I have to note that I don't feel a great deal of sympathy for Mel Gibson after his drunken tirade. I'm glad he apologized, but I hope he's smart enough to realize that this apology really isn't enough. On another message board, I saw someone claim that he isn't an anti-Semite because "I've seen what booze can do", but I have never yet seen booze make someone believe something they don't really believe deep down. That is what booze can do. The beliefs that Gibson is willing to openly admit to holding tend to be pretty odious in themselves, so I have no doubt that the ones he'll only let out when falling-down drunk are really foul.
That said, I'm not going to boycott Gibson's work as a filmmaker or an actor. I just don't see the point. (Of course, I'm the guy who last week noted that I won't be reading Orson Scott Card any time soon in part because his views bug me. I'm a puzzle.)
So, anyway, Mel Gibson's a lunatic and if he makes good movies I'll see them anyway. It just occurs to me that maybe in the first Lethal Weapon movie, when Martin Riggs is really a screwed-up guy, that psycho gleam in Gibson's eyes might not have totally been "acting".
The personal blog of author Kelly Sedinger, chronicling the adventures of one overalls-clad wanderer.
4 comments:
Apparently there's a rash of drunken tirades lately. I'm a Jackie Chan fan and he had a drunken tirade recently, too. Alas, he is human and I forgive him. He does so much good, in my eyes. But Mel...I just don't know.
Anti-anything, where human beings are concerned, is woefully ignorant but, as I was raised to believe, hate the sin but love the sinner.
And, even if folks boycott his work, he's got more money than he could ever need so it isn't going to hurt him all that much, I don't think, other than the fact that he won't be able to work -- and THAT is his love, work.
I think we all harbor some prejudices, whether we like to admit it or not. Sure, he admitted his, loudly, in a drunken rage, but does that make him any different than any other human being?
Some of us harbor prejudices against people on Welfare, the homeless, radicals or extremists, people of color, homosexuals, etc.
How come folks aren't talking about boycotting Bush for backing an amendment to the constitution which would effectively discriminate against a group of American citizens?
I could go on, but I think I made my point.
I know I have prejudices, even though I'm ashamed of them, but they are there. Just like they are in all of us.
I give Mel credit for my love of Shakespeare. I'd always thought of it as dull men mumbling poerty to one another in tights. It was slow and hard to follow.
Then Mel came along with his rendition of Hamlet, infused with energy and passion, he and let me see the work in a new light. I've since developed a love for it, and I have him to thank. Up until now, he's been one of my heroes.
But this puts an end to that for sure. I'm used to asinine antics from Hollywood types, but this goes beyond just foolish. He unmasked himself, and I don't like what was hiding under the mask.
Hate is an ugly thing. What a shame.
I try not to pay too much attention to stars' antics. I assume that an awful lot of them are scumbags of one kind or another. But Mel...? I don't know. I'll have to wait and see how I feel the next time I have a chance to see one of his movies.
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