I own one Burt’s Bees product—some cough drops that are gathering dust on my desk and won’t expire until June 2018. My interest in Burt’s Buzz probably originated from a list of great documentaries. Burt’s Buzz is a documentary about Burt Shavitz and is mostly told by his perspective. Even though I enjoyed the film, I went from indifferent to annoyed with Shavitz, who is charitably described as a man of contrasts, not a hypocrite, but if one was less charitable, he could be called a poseur who periodically enjoys reinventing himself and living the countercultural lifestyle while benefiting from actually being part of the establishment which enables him to be countercultural and successful instead of receiving a backlash. For example, he shoplifts. Bwahahahahahaha. Naturally he becomes friends with the storeowner. What did they falsely accuse Michael Brown of doing? Must be nice.
Burt’s Buzz is filled with these moments, but because it creates the illusion of being a fly on the wall of Shavitz’s life, there is little to no challenge of his humble bragging statements other than showing the contradictions. Shavitz says that he hates the fame and does not need the money, but would prefer to live with his dogs in a cabin as his assistant moves Shavitz’s car a few inches and hovers over him to indulge Shavitz’s every careless, unthoughtful disregard for how his life actually functions. Isn’t it amusing how he does not know how to pack his own suitcase? I totally don’t think of him as a spoiled man child who never grew up. Not at all. Shavitz disavows actually starting the business that made him famous, just a humble malleable tool in the hands of his ambitious, greedy girlfriend who unfairly pushed him out of the business that he claimed to do nothing to create and was uninterested in. So he somehow casts himself as above it all, disinterested and the victim of being torn from the business that he did not care about. OK. Sure. There is one unintentionally creepy moment when his Japanese handler, who is a woman, is trying to get him to his plane, and he has both hands on her shoulders for way too long. Leave! It looked like he was hoping to kiss her and waiting for a signal, which thankfully he apparently never deceived himself into receiving.
If you think that my assessment of the now departed Shavitz is too harsh, try this experiment. Do nothing, go into the backwoods of Maine with your dogs and no heat and electricity and see how many free trips to Japan you get, how quickly your face becomes an icon for a line of products and how many assistants you get to do everything for you all while feeling aggrieved and cheated for not making more money to do nothing. I’ll wait. And if it works for you, I will gladly eat my metaphorical hat if you teach me how to replicate the experiment because I like to travel and definitely need a couple of assistants. Teach me, Lord, teach me!
I don’t think that Shavitz is all bad. I would Skype my fluffy babies while at work too. Get those four star hotels. I’ll give you permission to stay in the five star hotels too. Live your best life. Just don’t pretend that you’re some wizened Buddha here to enlighten us to become one with nature. The lady doth protest too much. Burt’s Buzz is an observational documentary portrait of the annoying man behind the icon.