Friday, March 29, 2024 Mar 29, 2024
67° F Dallas, TX
Advertisement
A

A Filmmaker Tracks Down the Angriest Man in the World in Winnebago Man

For Jack Rebney, the moments in his life that eventually made him famous were inconsequential and forgettable. The former newsman had a job as a presenter in a Winnebago advertisement video, working long hours during a hot, Iowa summer in 1989. Rebney is articulate, intelligent, and, having left the news business on principle, generally disillusioned with the state of things. As the shoot dragged on, Rebney’s frustration erupted into a slew of swear-filled angry outbursts, in which he swatted at the air, cursed his job, his crew, and himself, and generally broke down. The crew, amused by Rebney’s temper and talent for swearing, compiled the outtakes into a single video. Unbeknownst to Rebney, for a long time after the shoot, that tape circulated widely, becoming a “viral video” long before the advent of the internet. After the Winnebago gig, Rebney retreated from the world, but his cult status grew.
By Peter Simek |
Image

For Jack Rebney, the moments in his life that eventually made him famous were inconsequential and forgettable. The former newsman had a job as a presenter in a Winnebago advertisement video, working long hours during a hot, Iowa summer in 1989. Rebney is articulate, intelligent, and, having left the news business on principle, generally disillusioned with the state of things. As the shoot dragged on, Rebney’s frustration erupted into a slew of swear-filled angry outbursts, in which he swatted at the air, cursed his job, his crew, and himself, and generally broke down. The crew, amused by Rebney’s temper and talent for swearing, compiled the outtakes into a single video. Unbeknownst to Rebney, for a long time after the shoot, that tape circulated widely, becoming a “viral video” long before the advent of the internet. After the Winnebago gig, Rebney retreated from the world, but his cult status grew.

Ben Steinbauer’s documentary film Winnebago Man is a funny, complex, and ultimately warming study of the man who became known as the angriest man in the world. Having watched the angry video since his youth, the filmmaker, a University of Texas professor, counted himself among the millions of people fascinated by Rebney. The Rebney video is hilarious because Rebney’s outbursts are shocking, animated, and crudely creative. He shifts from the formal platitudes of the advertising script to mad rants at the drop of a hat, cutting through the staged hypocrisy of the situation and creating raw moments of intense emotional realism. The video’s appeal is as much in its base humor as it is in the way people feel comforted by it. Numerous viewers who appear in Steinbauer’s movie confess to popping the video in the VCR after a bad day, Rebney’s frustrations quelling their own.

Steinbauer wanted to know more about Rebney, and he manages to track him down in seclusion on a mountain top in Northern California, where the cult figure lives as semi-hermetic life cut off from the world. Rebney is aware of the popularity of the Winnebago video, but he professes that he is not fazed by its infamy. At first, Rebney plays the role of a content old man living a life immersed in nature, but after repeated visits, Rebney begins to reveal more. He is a deeply frustrated man, angry at the world. He hates the internet, the way the news business has evolved, and dismisses anyone interested in the video as a moron. The documentary becomes a story of Steinbauer trying to find out who the elusive and crafty Rebney really is. Eventually, Steinbauer is able to coax Rebney out of hiding, if only for a day, reintroducing the man to the society and celebrity status he has sworn off.

I thought Winnebago Man was going to be a film about how media manipulates our identity – how internet celebrity creates images of human beings that are unlike their true selves. I think Steinbauer may have believed this was the movie he was making too. But what makes Winnebago Man such a moving work is that in the process of confronting the caricature that he has become, Rebney begins to understand himself in a new way. His emergence from obscurity into public light both makes him more human to his fans and more accountable to his own identity. Rebney is proud and stubborn, and there will never be a scene of him admitting to the way the experience of being the Winnebago Man has affected his personal growth. But we don’t need Rebney to say anything. We see this all happen in Rebney’s face and demeanor, right in front of our eyes, on Steinbauer’s video.

Related Articles

Image
Arts & Entertainment

Here’s Who Is Coming to Dallas This Weekend: March 28-31

It's going to be a gorgeous weekend. Pencil in some live music in between those egg hunts and brunches.
Image
Arts & Entertainment

Arlington Museum of Art Debuts Two Must-See Nature-Inspired Additions

The chill of the Arctic Circle and a futuristic digital archive mark the grand opening of the Arlington Museum of Art’s new location.
By Brett Grega
Image
Arts & Entertainment

An Award-Winning SXSW Short Gave a Dallas Filmmaker an Outlet for Her Grief

Sara Nimeh balances humor and poignancy in a coming-of-age drama inspired by her childhood memories.
By Todd Jorgenson
Advertisement