(s)Mel(l)Gibson

[Lankypeters]

Finally, Maureen Dowd in today's NYTimes recalls (s)Mel(l)'s rampant homophobia, expressed directly by the man himself and in his film BRAVEHEART. That he's blatantly anti-gay in his remarks and in the film, with its gratutous violence against a character who, I think, may not have been gay in real life (I may be wrong on this. Anyone want to clarify?)

 

In all the justifiable outrage over (s)Mel(ls)'s remarks hardly anyone provides the larger context of his bigotry, which encompasses gay bashing.

 

As far as his latest drive-by farting goes, I think concern is focused on the wrong place. That is, everyone asks will Hollywood blacklist him? I hope not. Blacklists are facsistic. I wouldn't like a blacklist against him any more than I like the idea of a blacklist against communist screenwriters. The real, important question is: how will the public, particularly moviegoers, respond. The latter have the ultimate power. (S) Mel(l)'s anti-semitism didn't stop PASSION from raking in big bucks, especially in the Bible belt. I would hope the public would follow Barabra Walters, who says, "I don't think I want to see another Mel Gibson movie." I don't care how good any of his subsequent films turn out to be. I'm not going to funnel money to a hateful, hate-filled person through the movie box office.

 

Maybe W will invite (s)Mel(l) to the White House for a film fest in the White House screening room.

 

These bigots do seem to prevail -- John Wayne, John Ford, Ward Bond, Adolphe Menjou, Frank Capra (Nowadays Hollywood is run by homosexuals the poet of the little man lamented).

[RockHard]

I just emailed Maureen's op-ed to several friends around the globe. One friend is a huge fan so I'm sure my email will get someone mad.

 

I LOVED Maureen's piece. Really funny. Gibson never did much for me and I still haven't seen Braveheart.

 

What is amazing to me is how productive addicts can be. Destructive, too.

[Guest Merlin]

Yes, Gibson is a bigot. But then, NO ONE is more bigoted than Dowd.

[RockHard]

"But then, NO ONE is more bigoted than Dowd."

 

What an ignorant statement. Obviously, Merlin, you don't know Ms. Dowd.

[+ bigjoey]

the prince in BRAVEHART was gay in real life and his father the king did kill the lover. he became EDWARD II. christopher marlowe in the 16th century wrote a play picturing him as weak and effeminate. he later abdicated in favor of his son and he was later murdered.

 

i thought of him in SPAMALOT with its gay prince.

[BgMstr4u]

I'm not usually a big fan of Maureen Dowd, but this column is hilarious. Here it is, for those who are NYT-challenged:

 

Mel’s Tequila Sunrise

By MAUREEN DOWD

My mom always warned me to stay away from tequila.

 

She would have given the same advice to Mel. She loved Mel, and always thought he would have been perfect for the role of Michael Collins, the romantic fighter for Irish independence who came to a bloody end in a roadside ambush in 1922.

 

Michael Collins came a cropper in County Cork, not County Quirk, as Mel Gibson did, careering along the same Pacific Coast winding yellow brick road where Robert Downey Jr. and Nick Nolte were snagged by the Malibu police in other momentous events in American history.

 

Mr. Gibson appears to believe that the Jews control everything. It is an ancient anti-Semitic insult. But now that he has gotten into trouble for his bigoted views, he has thrown himself at the mercy of the object of his bigotry.

 

He said he wants to “meet with leaders in the Jewish community, with whom I can have a one-on-one discussion to discern the appropriate path for healing.”

 

He added: “I am in the process of understanding where those vicious words came from during that drunken display, and I am asking the Jewish community, whom I have personally offended, to help me on my journey through recovery.”

 

It’s not the first time he’s gotten in trouble for intolerance. When “Braveheart” came out in 1995, Mr. Gibson ranted and raved when Frank Bruni, then the movie critic for The Detroit Free Press, asked him about some reportedly homophobic remarks he had made three years earlier to a Spanish-language magazine. The magazine quoted him as saying that he became an actor “despite” the fear that it might lead people to assume he was gay. Ecce homo! He told Frank that the arbiters of political of correctness were “tantamount to Nazis.”

 

Now that the volatile Mr. Gibson has pleaded for guidance from leaders of the American Jewish community, I decided to consult the only one I know. I asked Leon Wieseltier, the author of “Kaddish ” and the literary editor of The New Republic, how he would help Mel heal.

 

“He has been a very bad goy,’’ Leon said.

 

“It is really rich to behold Gibson asking Jews to behave like Christians. Has he forgotten how bellicose and wrathful and unforgiving we are? Why would a people who start all the wars make a peace? Perhaps he’s feeling a little like Jesus, hoping that the Jews don’t do their worst and preparing himself for more evidence of their disappointing behavior.

 

“I have always wondered why people who believe that we control the world do not have more respect for us. Take that cop who arrested Gibson. Do you think it was a coincidence that he was a Jew? We have been following Gibson’s every move since he released that movie. The other night, when our uniformed brother spotted him bobbing and weaving in his star car, we saw an opportunity and we took it. Don’t blame us. It’s what Yahweh would do.

 

“When Officer Mee busted him, we all busted him.

 

“Moreover, it is the elders’ considered view that whereas alcoholism may require a process of recovery, anti-Semitism is a more intractable and less chic failing. This was not a moment of insanity, even if Gibson is insane. His hatred of Jews was plain in his movie and in his twisted defense of it, which was made when he was sober under the influence of his primitive world view. Perhaps he thinks that all he needs to do is spend a few months in AA — Anti-Semites Anonymous — and find some celebrity sponsor and run for absolution to Larry Zeiger, I mean Larry King, where he can say with perfect sincerity that the Holocaust was a terrible thing and gut yontif.

 

“But the elders have instructed Larry to be strict with the uncircumcised offender. He is to appear only opposite ‘American Idol’ and in the company of David Gest.

 

“We understand that Gibson cannot do it alone. But why do we have to do it with him? We would find it hard to be in a room with him unless, of course, he wants to count some money with us. Why doesn’t he turn to the vast number of his Christian brothers and sisters who show no trace of anything resembling his disgusting prejudice?

 

“Mad Max is making Max mad, and Murray, and Irving, and Mort, and Marty, and Abe. But we’re not completely heartless. If he wants to do Shylock at dinner theater, fine. If he agrees to fill his swimming pool with Kabbalah water, fine.”

 

Then Leon was just too aggravated to speak. He mumbled something in Aramaic and hung up.

[mansniffing]

RE: (s)Mel(l)Gibson--and the poker

 

You fail to mention that Edward II was killed with the insertion of a hot poker in his anus.

As for Mel Gibson. He discriminates against everyone it seems. But then again, a drunk is a drunk. Poor me, poor me, pour me another drink.