“Once upon a time, a man named Jack climbed the beanstalk. The world has been talking about him ever since. But our Jack Rebney was not climbing the beanstalk — he was making a Winnebago sales video. Jack would freak out and scream when the videotaping wasn’t going well. — that meant he was screaming a lot. The crew decided to make a VHS compilation of Jack’s explosions and show it to others. They were annoyed but if you weren’t on the set it was hilarious to watch. In the following years, people traded VHS copies around the entire country. Endlessly quotable, Jack got underground famous. Then the internet came along — Jack got new fame as ‘Winnebago Man’ and ‘The Angriest Man In The World.’

Ours is a world where everyday people are willing to exploit themselves for money, fame, and notoriety – or at the very least an appearance on YouTube’s front page.  We, as an audience, love a good train wreck, and that is why television shows like “I Love New York,” “Rock of Love,” and “Charm School” exist.  But every so often we latch onto a reluctant star, someone whose candid moments have been taken out of the context for which they were intended and presented for our entertainment.

One such person is Jack Rebney, more commonly known as “The Angriest Man in the World.”  In the late 1980s, Mr. Rebney wrote and narrated a series of industrial videos for the Winnebago line of recreational vehicles. Due to the sweltering heat, a constant barrage of insects, various production issues, and growing frustrations with his inability to complete a take, Mr. Rebney let rip more than one expletive-laden tirade during the filming of these commercials. These outtakes were then edited together by the crew, as a form of retribution for the way they were treated on the two week shoot.

As years went by, dubs of the video were passed around by various industry insiders and eventually a four minute version made its way to the internet. Around 2005, the video went viral and today many a parody or reference can be found in the annals of pop culture. For most of us, watching the video of Jack Rebney’s tantrums was a fleeting moment of entertainment. We might have shared it with a friend or memorized a quote or two, but few of us ever wondered about the man behind the hissy fits. We never questioned why we laughed or how our laughter affected this man. Was our laughter a sort of commiseration of universal frustrations or are we simply taking pleasure in his pain and buffoonery?

At the beginning of WINNEBAGO MAN, writer and director Ben Steinbauer considers the fates of other viral video stars such as Alexey “Impossible is Nothing” Vayner and the “Star Wars’ Kid.” He wonders if Rebney has managed to escape the impact of such notoriety. When Steinbauer finds Rebney, he presents himself as a well-adjusted old man who doesn’t understand why anyone would have an interest in watching his emotional outbursts. Initially, the audience is left disappointed and curious to how the rest of the film will play out. This is, after all, a film about the world’s angriest man; one would at least hope to bear witness to the awe-inspiring cursing for which he has gained so much fame. This is an important moment in the film, as the audience share in the disappointment the filmmaker himself feels when he first meets Rebney.

WINNEBAGO MAN is as much a film about the forging of a relationship between the filmmaker and the film subject as it is a factual retelling of the circumstances surrounding the viral video. Eventually Jack reaches out to Ben, and it becomes evident that he was only pretending that he had come to terms with his notoriety. We learn that he is not content with his legacy, and it is Ben who has to convince him that it is not too late to reclaim it by understanding his appeal to his audience. This does not come without consequence, as Steinbauer becomes the fall guy for our culture’s fascination with Rebney the clown.  He oftentimes endures the rants of Rebney, but it is with his calm manner and honest curiosity that Steinbauer is able to sail through these turbulent waters. Steinbauer is then able to have an experience that is necessary to the story itself, an experience that the viewer can share in as well.

There are plenty of laughs to be had in WINNEBAGO MAN, as Jack Rebney can still out-curse any sailor.  But we also get to tag along as Jack explores the reality of his celebrity, and we can finally gain an understanding of Jack Rebney the man.