In the documentary The Pez Outlaw, a small-town Michigan man named Steve Glew makes millions of dollars reselling Pez candy dispensers. The documentary follows his travels to Europe in search of Pez, his eccentric home life, his relationship with his wife, and his eventual fall as he confronts the giants of the Pez industry. More than anything, this is a documentary about obsession. We start in Glew’s basement, where every surface is covered with thousands of flattened cereal boxes he has collected. The cereal box collection leads to a business getting free toys from cereal companies, which leads to a business selling at toy shows, which leads to Glew discovering Pez. Glew’s single-minded devotion to Pez takes him to Europe, where he finds himself at the Pez factory and started a journey that will transform his life. I’m generally impressed by obsession in its various forms. It’s a quality I’m attracted to in friends and collaborators: a flavor of devotion to craft or story or information, a little nerdiness, a willingness to pursue what brings you alive. Watching Glew’s story made me think more deeply about obsession—who is praised for it, how it’s instrumentalized, and whose obsessions are deemed useful and profitable.
in praise of obsession
in praise of obsession
in praise of obsession
In the documentary The Pez Outlaw, a small-town Michigan man named Steve Glew makes millions of dollars reselling Pez candy dispensers. The documentary follows his travels to Europe in search of Pez, his eccentric home life, his relationship with his wife, and his eventual fall as he confronts the giants of the Pez industry. More than anything, this is a documentary about obsession. We start in Glew’s basement, where every surface is covered with thousands of flattened cereal boxes he has collected. The cereal box collection leads to a business getting free toys from cereal companies, which leads to a business selling at toy shows, which leads to Glew discovering Pez. Glew’s single-minded devotion to Pez takes him to Europe, where he finds himself at the Pez factory and started a journey that will transform his life. I’m generally impressed by obsession in its various forms. It’s a quality I’m attracted to in friends and collaborators: a flavor of devotion to craft or story or information, a little nerdiness, a willingness to pursue what brings you alive. Watching Glew’s story made me think more deeply about obsession—who is praised for it, how it’s instrumentalized, and whose obsessions are deemed useful and profitable.