Mel Gibson's Meltdown

Slate ^ | 07-31-06 | Christopher Hitchens

[veronica]

I was just in the middle of writing a long and tedious essay, about how to tell a real anti-Semite from a person who too-loudly rejects the charge of anti-Semitism, when a near-perfect real-life example came to hand. That bad actor and worse director Mel Gibson, pulled over for the alleged offense of speeding and the further alleged offense of speeding under the influence, decided that he needed to demand of the arresting officer whether he was or was not Jewish and that he furthermore needed to impart the information that all the world's wars are begun by those of Semitic extraction.

Call me thin-skinned if you must, but I think that this qualifies. I also think that the difference between the blood-alcohol levels—and indeed the speed limits—that occasioned the booking are insufficient to explain the expletives (as Gibson has since claimed in a typically self-pitying and verbose statement put out by his publicist). One does not abruptly decide, between the first and second vodka, or the ticks of the indicator of velocity, that the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion are valid after all.

There's a lot to dislike about Gibson. He is given to furious tirades against homosexuals of the sort that make one wonder if he has some kind of subliminal or "unaddressed" problem. His vulgar and nasty movies, which also feature this prejudice, are additionally replete with the cheapest caricatures of the English.

[kabar]

Gibson can have his own opinion, wrong or otherwise. The real issue is how has his alleged "anti-Semitism" manifested itself in terms of affecting others. Hiring practices? Funding anti-Semitic organizations and causes?

[American_Centurion]

What I don't get is why people feel they have to distance themselves from someone with whom they mostly (or almost completely) agree, once they are charged with some character flaw such as antisemitism. I think the folks who speak the loudest to distance themselves, no doubt have a character flaw they don't want bandied about.

I now know Mel and I have differences, but I will not condemn the man as others have done simply because of this. Who knows the reason for his "hatred" or why it remained hidden for so long only to manifest itself during a bender? I personally think that regardless of this flaw we as a country and as conservatives would be worse off without him. In light of that, I wish him well, and pray that he soon gets back to doing things he does well.

[mnehring]

No matter what the outcome and real story is about this, we all should remember that Slate and Hitchens has the journalist integrity (sic) of The Onion, without the quality of writing.

[Mark was here]

Could it be that what a drunk say's is gibberish, and what he says is not to be taken seriously? A drunk may say he is fit to drive, but is it true? I would say that a drunk's inhibitions are lowered and he just says things he knows he is not supposed to say, not necessarily things that he knows are true. Judge the man for what he says sober.

[Prysson]

I normally like Christopher Hicthens but this article is just silly. Not to defend Mel..his actions are indefensible (though I would note he isnt trying to defend them)But this is just a petty bit of ad hominem. Actually it goes further than that into a sort of anti christian rant where he slams Mel Bison for horror of horror's portraying that the Jews killed Christ. Or heaven forbid that he actually beleive that his wife would be damned for not being a catholic. This is not a view I submscribe to and I pity that Mel should feel this way..but my wife's grandmother beliecves the same thing about non catholics and she doesnt have a nasty bone in her body. It just her faith. Is it possible that Mel might not be being nasty when he says he doesnt beleiev his wife is saved but speaking from a position of concern. He may be wrong but it doesnt make him insincere or a horrible person.

Frankly it sounds like Mr. Hitchens has always had a problem with Mel and has used this unfortunatley incident as an oportunity to attack him.

It is plain silly to claim that Mel is a poor film maker or a bad actor. It is even more silly to attack his faith and his religion. It shows a wanting of good character on Hitchens part.

It seems certain that Mel has some antisemetic issue he needs to work on and seek forgiveness for...but this peice by Mr. Hitchens is just pathetic.

[SE Mom]

Thanks for the insight...I missed those comments along the way.

[Gypssy]

I have always loved Mel Gibson's movies. I am a big fan of Mad Max and Braveheart but I agree with Hitchens. His true colors came out under very little alcohol.

I took his side on all the attacks that he endured when his many critics accused him of being anti-semetic after he made the Passion of the Christ.

I tend to now believe he holds his father's views. I came to that conclusion with regret.

Recently, I have seen very juvenile and vicious attacks that he has made on the President and his administration.

He seems to have alot of hatred.

Hollywood and Liberals will worship him now.

[frogjerk]

I don't think Mel is going to be able to worm his way out of this one, but it would be amusing to see him try.

From his comments following the incident he hasn't tried to worm his way out of it. He seems to be taking sole responsibility for his actions. He has a couple of problems, one of which includes drinking. He needs help and there is nothing amusing about that.

[Rockitz]

If you had tried to sell a brilliant work like "The Passion of the Christ" in Hollywood and got nowhere for years and then got slighted in the Academy Awards, it's possible you too might hold some ill will toward Jews, who for better or worse control most of Hollywood.

[spectre]

He attacked Mother Teresa? Interesting, since his only Daughter is a Nun.

What Mel said was awful, but there was a time when he was glorified right here on FR for having the guts to go ahead with a movie that Hollywood didn't want him to make. Nothing he says or does will redeem him in some people's eyes. They smell blood..

"Christ, you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're gonna crucify me"

sw

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Mr. Buchanan also seems to be racist to other nonEuropean people groups, too (some Jews are of European descent, some aren't, hence other).

[HarmlessLovableFuzzball]

Kasparov has repeatedly stated that Fischer was the greatest chess player of all time.

Surely you don't expect Kasparov to say he himself is the greatest of all time.

[Lovergirl]

LOL! I am watching Ted Kennedy in a drunken rage in the Senate and everyone on FreeRepublic is worried about Mel Gibson! I just don't get it!( no offense meant to you, btw)

[Prysson]

BINGO. Ad Hominem and more revealing about Hitchens than it is about Mel Gibson.

[Skooz]

His are the kind of statements that casually fall of the lips of somebody who has no ill will about the Jews?

Once, many, many, many years ago, I got drunk and, for some reason, decided that the people who lived in a house I was walking by were communists.

I yelled for them to come out of their house, and continually beat their bushes in frustration, as a friend looked on in a combination of revulsion and amazement. My friend and I were both bleeding from the fight I had just concluded with him because I had accused him, too, of being a "communist."

Next day, I was sober and did not believe either my friend or the people in the house were communists.

I was just drunk, you see.

[American Quilter]

He attacked Mother Teresa? Interesting, since his only Daughter is a Nun.

I had also head this, but I've since heard (on FR last week) that she changed her mind and decided not to take her vows.

[wideawake]

Ah, I see the McCain fellator is back.

Bush covered up nothing - his DWI was a matter of public record.

He was pulled over, was written a ticket, pled guilty, paid his fine and had his driving privileges in the state of maine suspended for 30 days.

He was treated exactly the same as any other first-time offender in ME in 1976.

The official records of the police stop and the judicial record of the plea were never suppressed, but were documents available for public inspection from 1976 until today.

Your Bush Derangement Syndrome is so pronounced that you actually believe that not announcing your DUI stop to the world is a coverup.

Get a clue, you sad bastard.

[Cobra64]

BTW he is one of the WORST actors.

Hey newbie. Jumping on the hate Gibson's acting bandwagon are you?

There are many hollywood types who are very talented, but I don't criticize their talent just because I hate their personal viewpoints.

[agere_contra]

Quite the opposite, they were two of his best films.

They were indeed, but that doesn't make them a) good or b) historically accurate. See here for an excellent breakdown of Braveheart's ahistoricity.

And as for The Patriot: the scene where the British herd civilians into a church in South Carolina and then burn them alive is based on a true incident. It happened in 1944, when the Nazis murdered 642 people (including 205 children) in the French village of Oradour sur Glane.

By transposing Oradour to South Carolina, and making 18th-century Britons the first moderns to commit this particular war crime, Gibson put his imprimatur on something unpleasantly akin to Holocaust revisionism. He starred in a film that inoculated audiences against the unique historical horror of Oradour and that implicitly rehabilitated the Nazis. As well as insulting a lot of British people - and history teachers!

[Darkwolf377]

Some of the titles he and Said have written independently and together about Israel and the territories:

The Question of Palestine

Peace And Its Discontents: Essays on Palestine in the Middle East Peace Process

Blaming the Victims: Spurious Scholarship and the Palestinian Question

The title of that third one kinda says it all. These books are often quoted by Chomsky and that crowd.