Apology Not Accepted, Mel Gibson

I normally try to avoid mass pile-ups on beleaguered celebrities. The way mob rule can take over when some PR mess temporarily consumes the life of a well known figure makes me nervous and I usually prefer to stay out of the fray. Especially since there are so many other things going on the world that are obviously way more important than the ravings of someone in the spotlight. But reading about the Mel Gibson DUI fiasco this weekend, I am officially jumping ON the bandwagon.

I cannot believe that people are buying his lame apology for the vile anti-Semitic tirade he unleashed when he was arrested on Saturday. When “The Passion of the Christ” came out, I frequently defended Gibson against charges that the film was anti-Semitic. I detested this film and thought that its depiction of the last hours of Jesus’s life did not in any way convey the real message of the Christ. Gibson’s version seemed more like a holy snuff film than an inspirational tale but I also recognized that I was not a “believer” in “The Passion” and I could see that the film struck a chord with millions of people worldwide—people who obviously saw the film in a different context than I was able to. And I just could not believe that Gibson, clearly a religious man, carried any strong negative feelings about historical or modern-day Jews, despite the fact that his father, Hutton Gibson, was a scary Holocaust-denying fundamentalist. But since when do we blame the son for the sins of the father? It bothered me that Gibson refused to repudiate his crazy dad’s claims that the Holocaust was “mostly fiction” but I got that he was in a difficult position—I’m not sure I’d want to repudiate my family members on “Entertainment Tonight” no matter what crazy things they might have said.

But now, freed from his career-conscious censoring device thanks to an open bottle of Tequila in his car, Gibson immediately starts shouting repeatedly about the “fucking Jews,” asking the arresting officer if he was a Jew, and even providing non-sequitur pearls such as “The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.” Um, hello? You’re being arrested for driving drunk, you asshole, where did that nostalgic nod to the Nazis’ favorite ‘International Conspiracy of World Jewry” come from? God knows his daddy would agree with Mel’s assessment that the Jews brought the miseries of the Nazi death camps on themselves. Oh wait, there weren’t any death camps, right?

Almost as creepy as his anti-Semitic comments was his insufferable movie star arrogance. Claiming that he “owned Malibu,” he threatened the arresting officer by saying, ”I’m going to fuck you. You’re going to regret ever doing this to me.” Can you imagine if a non-celebrity had been this belligerent with a cop? How about an African-American man in South Central Los Angeles? Gibson should have been incarcerated immediately. Instead, there are signs that the sheriff’s department was attempting to cover up the whole incident, I’m sure after much discussion and pressure from Gibson’s publicists.

Sure, sure, people have difficult times in their lives and many people suffer from terrible addictions that cause them to behave in very upsetting ways. I am all for the Judeo-Christian value of forgiveness. But his apology this morning was grossly insufficient and I’m sure it was only offered because he had no choice—the whole exchange was recorded and transcribed. Some people say that alcohol can turn you into a different person but no one will ever be able to convince me that Gibson’s comments about Jews were brand new thoughts that came out of nowhere. I’m not saying he should be arrested for his ugly rhetoric, it’s not against the law to be a blithering idiot, but I sure hope he gets the book thrown at him for his drunk driving. Thank God nobody was killed.

An online biography of Mel Gibson claims he “abstains from alcohol completely.” Time for an update. I do have compassion for people with the disease of alcoholism and I hope he gets the help he needs. But he does not deserve a free pass for his appalling fit at the scene of his DUI arrest. He needs to accept the consequences of this ugly glimpse into his psyche. If people want to produce and support his films, hooray for Mel. But I’m through spending a nickel on any of his vanity projects. Of course the last Mel Gibson movie I really liked was “The Year of Living Dangerously” 24 years ago so it’s not a huge sacrifice.

Part of me hates myself for piling onto this train wreck, but I can’t stop myself. One reason for that is that as I was reading the reports of the Gibson episode last night, a comment came through on my previous post about summer camp. The commenter longed for the day when all Jews are wiped off the face of the earth along with our “sick f@cking Talmud and Torah.” He made other even more upsetting statements that I can't bring myself to repeat. I immediately deleted the comment and shrugged it off as the ravings of a lunatic, but the combination of that and Gibson’s outburst really made me think about how we need to pay closer attention to this type of intolerance. If only the moderate Germans had paid more heed to the ravings of the early Nazi party, long considered a joke in Germany, who knows how history might have been different. I’m NOT suggesting that Mel Gibson is a genocidal maniac or a neo-Nazi, I know he’s not, but I am saying that we need to LISTEN to such comments and not pretend they have no meaning at all.

Gibson can follow whatever Roman Catholic splinter group he likes, God bless religious freedom in this country, but his fundamentalist views have always made me uncomfortable even when they were coming from his sober, PR-conscious self. “There is no salvation for those outside the Church,” he once told an interviewer. “I believe it. Put it this way. My wife is a saint. She's a much better person than I am. Honestly. She's like, Episcopalian, Church of England. She prays, she believes in God, she knows Jesus, she believes in that stuff. And it's just not fair if she doesn't make it, she's better than I am. But that is a pronouncement from the chair. I go with it.” If his beloved God-fearing wife is going to hell because she doesn’t share Mel’s and his father’s specific beliefs, I guess we Jews should start packing for our mass descent into the fiery depths. Should we start a few more wars before we leave?

Comments

[Wanda]

I am glad you jumped on the wagon, Danny...too bad Mel fell off his. (Go to AA...or Betty Ford, Mel. Take some responsibility for your actions.)

Yes, we need to protect freedom of speech and freedom of religion (even freedom FROM religion); however, another person's right to throw his fist stops where my face begins.

There are a lot of scary thoughts going around out there. Unfortunately, some of them are in the minds of people who are in a position to DO something about them. Mel is small potatoes. Let's talk about W. [Do we have to?] How many wars has he started? I don't believe he is a Jew...is he?

[pablo]

I agree. Such shallow thoughts must be nonetheless deep seated to come out so vociferously in such a situation. He was betraying part of his true nature, and it think that is sometimes abetted when people don't have others around them to tell them things like "no" or "that's stupid."

[Neil]

Hasn't Mel Gibson's PR people learned the lessons of corporate America? Americans forgive everyone if they take responsibility. We are the wimpiest people on Earth. If Mel Gibson had actually said, "Yes, I am an anti-Semite and I need to learn more about why I feel that way," he would have gotten a standing ovation on Oprah next week."

[Emily]

Yes, let's talk about W and his wars. I, like you, am no fan of Gibson's (I used to be, but not for a long time, and certainly not since the making of THE PASSION, which I couldn’t bring myself to see). I did find myself thinking, though, that at least, no matter how lame it is, he DOES apologize, which means even if he's insincere, he's aware of the fact that it's a good idea not to seem TOO arrogant, unlike a certain world leader in charge of a country that, as witnessed by your terrific post here, is full of some very scary people.

[psychotoddler]

Wow, Danny, I've never seen you like this.

[Jules]

It's hard for me to actually believe that a grown person can be so ignorant. I guess I'm naive in thinking that "civilized society" or at least the society that isn't holed up in some bunker hidden in the mountains or the desert can actually say anything so ridiculous, even when drunk.

I just can't stop shaking my head over this situation...and I hope to the God of us all that he is not serious in saying his wife will not gain salvation because she isn't Catholic. If I remember correctly, the Episcopalian church AND the Church of England both permit divorce.

[Cruisin-mom]

you go Danny. I am completely amazed at how this is all being covered up and this guy isn't sitting in the slammer for his choice of behavior.

[zap]

You are WAY too nice. I was going to write a similar tirade about the total skeeviness of Mel Gibson referring to a female officer as "sugar tits", but with way less understanding and way more cursing. :) You are a bigger person than I.

[Vick Forman]

It's not only FINE to write about this, it's GOOD to write about this.

[OldOldOldLady Of The Hills]

YOU GO DANNY!

You quoted things in this post that Mel Gibson said to these officers that I had not seen anywhere else before! What I've seen is the "SANITIZED" version of what he said and THAT was Horrific!!! OY OY OY!

This man is truly scary because I know he represents so very many people in our coubtry who feel just as he does about Jews...(And you can change that name to GAYS, BLACKS, MUSLIMS...etc.....)

Would you please tell me where I can read the entire TRUE transcript of these ravings by this asshole????

And, BTW: The man had an Open bottle of alcohol sitting in his car....AND, he was driving almost TWICE the Speed limit allowed on that part of PCH....GIVE ME A BREAK! Plus....PLUS, he was so belligerent!
WHY HASN'T HE BEEN CHARGED??

As you said: If that had been a person of color in South Cenrtal...well you didn't say this, but I do: That person would probably be dead....(He tried to get away, too....I mean HELLO...?)

I ask again, Why hasn't this man been charged?
What is wrong with the L.A.P.D.?
They DON'T treat Celebrities differently????

Okay. I'm done, for the moment.

Thank You Danny, for jumping on the Bandwagon....WE NEED more "Danny's" to jump on this Bandwagon..

And that email/comment you spoke of is truly truly TRULY scary.

WE ARE LIVING IN NAZI GERMANY IN THE 30's and ANYONE who doesn't see that, is not asleep at the wheel.

[OldOldOldLady Of The Hills]

IS ASLEEP AT THE WHELL!!!! Oy, that is what I meant to say.

They are asleep.

They are not awake.

That is what I meant to say...Forgive me.

[Wendy]

This is exactly why it was so upsetting to me - the fact that this casualness was applied to the incident like, oh well, he got caught spouting off - it should NEVER be acceptable for such rabid anti-semitism to be interjected into the mainstream and talked about like no big deal - I am glad you wrote about it - I wrote about it - keep writing about it - we cannot FORGET - that is the whole thing we promised ourselves after the Holocaust - we cannot forget....

great post, Danny...

[oolookitty]

Mel Gibson has now made a second statement in which he makes a more specific apology and states his intention to meet with Jewish leaders to learn what he can do to make amends.

I have friends who have worked with Mr. Gibson and who have counted the experience as one of the best of their lives. They're sick at heart about this and find it very hard to understand.

There's something very scary going on in this country right now. I just read a story about a Jewish family in Delaware who were forced to move after asking that prayers during school occasions be more inclusive and less specifically "if you don't believe in Jesus you're going to hell." The result, according to the NY Times:

"Mrs. Dobrich, who is Orthodox, said that when she was a girl, Christians here had treated her faith with respectful interest. Now, she said, her son was ridiculed in school for wearing his yarmulke. She described a classmate of his drawing a picture of a pathway to heaven for everyone except “Alex the Jew.”
Mrs. Dobrich’s decision to leave her hometown and seek legal help came after a school board meeting in August 2004 on the issue of prayer. […] A homemaker active in her children’s schools, Mrs. Dobrich said she had asked the board to develop policies that would leave no one feeling excluded because of faith. People booed and rattled signs that read “Jesus Saves,” she recalled. Her son had written a short statement, but he felt so intimidated that his sister read it for him. In his statement, Alex, who was 11 then, said: “I feel bad when kids in my class call me ‘Jew boy.’ I do not want to move away from the house I have lived in forever.”
Later, another speaker turned to Mrs. Dobrich and said, according to several witnesses, “If you want people to stop calling him ‘Jew boy,’ you tell him to give his heart to Jesus.”

Immediately afterward, the Dobriches got threatening phone calls.

“We have a way of doing things here, and it’s not going to change to accommodate a very small minority,” said Kenneth R. Stevens, 41, a businessman sitting in the Georgetown Diner. “If they feel singled out, they should find another school or excuse themselves from those functions. It’s our way of life.” "

I'm really heartsick about my country right now. Mel Gibson is just one symptom of something that's really, really ugly at the heart of America which only seems to be getting worse. At least he seems to be willing to admit to his remarks, sit down and discuss them openly. Maybe this will turn out to be a good thing and open some kind of dialogue. Let's hope for that.

Excuse the long post; I understand if you feel the need to edit.

[nappy40]

Great post, Danny. I agree with you 100%.

[Heather]

I have been referring people to your post here, Danny, because it's so well written and expresses everything that I feel. Many of the other commenters have touched on important points, too. When I hear people making excuses for Mel Gibson, I have to suppress some rather violent feelings and walk away from them. I wish I were as articulate as you.

[david]

I sort of feel like saying, "OK, we forgive you," because then he would go away faster and we could turn our attention to other matters.

Or we could forgive him and gently let him know that our forgiveness was purely an act of Christian charity, as we understood it.

And since we were accepting his forgiveness for slandering us, perhaps he'd accept ours for starting every war in the history of the Universe.

Or we could preempt his apology, and say, "No, no, Mel, it's **we** who should apologize to **you.** We clearly did **something** to make you mad."

Anyway.

My point is, I find it easier to put people like this in the rearview mirror once they're forgiven.

[Stu Mark]

First, great blog!

Second, here are a few urls for anyone who is open to learning:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protocols_of_the_elders_of_zion

[patry]

Well said.

[Peggy]

Like George Carlin said, "Who wants to go to heaven if it is filled with goody goodies?" The rightous are terrible to hang out with. Even Jesus didn't hang out with them. He stuck around with us sinners. We'd only go to heaven for the weather and hell for the company.

[Melissa Balmer]

Hi Danny:
Great post. I know my comment will be buried down here, but if you have insomnia one day and find it I wanted to let you know that I found your blog while looking for your wife. One of my dearest childhood friends and I were roommates in our early 20's when her book came out, and as ex MGM program kids, it delighted our nerdy book loving hearts while at the same time making us feel like we hadn't read enough!

As the editor of a young lifestyle magazine in Long Beach I find your blogs inspiring, especially about local history as we have so much of it here in the LBC I want to celebrate.

Much joy to you and your family!

[thebizofknowledge]

I stumbled across your blog while I was doing some online research. I don't in any way question your anger about Gibson's comments; they were deplorable. But I think he should make reparation for what he's done; that would be more constructive than for him to be shunned, as some have suggested.