OPINION: Let others know

With the month of August being a dud for movies in the middle-ground between summer blockbuster season and the fall and winter awards season, I’d like to take a step back from current releases to talk a little bit about how we view celebrities.

In 2021, Bruce Willis, known for action blockbusters like “The Fifth Element” and “Armageddon” in the ‘90s and ‘00s, starred in seven movies. In 2022, that number increased to 12. All of these movies were incredibly low-budget, often critically panned and would skip theaters and release directly to video-on-demand, where they would make a quick buck off of the star’s name recognition.

It’s an absurd amount of work to be done, especially when considering the age of Willis, who was creeping into his late 60s at the time of filming. Despite most of his roles in these movies being smaller parts, he would feature prominently in the marketing, the studios clearly seeing his participation as the best way to entice an older audience who fondly remember the heroics of the “Die Hard” action star.

The absurdity of the sheer amount of sludge led to confusion and ridicule. The Golden Raspberry Awards, a parody awards show which identifies the worst of the worst in moviemaking also known as the Razzies, held their annual show in February 2022, with a twist.

This year would feature an award dedicated to the “Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 Movie,” with eight nominations (including one movie released in 2022, but hey, who’s counting at this point?). Bruce Willis would win the honor for his performance in “Cosmic Sin.”

A month after, Willis’ family announced the actor had been diagnosed with aphasia, a cognitive disorder which disrupts an individual’s ability to effectively communicate, and would be retiring from acting.

Reports were released describing how Willis’ parts in various movies were cut down to accommodate the declining actor. Meg James and Amy Kaufman, writing for The Los Angeles Times, reported several descriptions of Willis’ behavior which said he looked lost on set, was unable to remember his dialogue and would need to leave shoots early.

Willis sometimes needed an earpiece to feed him lines on set. He could only work two days of production. One time, he reportedly asked crew members on a movie he was working on, “I know why you’re here, and I know why you’re here, but why am I here?”

It’s depressing to read the reports, and almost infuriating to read who put him in these situations. Willis was accompanied by a management team who would place themselves in Willis’ contracts.

His handler, at first his assistant until Willis' decline, reportedly received $200,000 per picture in one deal with a production company. Another member of the team would be guaranteed bit roles in Willis' movies while also serving as his prompter through an earpiece. One crew member described Willis' status as being “puppeted.”

A heartbreaking account comes from one of the directors of these movies, Jesse Johnson. During the production of his movie “White Elephant,” Johnson was reunited with Willis after working with him as a stuntman. However, Johnson was concerned about Willis’ state, telling the Los Angeles Times, “he was not the Bruce I remembered.”

Johnson was offered to direct two additional movies with Willis, which he and his creative team declined, citing a concern for Willis. “The arrangement felt wrong and ultimately a rather sad end to an incredible career,” said Johnson.

The Razzies retracted the Worst Bruce Willis Performance award category, apologizing and saying it was inappropriate to dunk on work affected by a medical condition. Since Willis’ retirement, he’s been further diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.

If you’re like me, this story might hit a little closer to home depending on if you’ve seen a close one go through similar disorders. It’s terrifying to see someone not resemble their lively selfs. It’s a major existential fear of mine, knowing my family has a history of similar declines.

Willis’ story is a reminder of how often we forget public-facing figures are still human under all the lights and spectacle. The medium of film places actors in ways where they must become invisible in comparison to the character, but in rare circumstances the profile of an actor can reach a point where the celebrity overpowers the human, becoming a character of their own.

It’s that perception of Willis which made him a star, and it’s what led to companies greedily puppeting a declining man into movies he didn’t have a clue he was in. I don’t blame the crew members, who seemed to have zero awareness of the illness until Willis would show up on set. I don’t blame the directors, who would be able to make movies they couldn’t make otherwise without Willis’ involvement.

The story is also a reminder of how we repeatedly know far too late and too little about how others suffer, not just celebrities. The idea of illnesses being private battles is all too common, and it’s something which can be incredibly difficult to talk about. The only way for others to help is for others to know.