“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” hit theaters in 1992, however in 1991, Reubens was arrested for indecent publicity whereas watching a movie at an grownup movie show. The arrest was actually ridiculous (IT WAS AN ADULT THEATER, GROW UP!), however given his popularity because the host of a youngsters’s present, there was a media frenzy surrounding the scenario, and his mugshot was plastered everywhere in the information and late-night speak reveals. Identified for his naked face and quick flipped hair as Pee-wee Herman, Reubens’ mugshot from the arrest confirmed him with lengthy hair and a goatee. As a method of reclaiming his notorious photograph, it was at his request that Amilyn was styled after this look. If the world was going to deal with him like a monster, he was going to lean in and suck the poison out of the scenario himself.
Reubens’ authorized troubles have been constantly a results of homophobic ethical panics and as The Day by day Beast author Charles Bramesco appropriately factors out, “As lawmakers in conservative states argue that drag constitutes predatory grooming, the bad-faith agenda behind the repeated tarring of a public determine related to the LGBTQ+ group for his non-public, outré tastes has solely been rendered sourer and extra clear.” Reubens’ resolution to personal his mugshot with such severity that one in every of his most well-known characters turned a mirrored image of that point of his life is an instance of laughter actually being the very best medication. Good on the oldsters behind “What We Do Within the Shadows” for being sensible sufficient to honor him on this approach, and introduce a brand new era to probably the most ignored vampires within the canon.