In vino veritas, they say. This week, admirers of auteur Mel Gibson were granted a rare glimpse inside the soul of this national treasure, when Gibson was arrested in Malibu for driving under the influence. Longtime students of the Gibsonian oeuvre are aware that his unique brand of ultra orthodox splinter Catholicism informs every aspect of his work and life, so it comes as little surprise that upon meeting someone for the first time, even a deputy Sheriff busily applying handcuffs, the saintly director’s instinct would be to inquire after the man’s spiritual condition by asking the arresting officer if he was a Jew.
This interest is natural, when one considers that Pope John Paul II, the most beloved pontiff in living memory, was deeply concerned with reconciling Christianity and Judaism, and referred to the Jewish people as “our elder brothers in faith.” That Gibson should echo the Holy Father’s encomium is all the more touching when one recalls that Gibson belongs to a breakaway sect of Catholicism run by his dad which rejects the legitimacy of every Pope chosen since Vatican II. But armed with this new insight — Gibson’s previously unknown concern with Jewish penetration of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department — many previously arcane elements of the gifted actor-director’s body of work may be illuminated, exposed as tesselae, so to speak, of a gorgeous spiritual mosaic. Let us consider the following films, and see what we may glean from them regarding the influence of faith upon art.
Braveheart (1995)
The Man Without A Face (1993)
We Were Soldiers (2002)
The Patriot (2000)
Signs (2002)
In reviewing the oeuvre of Mel Gibson, it becomes clear that his work as both actor and director is thoroughly infused with his Christian faith. That he is, as pundit Dennis Prager might say*, a “Judeo-Christian Soldier/Marching as to war.”
And that he really, really doesn’t like Jews.
*just not to Mel’s face.
This interest is natural, when one considers that Pope John Paul II, the most beloved pontiff in living memory, was deeply concerned with reconciling Christianity and Judaism, and referred to the Jewish people as “our elder brothers in faith.” That Gibson should echo the Holy Father’s encomium is all the more touching when one recalls that Gibson belongs to a breakaway sect of Catholicism run by his dad which rejects the legitimacy of every Pope chosen since Vatican II. But armed with this new insight — Gibson’s previously unknown concern with Jewish penetration of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department — many previously arcane elements of the gifted actor-director’s body of work may be illuminated, exposed as tesselae, so to speak, of a gorgeous spiritual mosaic. Let us consider the following films, and see what we may glean from them regarding the influence of faith upon art.
Braveheart (1995)
The Man Without A Face (1993)
We Were Soldiers (2002)
The Patriot (2000)
Signs (2002)
In reviewing the oeuvre of Mel Gibson, it becomes clear that his work as both actor and director is thoroughly infused with his Christian faith. That he is, as pundit Dennis Prager might say*, a “Judeo-Christian Soldier/Marching as to war.”
And that he really, really doesn’t like Jews.
*just not to Mel’s face.
23 Responses to “Mel Gibson: An Appreciation”
What can we deduce from his two best movies:
“Gallipoli” (in which he does frontal nudity while swimming with a bunch of other guys)
“The Year of Living Dangerously” (in which he’s upstaged by a woman in drag)
“Gallipoli” (in which he does frontal nudity while swimming with a bunch of other guys)
“The Year of Living Dangerously” (in which he’s upstaged by a woman in drag)
[...] At beskylde en fin mand som Mel Gibson for anti-semitisme er selvfølgelig helt hen i vejret (selvom det ikke ligefrem ville være første gang), men hvad betyder Gibsons åbenlyse interesse for jødedommen for en revurdering af hans filmiske oeuvre? Det har Scott C. kigget nærmere på ovre hos World o’ Crap, i vanlig overbevisende stil. [...]
Seriously. Please. Is he going to, I dunno, acknowledge that he was an asshole in a sexist manner as well? Because apparently he was, not that this is any sort of huge revelation.
I’m not insisting that he go to NOW and grovel for the forgiveness of womankind. (Well, not for this anyway. “What Women Want”, on the other hand…) But maybe a brief moment to suggest that “sugar tits” is not how fathers and husbands or anyone else should be addressing women.
I’m not insisting that he go to NOW and grovel for the forgiveness of womankind. (Well, not for this anyway. “What Women Want”, on the other hand…) But maybe a brief moment to suggest that “sugar tits” is not how fathers and husbands or anyone else should be addressing women.
[...] World O’ Crap [...]
I think Bistro bleargh has a point, though I’m not sure what it is, but sonitus put it much more succinctly.
You forgot that in “The Patriot” the super-evil British villain was played by Jason Isaacs. You guessed – Jewish!
Thank you kindly, BTWonder, it is a rare day indeed when I’m accused of being pointy. Much appreciated.
(You’re not really missing out on that much, actually. It’s just an annotated link, with a plug for the book thrown in for good measure. Sonitus I gather is a Norwegian site that excerpts all sorts of blog posts and news articles with a link back to the original.)
(You’re not really missing out on that much, actually. It’s just an annotated link, with a plug for the book thrown in for good measure. Sonitus I gather is a Norwegian site that excerpts all sorts of blog posts and news articles with a link back to the original.)
He didn’t say “Jew” or “Jewish”…he said “shoe” and “chew it”…
I thought he was saying “Juice!” (First one to the Simpsons joke wins.)
Sure he wasn’t saying “D’you eat?” I may not be up on the Simpsons, but I’ve got “Annie Hall” down pat! Oh and say, Bistroist, that wasn’t an “accusation” – it was a compliment!
Personally, considering how long & fervently that I have loathed Mel Gibson (“Braveheart” being the one exception; despite its historical inaccuracies and “poetic license,” I still enjoy the mooning), I can’t find this shit anything but hysterically funny.
Would that we could send him to Lebanon and let this self-appointed “expert” on all things Hebrew help to “broker some peace,” or, at the very least, serve as body armor for some of the children who keep getting in the way of Israeli hegemony…
Would that we could send him to Lebanon and let this self-appointed “expert” on all things Hebrew help to “broker some peace,” or, at the very least, serve as body armor for some of the children who keep getting in the way of Israeli hegemony…
To tell you the truth, I’m sorry for the poor bastard.
He’s an extreme case of arrested development. Growing up means you have to face the fact that your parents are wrong–usually this happens in your teens. But Mel can’t do it. And the spectacle of a 50-plus guy still dominated by an 88-year-old looney is pathetic as well as vaguely disgusting.
I find it sad because Mel *is* a very talented person, and whatever is bolloxed up inside him stifles his talent, rather than freeing it. He can’t mature; instead of growing, he retreated. Thus the string of lousy, hackneyed movies.
He’s an extreme case of arrested development. Growing up means you have to face the fact that your parents are wrong–usually this happens in your teens. But Mel can’t do it. And the spectacle of a 50-plus guy still dominated by an 88-year-old looney is pathetic as well as vaguely disgusting.
I find it sad because Mel *is* a very talented person, and whatever is bolloxed up inside him stifles his talent, rather than freeing it. He can’t mature; instead of growing, he retreated. Thus the string of lousy, hackneyed movies.
“Mad Max,” that’s a pretty Jewish name itself. Maybe he’s one of those self-loathing Jews the wingnuts are always going on about.
It’s hard to tell by looking at him, but I think the evil bondage dude with the hockey mask from Road Warrior was jewish, or maybe gay.
In gibson’s drunken rant he blamed the Jews for starting every war in history. Does that include WW II, which was a really big war and tough to overlook?
The only group I know of who have always blamed Jews for starting WW II are… uh…. ummm… what’s the word, again?
Had to do with an old Seinfeld episode, something about soup…
Oh yeah, doesn’t that catholic “splinter group” claim that the last True Pope was Pius XII? The one some historians call “Hitler’s Pope?”
The only group I know of who have always blamed Jews for starting WW II are… uh…. ummm… what’s the word, again?
Had to do with an old Seinfeld episode, something about soup…
Oh yeah, doesn’t that catholic “splinter group” claim that the last True Pope was Pius XII? The one some historians call “Hitler’s Pope?”
Y’know, when Mel made “The Man Without A Face”, he made a couple changes from the book. For one thing, in the book, the character he played was gay, and the kid was questioning his sexual orientation and had a crush on the older man.
No surprise that he de-gayed the main characters.
But this is my favorite change: In the book, the auto crash that left his face scarred was the result of a DRUNK-DRIVING ACCIDENT. In the movie, he loses control of the car because he’s shock that the young man he’s with makes a pass at him. (Of course the teen is killed-punished for those homo urges, I guess.)
No surprise that he de-gayed the main characters.
But this is my favorite change: In the book, the auto crash that left his face scarred was the result of a DRUNK-DRIVING ACCIDENT. In the movie, he loses control of the car because he’s shock that the young man he’s with makes a pass at him. (Of course the teen is killed-punished for those homo urges, I guess.)
…and of course in “Braveheart”, Edward II is a sniveling queen, his father kills one of his lovers (Edward I never killed or even harmed his son’s lovers), and his future wife has the hots for Wallace because he’s a “real man”, when in fact they not only never met, but she was actually nine at the time of the events in the movie.
So Sideshow Mel hates the queers as much as he does the Jews. Hmmm…wonder if he’s a misogynist too?
So Sideshow Mel hates the queers as much as he does the Jews. Hmmm…wonder if he’s a misogynist too?
wonder if he’s a misogynist too?
I don’t.
I don’t.
I’m still convinced most homophobic males are. And, c’mon, “Sugar tits”? To address a woman who’s doing a job that puts him in authority over her? When he’s been caught in the wrong?
Misogynist. Kathleen is right. What’s to wonder.
And, you know, I agree he’s pathetic. But I can’t feel sorry for him. It’s the drunk driving, above all else. Someone easily could have been killed. And he’s done it before.
Drunk driving goes on my list with arson, pimping, and rape, of crimes I find it almost impossible to forgive under any circumstances. There’s no question of him absolutely having to, say, get to the hospital to meet his sick kid and having no one to drive him and no way to find a cab. There’s no justification clause for drunk driving.
So, you know, fuck him. Even if he wasn’t an incredibly unpleasant personality to begin with, fuck him. How much apologizing do you suppose he would have to have done if he’d plowed into someone’s car and killed them?
Misogynist. Kathleen is right. What’s to wonder.
And, you know, I agree he’s pathetic. But I can’t feel sorry for him. It’s the drunk driving, above all else. Someone easily could have been killed. And he’s done it before.
Drunk driving goes on my list with arson, pimping, and rape, of crimes I find it almost impossible to forgive under any circumstances. There’s no question of him absolutely having to, say, get to the hospital to meet his sick kid and having no one to drive him and no way to find a cab. There’s no justification clause for drunk driving.
So, you know, fuck him. Even if he wasn’t an incredibly unpleasant personality to begin with, fuck him. How much apologizing do you suppose he would have to have done if he’d plowed into someone’s car and killed them?
For the record, Bill, I know you were being sarcastic, and Kathleen was joining in. But I also know that K-Lo is somewhere going “Of course not! He was in that movie!”
:::nudges Bill and tries to start “The Wave” for D.Sidhe:::
:::sniff-sniff:::
Oh, I’m just so proud. To see a little nut grow up into such a strong, powerful, ass-whuppin’ tree… I’m so proud. Now I know that I really never do have to breed, I’ve done my mothering…
:::sniff-sniff:::
:::sniff-sniff:::
Oh, I’m just so proud. To see a little nut grow up into such a strong, powerful, ass-whuppin’ tree… I’m so proud. Now I know that I really never do have to breed, I’ve done my mothering…
:::sniff-sniff:::
“Give me back my son, sugar tits!”
Your proud has nothing on mine. Annti praise! Man, I’m gonna be insufferable for days. Hah!
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