To survive a school shooting is traumatic enough, but to then face a nationwide racist smear campaign that falsely accuses you of being the murderer is even worse. That was the fate of Mustapha Kharbouch, a queer Palestinian student at Brown University. While mourning his fellow students, Kharbouch found himself confronting false accusations. Across social media, attempts by the university to protect his privacy were painted as proof of guilt.
Everyone knows that washing machines and dryers eat socks, although rarely in pairs. The minute you leave the laundry area, the appliances are gurgling with laughter as they envision you left holding a mateless sock. So it is not only unjust but unamusing to accuse other people of such a ridiculous crime (or any other). You could ignore the post, safe in the knowledge that no one will really believe you to be a petty thief.
There were 40 hours of interviews. But even with 1,500 pages of transcripts, the subject of this documentary didn't open up about the most mysterious chapters of his life. In fact, he didn't even tell the crew that he'd been battling cancer for six years. And, in 2023, before filming was even finished, Paul Reubens died. Even so, Pee-wee as Himself (HBO Max) is not an unfinished work, and manages to surprisingly explore the rise
