I've never seen The Passion and don't know if it's anti-Semitic. I don't hold it against a man to say nice things publicly about his father who is making an ass of himself. I appreciate an actual apology coming from a celebrity, rather than the evasive crap we usually hear. And I am hardly surprized when a person is a focus of adulation and becomes full of himself, even if he means well.
That said, Gibson's comments were horrendous. Too drunk to be in full control? Don't drink. Liable to spew forth the bigoted comments you grew up with when drunk? Then be even more careful.
People went to bat for Gibson when he was under attack. He let them down.
3 comments:
I'll tread carefully on this one.
I don't find The Passion to be anti-Semitic. I find it a bit overwrought, certainly, but I never found it anti-Semitic. It's a film about how a Jew who might have been the Messiah was killed by a bunch of Jews who didn't believe him 2,000 years ago. Some people have too strong a sense of history. The Germans don't get this worked up when we make a WWII movie.
Mighta overstepped my bounds there. Regardless, Gibson hasn't a leg to stand on. I coulda overlooked a DUI in my opinion of Gibson, I've done it with George Bush... Michelle Rodriguez... David Hasselhoff... Oksana Baiul (okay, I'm fishing now). But the comments: this is a man who's following The Passion up with a TV movie about the Holocaust. This is a man with whom the slightest hint of anti-Semitism casts a serious shadow over all his work.
Gibson didn't just let down the people who went to bat for him. He let down everyone who ever wanted to hold up The Passion as a standard of what religious film could be, who wanted to look to Gibson as a leader of Christianity in Hollywood. We wanted to rally behind his banner.
I guess we're back where we started.
"That said, Gibson's comments were horrendous. Too drunk to be in full control? Don't drink. Liable to spew forth the bigoted comments you grew up with when drunk? Then be even more careful."
I'm sorry? From what *I* read, I thought he admitted to being an alcoholic. Which I am btw. And OK, we slip up. It happens. And when it does, the results can be horrendous. Personally, i'd rather read these awful remarks than read "Mel gibson kills family of five in DUI accident".
Yeah he should have been more careful. Well DUH and he sounds like he damn well knows that. He apparently is going into a program and that is all for the good. Comments like those above help neither him nor any of us trying to fight this damnable urge; I am impressed that he, unlike many other celebs, didn't try to just pass it off.
I hope and pray he can continue to stay sober and that thismincident will not not haunt him. God knows the things I did in MY drinking days and how blessed I must have been to have survived them--and how lucky I would have been to have a wee little incident like this be the major mark on my record! While the things he said were despicable, i believe he is above them and will strive to stay that way.
I agree he let everyone down.
It's human nature to make mistakes.
I think everyone is thankful that Mel didn't physically damage anyone with his drinking and driving, I don't think anyone is disputing that, but what is going on is the in depth crucifying of antisemitism inside Mel that night which he "voiced" I think that has become the subject and how it haunts him and his career is left to be seen, but there is no doubt that unfortunately, that Mel has added on another "dark skeleton" that his children will inherit and be haunted by. Not only do his children and grandchildren have to deal with "grandpa's holocaust denials" but now added are these hateful words, spoken with an alcohol tongue, but spoken and frozen in time just the same. I agree also that if have to say you are sorry for the things done or said while drinking...then you should give up drinking!
I don't think there is any doubt that Mel will get forgiveness from many, but when there is "nasty" behavior then there is going to be a reaction to it! Good and bad reactions! I totally agree with everyone having the right to express that! I am sure Mel, like many others with addiction, will not be trusted in the future with many things and many topics because of his behavior and words!
I do find it quite interesting though how many people are trying to hush the angry reactions and yet had these comments come from a drunken Ted Kennedy or a drunken Ann Coulter would people have the same sympathetic or same judgemental responses? IMHO, just because Mel's movie won the hearts of so many, I would still hope that people wouldn't let 'Mel's celebrity' elevate the core of the gospel story which his art put into film. To hear some talk you would think Mel has apostle status or was annointed above all and shouldn't be corruptible! Perhaps all of this will put that into perspective now.
I hope that Mel veiws what happened as a wake up call and deals head on with his personal demons and that good can from all of this and perhaps it will through debate and discussion and IMHO, as many people begin to understand that it's seriously about 'the man' for Mel and at the end of the day, that it's more about 'the issue' that his loose tongue spoke for the rest of us because I don't think it's as much of an attack towards him as a fellow human being that people are judging when people speak out about feeling so dissappointed...its more of an attack of 'the character' that escaped him during his time of alcohol influence, which many will view different ways; since many drunks are quite aware of and mean exactly everything they mutter in their drunken stupor while others don't remember a dang thing when they drink heavily!
The question is...which is Mel?
Maybe that story is yet to be written...who knows, Mel might do a movie about it-- about the power of words and the pain it can cause others!
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