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New Film May Harm Gibson's Career [H'wood Bigs vow revenge]
NY Times ^
| 2/26/2004
| SHARON WAXMAN
Posted on 02/25/2004 3:29:59 PM PST by SauronOfMordor
New Film May Harm Gibson's Career
By SHARON WAXMAN
![](http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/misc/spacer.gif)
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25 Mel Gibson's provocative new film, "The Passion of the Christ," is making some of Hollywood's most prominent executives uncomfortable in ways that may damage Mr. Gibson's career.
Hollywood is a close-knit world, and friendships and social contact are critical in the making of deals and the casting of movies. Many of Hollywood's most prominent figures are also Jewish. So with a furor arising around the film, along with Mr. Gibson's reluctance to distance himself from his father, who calls the Holocaust mostly fiction, it is no surprise that Hollywood Jewish and non-Jewish has been talking about little else, at least when it's not talking about the Oscars.
Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, the principals of DreamWorks, have privately expressed anger over the film, said an executive close to the two men.
The chairmen of two other major studios said they would avoid working with Mr. Gibson because of "The Passion of the Christ" and the star's remarks surrounding its release.
Neither of the chairmen would speak for attribution, but as one explained: "It doesn't matter what I say. It'll matter what I do. I will do something. I won't hire him. I won't support anything he's part of. Personally that's all I can do."
The chairman said he was angry not just because of what he had read about the film and its portrayal of Jews in relation to the death of Jesus, but because of Mr. Gibson's remarks defending his father, Hutton Gibson. Last week in a radio interview the elder Mr. Gibson repeated his contention that the Holocaust was "all maybe not all fiction but most of it is." Asked about his father's Holocaust denial in an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC, the movie star told her to "leave it alone."
The other studio chairman, whose family fled European anti-Semitism before the Holocaust, was less emphatic but said, "I think I can live without him." But others said there would be no lasting backlash against Mel Gibson. "If the movie works, I don't think it will hurt him," said John Lesher, an agent with Endeavor. "People here will work with the anti-Christ if he'll put butts in seats." Mr. Lesher added, "He put his own money where his mouth is. He invested in himself."
As Mr. Lesher implied, Hollywood is also a place of businesspeople, and Mr. Gibson is a proven movie star, popular with audiences. There are few actors with that kind of bankability, no matter their personal views. Mr. Gibson is also a capable director. So some of the initial reactions to his film may fade over time.
Mr. Gibson not only directed and helped write the $30 million film, but he also paid for it, including production and marketing costs, out of his own pocket, which Hollywood has filled.
As an actor and successful director, from "Mad Max" (1979) through "Lethal Weapon" (1987) and its sequels to the Oscar-winning "Braveheart" (1995), Mr. Gibson has long been a Hollywood pet. But he has also been known as a prankster and a self-confessed abuser of various substances. Many in the relentlessly secular movie industry see his recent religious conversion he practices a traditionalist version of Roman Catholicism as another form of addiction.
Last Friday the media billionaire Haim Saban, former owner of the Fox Family Channel, sent a concerned e-mail message to friends about Mr. Gibson and his father.
The message forwarded an article by the journalist Mitch Albom calling on Mr. Gibson to repudiate his father's denial of the Holocaust. Mr. Saban sent the article to, among others, Roger Ailes, who heads Fox News; Norman Pattiz, who runs the Westwood One radio network; and Michael R. Milken, the securities felon turned philanthropist.
Amid the daily dealings of Hollywood, the film and the star have been fodder for unfavorable gossip. Dustin Hoffman has talked to friends about what he called Mr. Gibson's "strangeness" during the ABC interview. The producer Mike Medavoy said Mr. Gibson's religious zealotry made him feel uncomfortable. Mr. Hoffman is Jewish; Mr. Medavoy is the child of Holocaust survivors.
"One question is, `What propelled him to make the movie about the passion of Christ?' " Mr. Medavoy said. "It makes me a little squeamish. What makes me squeamish about religion in general is that people think they have the answer: `I think my God is the right God.' How do you argue against that?"
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: censorship; christ; gibson; hollywood; mediabias; mel; passion
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To: All
I have a feeling Mel doesn't give a sh$t what they think...with the profits of this film he can bankroll anything he wants to make.
21
posted on
02/25/2004 3:40:19 PM PST
by
mystery-ak
(*The cause of freedom is in good hands*....you betcha, Mr. President!)
To: SauronOfMordor
I hope Mel uses the hundreds of millions to start his own studio and produce a prequel, a sequel (Acts), the life of Constantine, etc.
22
posted on
02/25/2004 3:40:31 PM PST
by
Petronski
(John Kerry looks like . . . like . . . weakness.)
To: My Favorite Headache
It will be interesting if the "Oh my God we're against violence" epiphany of the society of movie critics will scare a sizable amount away. I find it utterly disgusting that these hypocrites suddenly think they can pontificate on how much violence I, as a spectator, can take. It didn't seem to matter until THIS film... HMMMMMMM
To: SauronOfMordor
Well, if that's the way the leftie, clinton-loving, commie, socialist, make-believe pigs in h'wood want it...fine..
We don't buy anymore of their movies...EXCEPT those that are unabashedly American and/or Christian...or produced by Mel Gibson.
All others should only be bought at flea markets and/or rummage sales so the pigs won't get any more money than they already do.
24
posted on
02/25/2004 3:41:06 PM PST
by
FrankR
To: SauronOfMordor
his profits will exceed $200 million That's definitely "F U money." When you have that kind of money, you can tell even Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, "F U."
Mel has achieved escape velocity. He doesn't need those people for anything. They can take their toys and go home for all he cares. |
25
posted on
02/25/2004 3:41:27 PM PST
by
Nick Danger
(carpe ductum)
To: SauronOfMordor
God forbid the guy should defend his father.
There is free speech.
Katzenberg and Geffen should move to Germany.
Over there its a crime to say the "Holocaust" never happened.
26
posted on
02/25/2004 3:41:29 PM PST
by
Rome2000
(JIHADISTS FOR KERRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
To: SauronOfMordor
Hmmmm, I wonder if Tim Robbins, the Mighty Wind A-Blowin' Expert of blackballing in Hollywood, will come to Mel's defense.
To: Rutles4Ever
My sister just called me and said she just got home from seeing this movie, through her tears, she said "The Passion of the Christ" will change the world. She said when it was over, nobody got up from their seats and most were crying. She said it is a must see everyone who believes in Jesus .
I am going to see if I can get tickets now
28
posted on
02/25/2004 3:42:57 PM PST
by
MJY1288
(There's no leaders on the path of least resistance, ask John Kerry, he's been paving it for 32 yrs.)
To: SauronOfMordor
Gee, Hollywood goes after Mel, they are going after Bush....I honestly think Hollywood's days are numbered after this fall. The Oscars should be an absolute screed this year. What can we do to push it along to its impending demise?
29
posted on
02/25/2004 3:43:43 PM PST
by
atomicpossum
(Only Hillary Will Lick Bush in '04!)
To: per loin
LMAO!!! Roman Polansky has NOTHING to do with this!
To: SauronOfMordor
Medavoy: "What makes me squeamish about religion in general is..."
Says it all.
31
posted on
02/25/2004 3:44:53 PM PST
by
Dr. Eckleburg
(There are very few shades of gray.)
To: cmsgop
He's already in a Lucas neighborhood with his acting fees.
I think this will have a broader scope in effect than any film in history. This is challenging every man and woman to take a seat at the foot of the cross and face the truth.
To: SauronOfMordor
"One question is, `What propelled him to make the movie about the passion of Christ?' " Mr. Medavoy said. "It makes me a little squeamish. What makes me squeamish about religion in general is that people think they have the answer: `I think my God is the right God.' How do you argue against that?" Um.... Anyone who believes in a religion is going to believe it's the right one. Otherwise, why believe?
33
posted on
02/25/2004 3:45:23 PM PST
by
Celtjew Libertarian
(Shake Hands with the Serpent: Poetry by Charles Lipsig aka Celtjew http://books.lulu.com/lipsig)
To: SauronOfMordor
Talk about a blacklist -- I guess believing Christians are on it!
To: SauronOfMordor
What this does is indciate there is a market for films with poltical and religious messages that are not left-wing. It will be interesting to see if a second movie industry develops, starting with this.
35
posted on
02/25/2004 3:47:11 PM PST
by
Celtjew Libertarian
(Shake Hands with the Serpent: Poetry by Charles Lipsig aka Celtjew http://books.lulu.com/lipsig)
To: MJY1288
most were cryingI remember some imbecile sobbing out loud when Leo DiCaprio floated away in "Titanic".
This movie I have to see with my own two eyes.
36
posted on
02/25/2004 3:47:42 PM PST
by
Rome2000
(JIHADISTS FOR KERRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
To: SauronOfMordor
Gosh, you don't think liberal elites would do anything like
blacklisting Mel do ya?
But, unless I miss my mark, Mel did this movie without the major studios help in just about any way.
Memo to Geffen, et. al.: He doesn't need you.
37
posted on
02/25/2004 3:47:49 PM PST
by
twntaipan
(Liberalism: The Rot on the Dung Heap of Humanity)
To: SauronOfMordor
Like Moses, perhaps he will lead some people out of bondage in Hollywood and start something new in a new place, somewhere in the heartland, somewhere in the red zone.
38
posted on
02/25/2004 3:48:36 PM PST
by
Arkinsaw
To: SauronOfMordor
I bet Mel wishes he owned his own production company. Oh ! That's right HE DOES !
39
posted on
02/25/2004 3:48:36 PM PST
by
ChadGore
("Maybe they thought Saddam would lose the next Iraqi election")
To: mystery-ak
Yes. The thing that really fries the studio bigshots, aside from his politics, is that Mel Gibson doesn't need them. He's found his own way around the mainstream production/distribution pipeline. And yes, what Geffen or Katzenberg said amounts to a blacklist - they will not do business with the man because of his political and/or religious views. But this should come as no surprise to anyone.
40
posted on
02/25/2004 3:48:45 PM PST
by
Argus
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