Amazon, Gary Busey, And The Mocking Of Mental Sickness

You may have noticed that Amazon’s launch of its new streaming media box, Fire Television, attributes actor Gary Busey. The ad campaign’s shtick is that Busey likes talking to inanimate objects, like a lamp and his pants, but nothing happens when he talks to his Roku streaming media box. Fire Television, a voice-activated gadget, does reply to Busey’s shouts, creating him very content.

Considering that his mainstream movie job slowed in the 90s, Busey has banked on his reputation for saying and undertaking strange items. From his defunct Comedy Central present, I’m with Busey, to his bizarre visual appeal in a Turkish nationalist film, Busey has turn into synonymous with zaniness.

And I need to admit some of what he does is truly humorous. If it wasn’t, he wouldn’t get components like his starring function in Amazon’s advertising campaign. Folks really like laughing at Busey. But even even though I’m laughing, I have to remind myself that Busey’s conduct isn’t an act, at least not totally, but the consequence of extreme brain injury from a motorcycle accident he suffered in 1988.

When Busey appeared on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in 2008, he was referred to a psychiatrist who evaluated Busey and concluded that his brain injury took a substantial toll on his executive management capability – the filtering procedure a typical brain engages to regulate what we say and do. Busey’s brain trauma broken this capability, resulting in a loss of management more than impulsive imagined and habits.

The reality is that Busey’s habits is a form of psychological sickness spawned by brain trauma, and however we find it hilarious.

That being explained, I’m forced to wonder if Amazon’s selection to showcase him in its commercials is in poor taste. Or is the well-liked caricature of Busey’s conduct a kind of ‘get out of jail free card’ when it comes to laughing about psychological sickness?

A single argument in Amazon’s favor is that Busey is being paid nicely, and it’s not unreasonable to assume that it’s in his very best monetary curiosity to act as off-the-wall as possible.  I’m positive that’s at least partly true, but it doesn’t erase the reality that his brain injury is quite actual.

A buddy of mine with a efficiency background reminded me lately that efficient comedy is all about dissociation. We laugh at factors to distance ourselves from the ache and discomfort they may otherwise lead to us.  Psychological illness, in any type, is an unpleasant subject. When we see an interview with Muhammad Ali or others suffering from brain trauma-induced sickness, it is not humorous. Maybe Busey is our well-liked go-to source of dissociation about psychological sickness that enables us to laugh at a relaxed distance.

Let’s open the floor to opinions. Is Amazon out of line for featuring Busey’s bizarre conduct in its commercials, or is it okay since Busey’s behavior—no matter its cause—is funny, and as lengthy as anything is humorous, it’s honest game? Please leave your thoughts in the remarks.

You can find David DiSalvo on Twitter @neuronarrative and at his site, The Day-to-day Brain. His latest book is Brain Changer: How Harnessing Your Brain’s Power To Adapt Can Modify Your Life.

Amazon, Gary Busey, And The Mocking Of Mental Sickness