Posted on 10/26/2010 7:21:57 AM PDT by marshmallow
Hollywood has turned against him: he has been dropped from the cast of Hangover 2
Here we go again. Mel Gibson has been dropped from the cast of Hangover 2. He was to have had a cameo role as a tattooist – the role played in the original Hangover by that winsome rapist Mike Tyson – but at the weekend it emerged that his co-stars had decided that they could not appear alongside a man whose wickedness has dragged the good name of Hollywood through the mud. Over at Salon Matt Zoller Seitz thinks he detects double standards at play:
“There’s something about this Hangover 2 thing that doesn’t pass the smell test. It seems, at the very least, yet another example of the selective outrage that fuels controversy-driven entertainment coverage, and Hollywood posturing generally, with actors, directors, producers, studio bosses and other players working themselves into a righteous snit about certain people and offenses while giving others a pass.”
Go here for the whole thing.
The case against Mel is that he is anti-Semitic, homophobic, violent and alcoholic, and, to add insult to injury, a Roman Catholic. That’s a bad combination in Hollywood. Most Hollywood types can forgive alcoholism and a little domestic violence, but they draw the line at anti-Semitism and homophobia, and they don’t like Catholicism unless it comes from Bing Crosby and is wrapped in tinsel. No one would ever accuse Mel of wrapping his Catholicism in tinsel.
But hang on, is Mel Gibson really a Catholic? No, say his critics; he is a sedevacantist and therefore a schismatic and therefore not a Catholic. You didn’t hear much talk of that sort when The Passion of the Christ was released in 2004. Then it was Mel the conquering Catholic hero; now, in some quarters at least, it is Mel the Damned. When I last wrote about him three months ago, one reader declared in the combox: “I am sorry to say that Mel will go to Hell when he dies. He is NOT a Catholic and absolutely does not practice the true Catholic faith.” Bless that reader for having compassion enough to regret that Mel Gibson is doomed to spend an eternity in unspeakable misery.
But not even Google can tell us exactly what Mel’s religious position is. His friend the Jesuit scholar William Fulco says that Mel denies neither the Pope nor Vatican II. Mel Gibson is obviously a religious nut, however, and there must have been times when, as a loyal son, he embraced his father’s sedevacantism. It is possible that he remains a sede. But so far as I know he has never questioned, far less rejected, any part of Catholic teaching. That’s more than can be said for a lot of Catholics, including priests and bishops. Surveys show that most Catholics in the comfortable West do not accept the Church’s teaching on (for example) birth control. They don’t just ignore it – the way we all ignore moral teaching from time to time – they believe the Church is in error. So it could be that some of those accusing Gibson of sedecavantism may themselves be heretics, or at the very least recalcitrant dissidents. I am not defending sedevacantism – on the contrary – but I am suggesting that sedes are sometimes more faithful to Church teaching than respectable Catholics in the suburbs.
Whatever Mel’s status as a Catholic, however, he is in his anger and resentments a classic type of Catholic alcoholic. His anti-Semitism is very Catholic, too. Catholic anti-Semites are very rarely prejudiced against individual Jews, but have a “thing” about Jews collectively. G K Chesterton loved individual Jews, and was outspoken in his condemnation Hitler’s anti-Semitism, but he was able to write:
“I am fond of Jews
Jews are fond of money
Never mind of whose
I am fond of Jews
Oh, but when they lose
Damn it all, it’s funny.”
Some might say that those lines are quite innocent, but I am not sure many Jews would.
Mel himself obviously has nothing against Jewish people. His agent, Alan Nierob, is Jewish. Nierob is also the agent of Liam Neeson, who has been picked to replace Gibson in the cameo role in Hangover 2 – pending, as Nierob has said, “clearance of cast and crew background check”. Probably the only sane response to this is to laugh.
All the same, I have sympathies with Mel Gibson, if only because I, too, am an alcoholic, and sense that if I were to go back on the booze I might soon find myself doing Gibson turns. My perhaps rather pious hope is that Mel will sober up – whether or not he is drinking now, he is not sober – and make his peace with the Church. He can after all do that and continue to hear Mass in the old rite. First, though, he must learn moderation. That’s more than I have ever managed to do, but I am persuaded that the only antidote to booze, anger and bad religion is love of God and neighbour, especially when your neighbour is also your enemy.
Well yes, other than that they “started all the wars in the world”.
What a crock!
“My father never lied to me” Mel Gibson when asked about his father's Holocaust denial.
He had everything: an adoring wife, a beautiful family, good health, good looks, a career that not only paid supremely well but that he clearly enjoyed every minute of.
He decided to throw it all away.
That being said, it is ridiculous that the cast of The Hangover, who had no problem working with convicted rapist, long-time wifebeater and cannibal Mike Tyson would draw the line at Gibson.
Utter hypocrisy.
“...because I, too, am an alcoholic, and sense that if I were to go back on the booze I might soon find myself doing Gibson turns.”
Really? A bottle jack turns you into a wife-beating/berating, Jew-hating a-hole? Okay, I’ll give the auther the a-hole part, but if he has anti-semitism and anti-wife within him, can’t blame that on the booze. Sorry.
Gibson is a tormented man & a great director. Bet they would have no qualms working with Polanski. What jerks. Personally I hope that Mel can get his life back together, he was always one of my favorites.
Discrimination against people who suffer from bipolar disorder is pretty much akin to racial discrimination.
One of the problems these folks face is SELF MEDICATION using a variety of subtances, particularly distilled beverages.
Antisemitism, or any other sort of voiced bias is an artifact of the problem.
People should thank God they do not suffer from the condition ~ not condemn the sufferer for having it (and we must always be sure to praise them for using their medications).
I’ve seen Jews in their private moments condemn the ‘goys for not caring for their kids’ or enjoy a tickle when Christianity gets ridiculed, but I knew them well enough that I judged them by how they treated individuals, which was very well. I can forgive Mel a drunken rant. I still like Mel.
Yeah!
I agree with what you said. Funny hollyweird supported Polanski, but, not Gibson. I think they are using a lot of exuses, because he is more conservative than most of hollyweird.
Mel’s OK. He is a private citizen who gets drunk and rants. Big deal.
Addicts tend to seriously wreck themselves and the ones who love them. Mel’s got a monster on his back. I hope his bottom has been reached so he can heal and make amends before he dies.
Still, hollywierd (including the Jewish ones) playing all high and mighty towards Gibson is the material of comedy. There is not a more oppressive, immoral and hateful pack on the planet. Abusing females is central to life in that culture. Although hating Jews and Muslims is taboo; hating and debasing Christians has been ritualized.
Oh the poor, poor little RACE card got played AGAIN .... give it a frakking rest already. Genetic defects are a world apart from skin color.
“...sedevacantist”
Ooooh, now THAT one’s gonna leave a mark.
BTW, why has no one ever asked how fishy Mel’s “antisemitic” drunk driving bust was? He gets nailed good and proper for a DWI... and then “just happens” to launch into a Jew-baiting rant to a LEO who “just happens” to be Jewish?
Learned a new word - sedevacantist.
True about that. Mel did this to himself....he needs to get help. He has a ton of money and should be in the Betty Ford Clinic or somewhere that can help him. In order for forgiveness, he needs to repent (not to us but at least to God).
Polanski did not get respect from Hollywood for 20 years and now is just getting it....Mel’s nonsense has just started two years ago. Who knows what Hollywood will be saying about Mel in 20 years. Time heals all wounds. I am sure that in time Mel will be at the cocktail parties ucking it up.
Sedevacantism is the position held by a minority of Traditionalist Catholics who claim that the Papal See has been vacant since either the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958 or Pope John XXIII in 1963.
Sedevacantists believe that Paul VI (1963–1978), John Paul I (1978), John Paul II (1978–2005) and Benedict XVI (since 2005) have been neither true Catholics nor true Popes, by virtue of allegedly having espoused the heresy of Modernism, or of having otherwise denied or contradicted solemnly defined Catholic dogmas. Some of them classify John XXIII (1958–1963) also as a Modernist antipope.
He doesn’t have my sympathy. He has my prayers, though, and my awareness that I’m a fellow sinner.
This guy is a cop in Malibu and is Jewish. He busts people for drunk driving all the time, it is one of the major crimes that happens in Malibu. He busts a guy going too fast too drunk and that guy “just happens” to be Mel Gibson.
Mel Gibson reads the name on the badge and/or starts profiling our LEO and asks him if he is Jewish - and then “just happens” to launch into a venomous rant about how Jews are responsible for starting all the wars in the world and “What are you looking at sugar t*ts?”.
Conclusion: It simply MUST be a Jewish conspiracy to bust Mel Gibson drunk driving, and they just KNEW that if they did it with a Jewish officer he would “just happen” to go off on an antisemitic tirade!
Yeah, sure. Keep telling yourself that. That seems right up there with the conspiracy theory that the Mossad knew 9-11 was going to happen and no Jews showed up for work at the twin towers that day.
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