Posted on 08/01/2006 7:04:55 AM PDT by gopwinsin04
So is Mel Gibson's drunken anti-Semitic spew really headline news -- or is it just another celebrity DUI? Another high-profile addition to The Smoking Gun's mug shot gallery (Nick and Glen, meet your new buddy Mel)? Monologue fodder for Leno, Letterman, Conan, and Kimmel? Nothing but a tempest in a tequila bottle?
Maybe that would be the case if these were ordinary times. But, with extremists gaining power and garnering sympathy all across the world, there is nothing ordinary about these times.
And that is why this could prove to be a seminal moment in our cultural history. Particularly in the cultural history of Hollywood.
Taking a page from our president, I see the Gibson story as "a moment of opportunity," a chance for reasonable people to stand up and be counted. For the sane among us to identify, separate, and condemn the extremists, the fanatics, the fundamentalists, the bigots, the hate-mongers and say 'no more.'
In the same way that ordinary Muslims need to separate themselves from the blood-drenched ideology of Hezbollah, Hollywood needs to separate itself from the odious racism of Gibson. And I don't make that connection lightly. Remember, during his DUI tirade, Gibson claimed, "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." That kind of thinking makes him psychological soul mates with Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, who has said, "If we searched the entire world for a person more cowardly, despicable, weak, and feeble in psyche, mind, ideology, and religion, we would not find anyone like the Jew."
Gibson's no-longer-deniable brand of bigotry has led to the extermination of millions -- and continues to fuel much of the strife and suffering in the world today. Which is why Hollywood cannot sit this one out and wait for the reviews to come in.
For years, social conservatives have questioned the morals and ethics of the entertainment community -- tossing around the shibboleth of "Hollywood values" as an oxymoronic grenade in the culture wars. Well, now is the time for Hollywood to show what those values really are by making Gibson pay the price for his bigotry and intolerance.
For starters, the town's power players need to step up and publicly condemn Gibson's vile comments (in effect, saying in public what they are already saying in private conversations I and many others have had). I mean, it shouldn't be so hard to publicly denounce someone -- even an Oscar-winner -- for being a raging anti-Semite.
But that's not happening. From this morning's Los Angeles Times:
Although many of the town's senior executives are Jewish and Hollywood has a long history of supporting Israel and Jewish causes, there was no widespread public condemnation of Gibson's comments over the weekend. Although some high-level executives privately expressed dismay at the statements attributed to Gibson after his arrest, none of those contacted would speak on the record.
Talk about lacking the courage of their convictions. Which makes Ari Emanuel's no-holds-barred post all the more praise-worthy. But is Ari the only high-profile figure willing to publicly draw a line in the Malibu sand? How disgusting and disappointing is that?
I know this is, at its heart, a very cautious town -- a place that always likes to keep one eye on the bottom line -- but this is no time to play it safe or to put dollars ahead of doing the unquestionably right thing.
Which is why Gibson's agent, Ed Limato, should immediately drop him as a client. And not because his boss at ICM, Jeff Berg, is Jewish, nor because so many of his clients, including Billy Crystal, are Jewish. This isn't a matter of Jews sticking together or non-Jews showing solidarity. It's about choosing sides in the real battle being fought all across the globe -- the fight between extremism and rationality, between hatred and common decency.
And Bob Iger at Disney needs to pull the plug on two Gibson projects that are in the works. The company is slated to distribute Gibson's latest directorial project, Apocalypto, opening on December 8. They should refuse to do so. And ABC, which is owned by Disney, should, without delay, scrap its head-scratching plan to develop a miniseries about the Holocaust with Gibson's company (yep, you read that right).
Yet when asked about the status of the still-in-development miniseries, an ABC spokeswoman said, "It is not at the point where you would make those determinations. There is no script."
Question for ABC: Do you really need to see a script to know that the idea of having a Holocaust-set miniseries produced by a guy who thinks "the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world" is a god-awful one?
Reading the horror stories of the survivors of the Qana bombing, any rational person's instinct is to criticize the tactics Israel is using to take on Hezbollah. Then a thought arises: will this criticism come across as part and parcel of the anti-Semitic worldview of the Gibson crowd?
Which is yet another reason Gibson needs to be ostracized: his lunatic ravings make it all-the-harder for legitimate criticisms of Israel's methods to be expressed and to be heard with uncluttered ears.
I'd like to hear the audio/videotape and make up my own mind.
Are they playing it on any network?
Another little tidbit that nobody is talking about is the fact his called a woman officer "SUGAR TITS." This whole episode was a glimpse into his character.
Excellent point. The public should be reminded of the anti-Semitic tendencies and behaviors of Ms. Clinton.
What you are willing to accept is an article trashing Mel Gibson written by Arianna Huffington?
sw
Oh, goodie--Arianna agrees with the Right Sort here on FR.
Not to mention that Ms. Huffington is loath to criticize countries and religious sects that criticize and kill Jews as a matter of policy.
THat's at the heart of what is bothering me about this whole entire episode. Would there be this media outrage if he had said this about virtually anyone else? Or if he had not made the Passion? I understand about thought police and hate crime legislation, however, I thought we were free to say and think stupid and wrong things.
I also am curious to know what led up to his tirade. It seems an odd thing to suddenly go off on a tangent about when you have just been stopped for drunk driving. Has anyone else wondered that?
susie
I agree with you. He has his as we have ours. The only laws mel broke were driving laws, surprising a Malbu cop actually enforced them and off he goes through the process.
This I believe is his 1st offence so it will cost around 10,000 and he is done. Just like any other dui.
It seems a certain group wants to punish him for something else - I can see their comments already everywhere.
--Aug 1,2006 | Arianna Huffington
geeze..this idiot again..who reads her?
The public should be reminded of the anti-Semitic tendencies and behaviors of Ms. Clinton.
Also Steven Spielberg making a movie sympathitic to terroists, when he himself is Jewish.
The hypocrisy is astounding!!
And actually, if what Arianna proposes actually happens, all it will do is convince him, and others who are like minded that the Jews really are exactly what he thinks they are. If they really wanted to do something other than find something to be angry about, they would accept his apology and invite him to learn more about them.
susie
I used to really enjoy this man's work (from Galipoli - Patriot) however I think I see more of this man's charater. Getting pulled over for DUI is one thing, opening up his trash-hole and bearing his soul is another. A great man once said, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks". Mel Gibson will probably get an award from Ahmadinijad just like Chavez. I would not doubt he would accept it. Brave Israeli soldiers are battling the Islamofascists in Lebanon and this coward is bashing Bush and blaming the Jews. Go figure!
Good grief..Mel was drunk when he said it. He's obviously a breast man.
sw
What the hell is she talking about?
Sounds like a term of endearment to me.
It is now reported that the arresting deputy is Jewish.
Its probable he knew who was driving the vehicle prior to pulling over the car and I will now reserve judgement as it is plausible that the deputy was a Mel basher.
And based on personal experience, I know that no radar detector or breathalyzer is rig proof.
He was drunk, and clearly angry. Not a very good combination.
susie
I wonder how his wife liked the "Sugar Tits" banter.
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