But whereas many Americans weave their public personas from curated chains of cultural signifiers — think of the popular web platform tumblr, where users “express themselves” by posting digital reproductions of existing images — C.K. aims for something more penetrating, a filmic representation of his own psyche. Louie is fascinatingly insular; it reads like a direct transmission, a strange and lovely Athena, birthed whole from the head of a brilliant, balding Zeus.