New Film May Harm Gibson's Career

The New York Times ^ | February 26, 2004 | SHARON WAXMAN

[PBRSTREETGANG]

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?"

[O.C. - Old Cracker]

Abe and ADL do a lot of good in this world. Check out the front page of the ADL website in a week or so after PASSION has simmered down a bit. The ADL stands against Jewish persecution in the MidEast, all around the world. In places where this really needed, not America.

Alright, so the ADL does some good, I won't dispute that. I'm sure the Rainbow Coalition, the NAACP, the 700 Club and even Andy Rooney do some good as well, but their incoherent rhetoric relegates them to "preaching to the choir". Chewing tinfoil is preferable to any of their sermons.

[shhrubbery!]

Interesting. Any idea of the background of the people in that chat room? I doubt if they were Orthodox they would have been so dismissive.

[veronica]

Why do you get special victim status to inflame opinion on FR?

One thing I've never been accused of, is acting like a "victim." :) I also try neither to inflame, or flame, at FR.

[dennisw]

Foxman and the ADL recently come out in favor of homosexual 'marriage'?

I doubt it. Nothing on the internet about and American Jews are not so crazy liberal to go for it. The ACLU is probably pursuing cases related to it. The ACLU is often confused with the ADL. ACLU is not Jewish but it seems to be 80% Jewish lawyers and loves to intervene in cases of militant atheists who are Jewish by birth. ACLU is not a Jewish organization though it's perceived as one. It's definitely a vehicle for lefty atheist Jewish lawyers.

[missyme]

Just my opinion:
But to help Christian/Jewish Understanding and dialouge, I think that Jews should invite there Christian friends to a Passover service or to a Seder feast, invite christians to understand the root of Christianity through Judiasm, this will help them understand how Jesus Lived.

For Christians, invite your Jewish friends to a Palm Sunday or Good Friday Service, invite them to a Easter Sunday feast celebrating the resurrection so they might understand the love and the Thankfullness we have to the Jews and there belief in One- G-d that we were able to receive "Messiah" you don't have to shove your beliefs on anyone but the understanding is one Key Component to a positive outcome when it's all said and done...

[dennisw]

The worldwide good that Abe Foxman does. He is always out front for Israel. He won't back down on Israel ---->>>>





Letters to the Editor
USA Today February 12, 2004


To the Editor:



It is not surprising that Norton Mezvinsky, a long-time critic of Israel, once again demonstrates his clearly one-sided understanding of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict ("Israel's move is merely a ploy," Feb. 12).



Mr. Mezvinsky is far off base in his portrayal of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as an obstacle to peace in the region. To the contrary, Sharon's intention to withdraw from Gaza is a significant confidence building measure that should be welcomed as such. Other such initiatives include changes to the route of the security fence



Mr. Mezvinsky's complete focus on PM Sharon is telling. He does not mention that the current conflict is not about a lack of peace proposals and concessions on the part of Israeli government, but about a failure of the Palestinian leadership to negotiate in good faith with the Israelis. He does not mention the unceasing Palestinian campaign of terrorism against Israeli civilians. Indeed, the fence which he asserts is intended to confiscate land, is solely intended to prevent Palestinian suicide bombers from infiltrating into Israel.



Israel has been and will be open to negotiations about the territories if only the Palestinians end the conflict and accept Israel's legitimacy. Mr. Mezvinsky should take a step back and look at both of the players in this conflict, instead of blindly blaming Israel.




Sincerely,

Abraham H. Foxman
National Director

[LiteKeeper]

INTREP - THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST - I don't think he really cares. He has enough money to live on - this was for him a MUST do.

[Mamzelle]

re: Dustin Hoffman has talked to friends about what he called Mr. Gibson's "strangeness" during the ABC interview.)))

LOL! Gibson's never NOT acted strange in an interview.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Dustin Hoffman looks much stranger during interviews, if you ask me.

[js1138]

If North America and Europe were 90% Jewish and 10% Christian you all would be "the tribe".

You are reading my post as hostile, something that was not intended. I am aware that Jews are tribal because they have been systematically excluded from many avenues of commerce and politics. I am also aware that Jews who attempt to leave the religion have been barred from integrating into non-Jewish society. I believe Hitler looked for Jewish ancestry going back three or more generations. For this reason I said that Jews are defined by lineage rather than by belief. There is no hostile intent in describing this phenomenon.

If I am wrong somewhere in this description, feel free to correct me.

[O.C. - Old Cracker]

Thanks for the reply, but I have already acknowledged the possibility that Foxman and the ADL have provided some positive contribution to the world. I just know that if I were a Jew living in Israel I wouldn't derive much comfort from Abraham Foxman's defense of my government's leadership.

[Mamzelle]

France has the third-largest population of Jews in the World, after the US and Israel--500,000.

500,000! That's all. And there are 5 million "muselmans", more everyday.

And there are few Frenchmen who hold with Christianity...this is post-Christian Europe we'll be dealing with.

Bad moon rising.

[TX Bluebonnet]

Call Tim Robbins! There's a chill wind blowing in Hollywood!

[dennisw]

No problem at all. My reply is 100% factual too. If Christians were the minority and Jews the majority, guess who would be called tribal. I'll bet the Chaldean Christians in Iraq are accused of sticking together and being tribal. The are perhaps 5% of Iraqis.


Who is called what is based on minority status. Get rid of minority status and this changes. Jews were a cowering persecuted minority in Europe, in Israel they are majority and it's certain MidEast Christians who cry foul. Israelis are condemned for being too bold.

[dennisw]

Thanks for the reply, but I have already acknowledged the possibility that Foxman and the ADL have provided some positive contribution to the world........

A lot more than some. The ADL webpage is full of PASSION material today. Take a look some other time and you'll get a lot better idea of the good the ADL does.

[SJackson]

I am also aware that Jews who attempt to leave the religion have been barred from integrating into non-Jewish society. I believe Hitler looked for Jewish ancestry going back three or more generations

To the grandparents, a contribution of Adolphs to the last century which lingers with us. Prior to my knowledge, while an immediate convert might feel some discomfort, conversions were both accepted and integrated into society.

[SJackson]

Perhaps that partly accounts for the tendency of some Jews to slide into the delusion of Rousseauian, utopian liberalism -- the notion that people are all good, and that anything bad they do is merely the result of a bad environment....Ergo, if liberals can control the environment (i.e., let Hillary take charge of the world), we'll all be safe and happy in a paradise on Earth!

You're going to have to stretch a bit to find theological underpinnings for liberalism. Don't forget, you'll need to identify some Judeo-Christian commonality in beliefs, not differences, since those liberal Jewish Senators are elected by liberal Christians, and poor Hillary got a lower percentage of the Jewish vote than her statewide margins.

If you had to find one concept to highlight rather than origninal sin it's likely the expansion of the obligation of Tikkun Olam, repairing the world, from the spiritual realm to broadly defined secular goals.

[johnb838]

Yes, I think that if everyone who goes to see the Passion this week refrains from seeing any other movies for the remainder of Lent, an unmistakeable message will be sent to Hollywood. Geffen can boycott Gibson if he likes. I've been boycotting Geffen for several years now.

In fact, I like Mel Gibson, but I wouldn't have gone to see a regular movie that he made through one of the studios because they're on my blacklist.

[shhrubbery!]

You're going to have to stretch a bit to find theological underpinnings for liberalism.

Heh. I don't think there are any theological underpinnings for liberalism.

Liberalism is a humanistic religion --i.e., it is man-centered, not God-centered. Thus by definition there is no theology there.

Jews who have adopted liberal beliefs, I believe, have abandoned their religion.

[shhrubbery!]

Nope, I'm not confusing the ADL with the ACLU:

ADL Applauds Massachusetts Supreme Court Ruling on Gay Marriage