They labeled him an antisemetic with no just cause.
Absolutely. The whole thing got started prior to “The Passion” when a reporter interviewed Mel Gibson’s father. To be as charitable as possible, Hutton Gibson is an elderly man who believes in several conspiracy theories, among them the belief that the Holocaust was a hoax and that the last few popes in Rome were chosen invalidly.
The Holocaust denial thing is a hot topic and the media ran with it. As a result the world assumed “like father, like son” so suddenly Mel is an anti-semite and “The Passion” was anti-semetic even before anyone had seen much more than a rough draft script. This turned out to be an incredible accusation considering that the most semetic-looking character in “The Passion” is Jesus and the actress portraying his mother is a jew, but why quibble with the obvioius? Yellow journalism rules the day.
Mel is somewhat like the attractive but virginal daughter whose father constantly accuses her of being the high school slut. She’s gonna prove him right just to spite him. Years of media abuse and accusations led to Mel reaching the breaking point. The result was his drunken tirade repleate with anti-semetic slurs. Inapporiate? Yes. Sinful? Yes. But he who is without sin can cast the first stone. Mel undoubtedly went to confession soon thereafter and he’s been working hard to publically attone.
Of course the media won’t take responsibility for being at the root cause of this problem. A reporter going after a celebrity’s elderly relatives is very poor form and the worst of yellow journalism. It caused Mel a ton of grief. Mel won’t publically condemn his father’s beliefs or even privately scold him because of the Commandment that says “Thou Shalt Honor Thy Father and Mother.” The media would have liked nothing more than to have caused a rift between Mel and his father, but as Mel stated to Diane Sawyer when she approached the question, “Don’t go there Diane. He’s my dad and I love him.”
This week the media is making a big deal how “Apocalypto” fell to #6 at the box office, but it was #1 last weekend and this weekend faced a lot of stiff competition. The film has made money and will continue to do so. As much as “The Passion?.” No, of course not. The audience is more limited this time around. But that fact that it did hit #1 on the first time out the gate proves that Gibson’s career is far from over. I believe his greatest directorial work is still ahead of him.
Mel will survive all this because he’s not shrinking from it. He may not believe that Benedict XVI is a valid Pope, but the two of them share something in common: being falsely accused of bigotry.
I’m not concerned with Mel’s status with Rome. His lead actor in “The Passion,” Jim Cavezel, is a devout Catholic who is very much in communion with Rome. Mel’s “Passion” did much to bring me home to the Catholic church. I like to say Mel Gibson evangelized me and Mother Angelica catechized me.
