right here.

797. God almighty, why am I falling down? What the fuck?

798. You put me on some kind of an incline.

799. Honest to God!

800. There's no seat here.

801. What the fuck is wrong with you?

802. Ahh! Ben!

803. What the fuck have you done?

804. Jesus!

805. When was the last time you went into town, Jack?

806. I don't know. About a week, I guess. Something like that.

807. Since Jack wants to get his ideas out to the world,

808. my plan is to go into town and get him a video camera.

809. We'll have lunch today at a place called the Sausage Factory.

810. They have great sandwiches.

811. I'll set up the camera in his cabin

812. so he can record weekly commentaries for his fans

813. like a modern-day Ed Murrow.

814. Well, Jack, I want you to use your notoriety.

815. You want me to do what? Use your notoriety.

816. I want to buy a camera, set it up,

817. and have you do your socio-political commentaries.

818. Well, we haven't yet come to any agreement

819. as to whether or not we're going to do any of that.

820. I'm going to— I'm going to appear on YouTube?

821. Yeah. Oh, that'll be great. I can hardly wait.

822. And I'll be programmed right between the guy with the broken arm

823. and somebody doing an exotic dance.

824. That'll be great. I just don't think that you're taking advantage

825. of this group of people that you could talk to, Jack.

826. You don't think I'm taking advantage of who?

827. Of this audience that you have.

828. I don't want an audience. I don't need an audience.

829. If that was true, why would you call me?

830. Why would you call Keith Gordon?

831. Why would you keep talking to all these people?

832. Why would you be trying to publish a book

833. and write a screenplay and— Now wait a minute.

834. No. See, you can't mix apples and oranges.

835. Those are audiences. Those are looking for audiences.

836. They're audiences, yeah.

837. I don't believe that I have the capability

838. of being able to couch anything in a vernacular

839. that's going to be understood

840. by the people that you want me to talk to.

841. I don't— I can't— I have no relationship with YouTube

842. or whatever the hell it is.

843. I have no interest. What I'll do—

844. We can go stand in front of Walmart

845. and I'll give you a couple of diatribes

846. and then you can put them on YouTube and take this—

847. Take them off the tape here, put them on YouTube,

848. and you'll find out what kind of a reaction you get.

849. All right, so that's what we're going to do? Mm-hmm.

850. All right. So you're going to have your say here in Redding

851. in front of the Walmart. You wanted to go to Redding.

852. I don't want to break my goddamn leg

853. getting out of this pile of shit.

854. Oh, Jesus.

855. Oh, that was atrocious.

856. And action, Jack.

857. Are you— How's your audio? Is everything all right there? One, two, three, four...

858. Yep, we're good.

859. five, six, seven, eight. Good.

860. Over the top of my shoulder

861. you undoubtedly would be able to see

862. that we're standing in proximity

863. to a place called Walmart.

864. You see their large carriers going down the highway

865. and they always say "for less."

866. "You can buy for less."

867. Well, there's a connection here.

868. There's a Walmart manager right there.

869. Well, good for you, Mr. Walmart manager.

870. You're a little trepidatious?

871. Shut those down.

872. Does Walmart own this part of the place too?

873. This is Walmart, yes. Ah, you own it!

874. You own the street? Do you own Redding?

875. We thought we were on the sidewalk, like over by the road.

876. This is my supercenter lot. This is your who?

877. I'll call the police.

878. Oh, ja, you call the police.

879. By all means, call the police now.

880. Get the Gestapo.

881. Come on, let's get out of here.

882. The junk factory strikes again.

883. Fuck him and the horse he rode in on.

884. After having dealt with these people for 100 fucking years,

885. all I do is tell them to stick it up their ass.

886. But of course you don't want to do that, Ben,

887. because you're a nice kid from Texas and, you know,

888. you don't want that reputation to follow you.

889. They might think you're an angry man.

890. I thought we'd cut another piece

891. in front of Best Buy which would give us the opportunity

892. to have the police come and throw us off the Best Buy parking lot.

893. We go to Best Buy

894. and I bring up the video camera idea again.

895. And I thought that would be of value

896. rather than this continually going back to the fact

897. that I'm some type of an icon

898. and that I'm— and that people want me

899. either to say motherfucker or shit

900. or whatever it might be.

901. I'm not gonna do that.

902. So what you're saying is you don't wanna do the camera thing.

903. Ben, what I'm saying is that what—

904. Where it stands is exactly where it stood.

905. What you've got is you've got zilch unless you've got me.

906. Let's stop this nonsense.

907. I mean this is just fucking ridiculous.

908. But I don't understand what you're saying is nonsense.

909. Help me understand what you mean.

910. You're taking the— You're taking the joy—

911. You're taking the fun out of it, and I don't need it.

912. I don't need to be here.

913. I can get on my fucking phone and call a cab and get the fuck outta here.

914. Okay. Man, I mean, you know, listen, if I can leave CBS three times,

915. I sure as fuck can leave you.

916. We stop for lunch and call it a day.

917. Later that night, I'm exhausted.

918. I feel like I've stepped into the Winnebago Man outtakes.

919. The next morning, we drive back to see Jack and try a different approach.

920. Do a Mike check, Jack.

921. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one,

922. and all of the rest of it including Hillary Clinton.

923. Tell us about what your childhood was like.

924. You have an ulterior motivation in this.

925. I do?

926. Ben— Ben, your transparency

927. is almost mind-boggling.

928. Ben, my childhood was magnificent.

929. The only problem with my childhood

930. is I didn't have a choo-choo train.

931. Well, tell us where you were born.

932. I'm not— We're not going to go into that.

933. No? No.

934. How about being married?

935. You wanna talk about that at all?

936. We already talked about it, remember?

937. If you fuck with me with this, Ben,

938. it ends it right now.

939. Leave it alone. Okay. I think you're misunderstanding—

940. I don't care what you think in terms of my ability

941. to be able to understand anything.

942. If you piss me off, that reaction will be

943. something you will not forget.

944. What the fuck are we doing?

945. Are you happy that we're making this documentary about you?

946. Do you want us to be up here?

947. Do you want me to be asking you questions

948. and do you want to be in this position?

949. What I want to do

950. for these last few feet of film

951. that I may ever make—

952. I want people to understand that there are

953. critical elements that they have to attend to

954. or they're going to lose their country.

955. Dick Cheney has had eight years

956. to literally ruin this economy.

957. That's the issue.

958. I don't— I don't understand.

959. Like you said, this is maybe gonna be

960. the last piece of film that you ever shoot,

961. the last time that you can be on camera. Yeah.

962. And this is what you want to say? Abso-fucking-lutely.

963. You've been up here for 15 years studying the great works.

964. You've been studying the Koran, the Torah—

965. And there's only one thing that is critically important.

966. And this is what you want to impart—

967. is Dick Cheney and how bad Dick Cheney is?

968. That's what I would like to leave whatever it is

969. or whomever is— might possibly watch

970. this documentary that you're making.

971. I'd like to have them say to themselves,

972. "Well, gee, I never thought about that."

973. Well, you'd bloody well better think about it.

974. Because if you don't, you're gonna lose it all.

975. Hey, Jack. Yeah.

976. Let me stop you. Sure.

977. Let's go back up here

978. and stand in the sunshine

979. and get where it looks good.

980. I try to persuade Jack that if he wants to reach people,

981. he's gotta tone down the politics and open up to the camera.

982. But you're not gonna get to anybody by saying

983. that Dick Cheney is fucked and the country is fucked—

984. I'm not? No.

985. Why? You're gonna get to somebody by fucking relating who you are

986. and what your past experiences have been

987. No, no. and what you've learned.

988. Oh, well, like, sure. You wanna talk about me?

989. Yeah. Oh, wonderful.

990. I'm trying to talk about you and you're not letting me. Yeah, well, I don't.

991. Why not? That's what I'm asking you. That's what I don't understand.

992. Ben, if you don't like it, pack up. Get the fuck out!

993. I need to take a step back

994. and understand how I got to this point.

995. What do I want from Jack?

996. How did I fool myself into thinking

997. I can get him to open up to the people he still feels humiliated by

998. and doesn't understand?

999. I decide to step out of the way

1000. and try letting Jack confront his fans face to face.

1001. I get the idea to set up a special screening.

1002. I call Jack and he reluctantly agrees to come.

1003. We're just outside of Manton

1004. and we're on our way to pick up Jack

1005. to take him to the Found Footage Film Festival

1006. in San Francisco,

1007. which seems really unlikely that we'd be doing this,

1008. but we are.

1009. When we speak on the phone,

1010. he often hears these in the background

1011. and he adores the sound of the wind chimes.

1012. So I thought we'd grace his chalet with these.

1013. Also I thought it'd be kind of a homing beacon.

1014. If he was out on the property and got a little off-course,

1015. if the wind's blowing he'd hear these

1016. and he'd be able to find his home again.

1017. So we're going to announce our arrival with these.

1018. He may shoot at us. Be careful.

1019. You're so fucking crazy it's just amazing.

1020. I'm normal, I tell you. I'm perfectly normal. Normal, perfectly normal.

1021. This is your vicious killer attack dog.

1022. That's it. That's Buddhy. Oh, my God.

1023. Well, she hasn't killed me.

1024. So far, so good. How are ya?

1025. I'm all right. I'm all right, kid.

1026. Where are ya? I'm good.

1027. Where do you want these?

1028. Other than up your ass?

1029. Well, there used to be hooks up here on the...

1030. So are you excited about San Francisco?

1031. Oh, yeah, terribly excited. I can hardly wait.

1032. Sit.

1033. Buddha stays. Good girl.

1034. Buddha stays. Buddha stays.

1035. See you, Buddha.

1036. You stay, Buddhy.

1037. Buddha, stay.

1038. She snuck off the porch.

1039. Buddha, get up there.

1040. See, she knows you're blind and she—

1041. That's it. She's tricking me.

1042. Get up on the porch.

1043. Well done. Okay.

1044. Fuck you, Buddha.

1045. Here we go.

1046. Consider how marvelous it'll be to be there in San Francisco—

1047. the home of the free and the land of the brave,

1048. the conglomerate of all that that makes America the grand place it is.

1049. Yeah, yeah.

1050. As I understand it, there's going to be

1051. questions from the audience and what have you.

1052. And of course that begs the question— the initiating question—

1053. do you suppose these people actually can form questions

1054. and will we be able to communicate with one another?

1055. Hey, Jack, what if someone wants an autograph?

1056. Will you sign autographs? Fuck 'em!

1057. It's a giant leap for mankind. Jesus.

1058. Nicely done.

1059. Can you smell that sea air?

1060. No. The only thing I can smell is incense and a little hash.

1061. Here we go, Mr. Rebney.

1062. That is a very, very sweet little room.

1063. There's a bed with a beautiful pink bedspread.

1064. Jesus, mother of Christ. And the wallpaper has little pink flowers.

1065. Fuck. It's perfect for you.

1066. People just don't have any sensibility anymore.

1067. Oh, shut up!

1068. Shut up again!

1069. That's your fan base. Be nice to them.

1070. They're honking in approval.

1071. On the way to the theater we get distracted

1072. and lose Keith and Jack for a moment.

1073. When we find them, Jack is in deep discussion

1074. with one of the local residents.

1075. Logic dictates that you are and that is that.

1076. All of it is natural fact.

1077. There is nothing that is hyperbole.

1078. It is all just natural, period. End of report.

1079. Modern logic, western logic, is confined by the fact

1080. that it says that something is either true or false.

1081. Absolutely.

1082. There is a causal plane which is beyond space and time

1083. which destroys the concept of linearity.

1084. That's— That's—

1085. That logic is tripping right along with—

1086. That's only got one track and we're wobbling.

1087. And I don't follow that.

1088. There is a causal plane. A what?

1089. There is a causal plane.

1090. We have an appointment and we're going to be late to it,

1091. but I must tell you that it's been pleasurable and I thank you.

1092. And I don't know why we're talking.

1093. Jesus.

1094. Does Orville Redenbacher live here?

1095. Well, thank you so much for coming down here.

1096. It's an honor to have both of you here.

1097. It's no honor. That's absolute bullshit.

1098. It is! It is!

1099. Steinbucker-Schmucker, come here for Christ's sake.

1100. These people are out of their heads.

1101. I'm right here, Jack. Yeah, you're filming. I know.

1102. We're your number-one fans.

1103. Yes, of course you're my number-one fan.

1104. You've brought so much enjoyment and laughter to us

1105. that we are so indebted to you.

1106. This schmuck over here to my right

1107. has been telling me this now for, what— two years, Ben?

1108. Because it's true. Three years?

1109. Two years. Huh? Two years.

1110. It's so true. And you'll see tonight—

1111. "Oh, you've brought me such enjoyment.

1112. I can't begin to tell you how marvelous you make me feel."

1113. When you're here tonight you'll hear the laughs.

1114. You'll hear people enjoy it. It makes people laugh.

1115. How many— You're gonna have eight people.

1116. No, we're gonna have a full house. It's gonna be sold out.

1117. Who are these crazies, these lunatics that are gonna be here?

1118. Explain them to me. Seriously now. Seriously now.

1119. I mean I'm not putting— this is—

1120. Because if I'm gonna do some kind of a dumb-fuck dog-and-pony show,

1121. I'm gonna know who I'm talking to.

1122. I'm here to see the Winnebago guy.

1123. I'm hoping that he's going to say the F-word a lot.

1124. We're huge Rebney fans.

1125. I'm here for Jack Rebney all the way.

1126. I'm glad he's alive and doing well,

1127. and I hope he's still bitter.

1128. I don't know.

1129. He's got a special spot in my heart, that's for sure.

1130. I love this clip. Every time I'm in a bad mood,

1131. I watch it and it makes me laugh.

1132. I really do. It's kind of sad.

1133. Are you excited to see him in person? If I can get in.

1134. This is not looking so good.

1135. They're gonna go nuts for you tonight.

1136. You'll be bathed in applause by your adoring fans.

1137. Really? Bathed in applause. Bathed in glory.

1138. I mean to us, meeting you is like meeting a movie star

1139. because we've watched your video

1140. more than we've seen Indiana Jones.

1141. So you're our Harrison Ford.

1142. This is the Holy Grail for us.

1143. Hi, one please. $8.50.

1144. I'm kind of hoping that he'll be in a real ornery mood.

1145. And if they'll let some flies go, that'll really piss him off.

1146. I think people would kind of expect him

1147. to just be really, really upset all the time.

1148. I don't know if any of these people

1149. are expecting him to go off and start yelling at all of them,

1150. but if I was him that's what I would do.

1151. Okay, here we go. Three, two—

1152. Why don't you shoot the fuckin' film?

1153. Getting you to smile is a lost cause. I don't believe that.

1154. Can you give any reason at all why I should smile?

1155. I haven't stopped smiling since I saw you.

1156. You know what it is? The Internet's like the modern-day freak show,

1157. except you don't have to pay a nickel to get in.

1158. It's like meeting the three-headed boy or something.

1159. It's great.

1160. That's Jack Rebney right there. We're talking to him.

1161. He swears that much in real life too.

1162. I was— I was—

1163. Yeah, I was not disappointed at all.

1164. I'm curious to see how Jack reacts to the whole thing,

1165. to confront his fans.

1166. Sorry to announce it to you, folks,

1167. but the 7:15 is sold out.

1168. And here we go. Here we go. Buckle up.

1169. - Hey, thanks. - Thanks for coming out.

1170. My name is Joe. My name's Nick.

1171. And we're back for another round of stupid videos

1172. that we found at thrift stores and garage sales and those kind of places.

1173. And I don't know if you heard or not,

1174. but there's a special guest here tonight.

1175. If you haven't heard, we're not gonna tell ya— a special guest.

1176. You don't wanna go anywhere. No, sir.

1177. Laughter— the medicine for the heart, body and mind.

1178. It takes away all your stress.

1179. Just laugh it out...

1180. and gone.

1181. Well, who's on now?

1182. Don't know.

1183. - Thank you. - Okay, you know, many years ago

1184. some friends of ours gave us some footage

1185. from a promotional video for the Winnebago brand of R.V.s.

1186. Here's the backstory:

1187. on the first day of this grueling hot two-week shoot

1188. the crew realized that the host of this promotional video

1189. had a bit of a temper.

1190. So of course, what do they do?

1191. They continue to roll in between each take

1192. and subsequently capture this man's descent into madness.

1193. And so we got the raw footage

1194. and we decided to kind of put together

1195. a collection of our favorite moments of Jack Rebney,

1196. the world's angriest R.V. salesman.

1197. - Jack Rebney!

1198. The Winnebago concepts and engineering departments

1199. have developed a multifunctional bathroom.

1200. Privacy— I don't even know what the fuck I'm reading.

1201. I wonder what the fuck the real dialogue is!

1202. What the fuck is this thing?

1203. Call it a windshield for fuck's sake.

1204. Oh fuck. What the fuck did I say?

1205. That didn't sound for shit.

1206. Suppose we open—

1207. Gotta do it again right now.

1208. Oh, fuck!

1209. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

1210. Oh, fuck. Shit!

1211. What does the goddamn line say, Tony?

1212. What is the goddamn line?

1213. I don't give a shit what the line is.

1214. I fucked up the word "rear."

1215. I can't even read a fucking V.O. straight.

1216. What the fuck was that?

1217. I think we got flies all over the fucking place.

1218. Son of a bitch.

1219. Get out of here, you goddamn jackass.

1220. The "accoutrema" that you will need...

1221. "Accoutrema"? What is that shit?

1222. I don't know shit. It's just all gone.

1223. I get so goddamn diuretic.

1224. When I sit here my mouth just never stops.

1225. It ain't worth it.

1226. Not this shit. It ain't fucking worth it.

1227. The Minnie Winnie— Part of American tradition

1228. and today on the cutting edge of design and function

1229. in a Class C motor home.

1230. Do you believe any of that shit?

1231. God bless him.

1232. We have an update for you about Jack Rebney.

1233. We didn't know if Jack was alive or dead.

1234. Oh, we thought he was dead for sure after this video shoot—

1235. Heart attack or something. Yeah, the frustration alone.

1236. But no, he was alive.

1237. He was living in northern California.

1238. And through some fate of circumstance

1239. tonight we have Jack Rebney in the audience.

1240. Ladies and gentlemen... Jack Rebney!

1241. Come on down, Jack.

1242. This is a long time coming for us.

1243. This is history right here, folks.

1244. Jack, we're gonna interview you here.

1245. If we can ask you a few questions— we're heading here.

1246. Yes, it'll be wonderful, I'm sure.

1247. He seems to be in a somewhat good mood.

1248. Will you leave me alone? Leave me alone.

1249. I can do this. Are you ready to come over?

1250. Yeah, yeah, let's do it, baby. Okay, come on over.

1251. Jack, here's your microphone.

1252. Jack?

1253. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, Jack's here.

1254. What the hell do you need?

1255. So, Jack— I know what a microphone is.

1256. Go ahead. Okay, there you go.

1257. So start at the beginning, Jack. Tell us about that shoot.

1258. Start at the beginning? In the beginning there was darkness.

1259. A little bit later than that.

1260. Winnebago. Let's start at Winnebago.

1261. I'm sorry. Let's start on this shoot.

1262. I lose it sometimes. I get whatever it is.

1263. I— Actually, it is rather surprising that I am in fact still alive.

1264. In answer to what seems to be the salient question—

1265. "Are you truly the angriest man in the world?"

1266. Tell us. Yeah, I'm going to.

1267. I'm going to lay that on you.

1268. You have to have some historical perspective

1269. in terms of how this shoot was done,

1270. where it was done, et cetera.

1271. The Winnebago Corporation is located in a little thing called Forest City, Iowa.

1272. The average temperature during the summertime is about 100 degrees.

1273. The average humidity is about 98 degrees— or percent.

1274. There's no wind and you're pretty well aware of the fact

1275. that there are about 150 million flies.

1276. You don't think you can get pissed off in that kind of a situation, huh?

1277. But in terms of anger, truly today

1278. in this cultural climate I really am angry.

1279. Go ahead, questions. What?

1280. Okay.

1281. I think the thing to keep in mind here is we all get frustrated.

1282. We all have moments where we want to say that,

1283. but no one can do it as colorfully as you did.

1284. One of the greatest swearers of all time. I think so.

1285. It's a learned thing.

1286. Well, Jack, we certainly appreciate you coming here.

1287. We wanted to maybe give you a token of our appreciation.

1288. I just wanted to ask him one question before we do that.

1289. Do you hate us?

1290. No. Actually the only person I can think of—

1291. immediately comes to mind is Dick Cheney.

1292. These are— Shut up for a minute.

1293. These are— He doesn't hate us.

1294. These are my people.

1295. I mean I can tell that right now.

1296. We may be separated by about 127 years, but they understand.

1297. They've got it. They've got it nailed.

1298. Well, Jack, we did want— The summer months are upon us.

1299. It's gonna be hot and humid again.

1300. And so as a token of our appreciation,

1301. we wanted to present you with this honorary flyswatter

1302. that we really think... This is for you, Jack.

1303. will help keep all the jackasses away for the rest of the summer—

1304. Oh, thank you so much.

1305. Keith, do you want to present that?

1306. That's wonderful. Thank you. I'm touched.

1307. One last question, Jack. Yeah, what?

1308. What did you mean by "accoutrema"?

1309. What—

1310. You know...

1311. there's a question here as to whether or not it's "accou-trema"

1312. or whether it's "accoutre-ma."

1313. And there may be somebody here who actually speaks French

1314. rather than some dumbshit like myself.

1315. Can we hear it? "Accoutrema"? Accoutrement.

1316. Accoutrement. Okay.

1317. Accoutrement? Is that it?

1318. Listen, baby, when you're in Iowa, it's fucking "accoutre-ma."

1319. Jack Rebney, everybody!

1320. The man's a legend. We have a legend here.

1321. Thank you, sir.

1322. I'm shaking right now. I'm shaking, man.

1323. I can die and go to heaven.

1324. Contain yourself now.

1325. God bless that man. How do you follow that up?

1326. More, to your right again.

1327. To your right. There you go.

1328. Well, that was terrific.

1329. You killed.

1330. Lookit, you've got a flyswatter.

1331. I'm overwhelmed.

1332. What I've tried to convey to you this whole time

1333. is that the audience really appreciates you,

1334. the situation, the whole thing.

1335. None of it was, to steal a page from your book, denigrative.

1336. Those people actually admire what you did

1337. and are incredibly entertained.

1338. So two for the price of one.

1339. You hear that, Jack? No. What?

1340. They just said "Jack Rebney" and everybody just— thunderous applause.

1341. I have to come and meet the famous Jack Rebney.

1342. Hi, Jack. I'm Noel. It's nice to meet you.

1343. Hi. How are you? I'm wonderful, thank you.

1344. I hope you enjoyed it. Oh, my God. You have no idea.

1345. This clip— Every time I'm in a bad mood,

1346. I watch you swear and it makes me smile.

1347. So thank you so much. You're most welcome.

1348. Hi, I'm Laura. Hello. How are you?

1349. It's so nice to meet you. I'm very happy to meet you.

1350. I'm so glad you came tonight.

1351. Pardon me? I'm so glad you came.

1352. Well, it was a pleasure. I was very excited.

1353. It's kind of fun— Something unusual for an old man.

1354. Yes. But it was—

1355. Do you love your celebrity?

1356. Well, actually it— at this juncture,

1357. it doesn't seem to be anything that really turns me on, but—

1358. Hi, I'm Rachel. Hi. How are you?

1359. Great. It's so nice to meet you.

1360. Well, I'm very happy to meet you.

1361. You mind taking a picture with me?

1362. Not at all. Thank you.

1363. One, two, three.

1364. Oh, he was awesome.

1365. He has a way with words, that man.

1366. I thought he was a kind soul.

1367. He was great. He was quite a sport.

1368. Tried to— Went a little Bono on us

1369. with the political messages, but it was good.

1370. See, now I feel like a huge jerk

1371. because he actually seemed like a really sweet guy.

1372. Yep, just like my grandpa.

1373. Just like— He's everybody's grandpa, everybody's angry grandpa.

1374. - Well-spoken. - He was so well-spoken...

1375. Brilliant. it was almost scary.

1376. Jack, we say "accoutrement."

1377. And it means ridiculous little costume thing.

1378. I wanted to scream out, "We love you, Jack Rebney." Seriously.

1379. I hope you enjoyed yourself. I did.

1380. Good, good.

1381. It's better to laugh than to cry.

1382. And we're turning to our right.

1383. Turning to the right.

1384. What do you say we— Life continues.

1385. Let's get a glass of wine.

1386. I think we should get a glass of wine.

1387. I think we deserve a glass of wine.

1388. Move to your right.

1389. Double doors and move to your right.

1390. Well, let me ask you something. Yeah, you can.

1391. On the way down you mentioned that you had—

1392. you had a certain preconceived notion

1393. about who this audience was, what they were about.

1394. It wasn't necessarily complimentary.

1395. What do you think now?

1396. I was concerned

1397. that they were room-temperature I.Q.'d idiots.

1398. And as it turns out, they were clever,

1399. quick, observant people.

1400. Ah, okay. Well, that answers my question.

1401. Good.

1402. Now why the hell they'd watch a lousy fuckin' video like that

1403. is something I'll never know.

1404. Buddhy!

1405. Oh, the Buddhs! Hello, Buddhs. Oh, the Buddhser.

1406. Did you think you were deserted?

1407. Did you have a good night's sleep?

1408. Oh, the Buddher.

1409. You made a lot of people happy this weekend.

1410. Well, it's interesting.

1411. We keep going back to this, but in fact what it is

1412. is that there is apparently really a true camaraderie

1413. with people who see that

1414. and who commiserate with this poor belabored person

1415. who says pretty much what comes to his mind

1416. when he's met with adversity and what have you.

1417. And that's good. I think that's probably—

1418. Isn't that interesting that when I say it

1419. and I listen to myself babbling—

1420. that's really the human condition, is it not?

1421. Right there in simple terms what we're doing

1422. is we're facing an enormous amount of adversity.

1423. And it seems disastrous that we don't let ourselves

1424. say what we really feel, what we truly feel.

1425. And I—

1426. I'm happy to say that I take some small degree of pride

1427. in the fact that when I'm faced with that

1428. and when I'm faced with it today,

1429. I say exactly what I have on my mind.

1430. Isn't there some way you guys can leave?

1431. Can't you go now?

1432. All right, pal. All righty.

1433. See you. Thank you. Thanks.

1434. Ben. Come here. Come here, you terror.

1435. Jack Rebney may never be remembered

1436. as a political firebrand or important thinker,

1437. but there's a good chance he won't be forgotten.

1438. His swearing, ranting, unrestrained self somehow reminds us

1439. that we are not alone in our frustrations and blunders.

1440. And maybe that's enough.

1441. Do you believe any of that shit?

1442. - You ever clean that lens?

1443. I'm right in the shot. I feel like Tony.

1444. Stick it up what?

1445. What do you mean I'm gonna fall off the fuckin' thing?

1446. - Fuck. - Fuck it all. That's it.

1447. Oh shit, I can't remember it now.

1448. There's not gonna be any more bullshit

1449. or whatever it was from anybody around here

1450. and that includes me.

1451. - Buddhy, don't fuck around.

1452. Ben, for fuck's sake, would you speak up?

1453. It's absolutely impingent upon you to stop mumbling.

1454. Jack has just this affinity for the Ford Fiesta.

1455. He loves Ford Fiestas.

1456. Jesus Christ.

1457. Fuckin' automobiles.

1458. How do you get out of this piece of shit?

1459. We just passed a golf course, by the way.

1460. No, no, no. I told you.

1461. You gotta keep me up to date on the fuckin' stop signs.

1462. Okay, we can turn around.

1463. - What are you doing, Ben? - I'm— No, I'm—

1464. - Are you lost again? - No, no, no, we're here.

1465. Ben, have you ever tried a hallucinogen?

1466. Jesus Christ.

1467. You're making me the angriest man in the world.

1468. - Yeah right. Good for you. - You realize that, don't you?

1469. It doesn't look right.

1470. Can you put your knee up?

1471. Yeah, I think it looks good.

1472. - Steinbauer: Really? - Yeah.

1473. You guys are so fucked.

1474. If George Bush and Karl Rove

1475. and Rumsfeld and Cheney

1476. get hot pokers rammed up their asses,

1477. I would be delighted.

1478. Where is the top of this piece of shit?

1479. Son of a bitch! Blah, blah, blah!

1480. Great fuckin' deal.

1481. Buddhy, bite him.

1482. Oftentimes I wonder, Ben,

1483. if you're thinking about what you're saying.

1484. It's vernacular. Please, would you help me?

1485. Do me a— Would you help me? Could you get me a beer?

1486. Do me a kindness— Get me a beer.

1487. Arnold Schwarzen-Terminator.

1488. Right here on this little finger—

1489. Right there, there is a small muscle that is just developed.

1490. When I do my routine about Arnold Schwarzen-Terminator, and the muscles—

1491. you don't think— that's not entertaining to these people?

1492. You bet your sweet ass it is.

1493. You are getting on in years.

1494. - Fuck you and the horse you rode in on. - Thank you.

1495. I wonder how you're gonna feel about this

1496. when you're fuckin' 80 years old.