This evening I saw again — twice — Gary Busey’s new commercial for Amazon Fire. It’s weird. Busey is weird. It’s a known weirdness, the result of a severe brain injury suffered in a motorcycle accident in 1988. The injury caused the bizarre, often erratic behavior we see today from Busey. It was apparent when he was on Celebrity Apprentice. And it’s certainly apparent in the commercial. The man is not all there anymore. I am saddened by that, and some sources say it will only get worse with time. I understand the man must do what he can to earn a living, but this commercial, with him making fun of himself, clumsily (or perhaps being made fun of without realizing it), makes me very uncomfortable. I don’t know whether to laugh with him or at him, or just cry for him. It’s all pretty damn strange.
More Busey and the Celebrity Apprentice cast:
It’s sad.
I have seen the commercial a few times and I agree with your personal assessment 100%. I sit there watching it thinking, “Why is he doing this. He’s way above this!”. He had a pretty macho personality back in his day, a little too much so at times, but this just seems so degrading. I know… who are we to judge but it does make you somewhat sad.
Yes, I remember the earlier Busey. That’s why it’s so sad to see him this way. Makes you wonder who’s idea this commercial was and how it was approached and handled.
I agree. And every time I hear him say, “Find Gary Busey!” I just want to say, “you first.”
That’s the saddest part. Makes me wonder if he’s aware of his own condition and is deliberately making fun of himself or if the writers just thought it would be funny and Busey has no idea.
“Difficult to watch.” Agreed.
Oddly, this reminds me of the sad item on last night’s news about a young college student in Santa Barbara, CA who calmly posted a YouTube video about plotting a mass-killing to avenge society’s rejection of himself and then carried it out. It showed part of the video and he appeared to be perfectly rational and composed about it. This kid was from an upper-class family and was afforded every advantage, including medical attention – he was said to have “mild” Aspergers syndrome. After he posted, his parents even altered the police who, in turn, interviewed him. He seemed normal. My conclusion: despite all the advancements of science, the human mind is still mostly a mystery and psychology and psychiatry are not far removed from voodoo and medicine men.
Yet another reason to get rid of the guns. You just can’t tell who might reach for one, or when.
not “altered”, but “alerted”. Dang spell-check thinks it’s smarter than I am.
Understood. I have the same problem. Damn uppity computers. Think they know everything.
I kinda got used to what I thought of as his “mental” act with his appearances on TrueTV’s “The Smoking Gun” (the one that shows all the “World’s Dumbest” clips while celebrity has-beens make fun of them). I never knew about the accident, and just assumed the commercial was a way to capitalize on his “crazy guy” persona.
Sad. Very sad…
Yes, it is. And I don’t know if he’s just trying to capitalize on whatever he can while he can, or if people are taking advantage of his impairment/disability.
I failed to include a link to the Forbes article “Amazon, Gary Busey, And The Mocking of Mental Illness.” It is thought-provoking and partly responsible for this post.
Also please note I’ve replaced the 1-minute commercial with the 30-second version, the one I’ve been seeing.
And here are some outtakes from the commercial:
Yep, hard to put a ‘like’ to it.
For sure.
Hi PT- wonder if he was encouraged by the public support shown Michael J Fox with his (recently canceled) sitcom including his Parkinsons? Since i am here, did you see the rmnp alpine vis ctr webcam is live again? Snowy, but on the air! (sorry to jump topic)
I hadn’t thought about it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was encouraged by Fox and others. After all, there’s not much we can do but carry on as best we can, doing what we know how to do.
No, I hadn’t seen the Alpine Visitors Center webcam was up for the season. I’ll head right over there. Come to think of it, this is the weekend Trail Ridge Road traditionally opens. I wonder, with all the snow we got this winter, if they’re on schedule with that.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks this. All I can see when I watch that commercial is his really big teeth. Brain injury is nothing to make fun of – I have a close friend who suffers from TBI. But the people who should be advising and protecting him have done him wrong on this one.
I think so too. I realize acting is probably all he knows and that life must go on. But this just feels so wrong.
I don’t like this either. Nothing really stands out as wrong, I just don’t like it. I think because it reminds me too much of people I love slowing deteriorating and early Alzheimer’s disease.
I also do not like the XFinity commercials with Star Trek’s Spock and Chekov. I find it horribly insulting to Star Trek. Seriously, coming to earth and finding that a cable system surpasses their capabilities so they must have gone into the future? Oh, puuuhleeaze.
The fact that the commercial makes me uncomfortable … now I’m wondering if the problem is mine for being uncomfortable that someone is “different.”
I don’t think so. It mimics dementia and most people have some sort of personal experience with it, whether family or self, or just knowing it’s common when growing old. The level varies, but we will all experience some sort of memory lapses.
@”It’s weird and sad…” – I totally agree with you… scary! I did hesitate to check “like”…
Yep, I know that feeling …