Christopher Hitchens On Mel Gibson

[Roll the Bones 74]

http://www.slate.com/id/2260937/Hitchens is the author of God is not Great and a frequent author mentioned in this forum.\Mel Gibson Isn't Just an Angry NarcissistHis tirades are the distilled violence, cruelty, and bigotry of right-wing Catholic ideology.By Christopher HitchensPosted Monday, July 19, 2010, at 11:03 AM ETMel Gibson Every time Mel Gibson unburdens himself of a tirade against Jews or "n______s" or uncooperative females, there are commentators on hand to create a mystery where none exists. When he produced The Passion of the Christ, which lovingly and in detail recycled the bloody myth that all Jews are historically and collectively responsible for the murder of Jesus, it was argued by many mainstream Christians that his zeal for the faith might be a touch lurid but that the film itself was mainly devotional. When he was arrested on the Malibu freeway and screamed abuse at a police officer to the effect that Jews were responsible for all the wars in the world, pundits convened on page and screen to speculate whether our Mel had too much to drink that evening. Not long ago, I watched him go completely bug-eyed on television at a Jewish interviewer who asked him about the latter incident. "You've got a dog in this fight, haven't you?" he hissed. And now, in the wake of a Niagara of cloacal abuse directed at the mother of his youngest child, in which we were spared nothing by way of obscenity and menace and nothing by way of paranoid and sexualized racism, there have been those who diagnose Gibson's problem as a lack of anger management skills, combined perhaps with a touch of narcissistic personality disorder.This is extraordinary. We live in a culture where the terms fascist and racist are thrown about, if anything, too easily and too frequently. Yet here is a man whose every word and deed is easily explicable once you know the single essential thing about him: He is a member of a fascist splinter group that believes it is the salvation of the Catholic Church.This schismatic crackpot sect is headed by Mel Gibson's father, Hutton Gibson, a nutty autodidact with a sideline in Holocaust denial. During the controversy over The Passion of the Christ, Gibson junior said that he had never heard anything but the truth from his father. I have some of old man Gibson's books on my shelf, including his self-published classics Is the Pope Catholic? and The Enemy Is Still Here!, which essentially accuse the current papacy of doing the work of the Antichrist. My favorite sample of his prose style is the following: "Our 'civilization' tolerates open sodomy and condones murder of the unborn, but shrinks in horror from burning incorrigible heretics—essentially a charitable act." He attacks the late Pope John Paul II for having said, in one of his "outreaches" to the Jewish people, "You are our predilect brothers and, in a certain way, one could say our oldest brothers." Hutton Gibson's comment? "Abel had an older brother." I don't think that there's much ambiguity there, do you? Like many ultra-conservative Catholics, the Gibsons, père et fils, have never forgiven the Vatican for lifting the charge of deicide against the Jews in 1964. Nor have they forgiven the British Isles for breaking away from Rome during the 16th-century Reformation and destroying the monopoly of Holy Mother Church. In a series of ultra-violent propaganda movies, from Braveheart to The Patriot, Gibson has represented the English as a generally foul tribe. Those of us who have English descent can of course laugh this off as the writhings of a thwarted theocracy (combined in this case with some symptoms of a colonial inferiority complex), but the historic connection of the Catholic right with European fascism is not so amusing. It would be highly surprising if a person marinated in the doctrines of this ideology did not display all sorts of symptoms that were also sexually distraught. Racism very often clusters with sexual revulsion, and Gibson's rants are horribly larded with this element. His obsessive loathing of homosexuality—so seldom a healthy sign—is also well-known. Less well-remembered, perhaps, is the interview in which he announced that his wife of many years and the mother of his children would not, alas, be able to join him in paradise. It was not a matter of her moral character. It was simply that she had not seen fit to join the one true church. Her condemnation, then, was "a pronouncement from the chair." Gibson has now traded in this long-suffering lady—hopelessly rupturing his sacred marriage vows—for another, younger one, who, to phrase it delicately, was almost certainly not picked for her salient Catholic virtues. In doing this, he must have had a consciousness, however dim, of having endangered his immortal soul. Not only that, but also of having parted with a sensational quantity of worldly goods by way of a divorce settlement. And after all that, the new girl won't do as he says; won't defer; won't assume the desired position at a single snap of his fingers. A true gauleiter feels entitled to a bit more by way of luxurious subservience. No wonder, then, that Gibson walks around with neon lights behind his staring eyes, flashing the slogan "Contents Under Pressure." Yet I still saw a report the other day about a fan site where the members were just beginning to ask, "What's with him?" Why is there this reluctance to call something by its right name? It's not as if Gibson was issuing a cry for help. On the contrary, what he is issuing is the distilled violence, cruelty, and bigotry—and sexual hypocrisy—that stretches from the Crusades through the Inquisition to the "concordats" between the church and Hitler and Mussolini. Yet he's still reporting for work. When will Hollywood, and the wider society, finally decide to shun and spurn him utterly, both for what he is and for what he represents?

[Balloon guy 158]

When will Hollywood, and the wider society, finally decide to shun and spurn him utterly, both for what he is and for what he represents?

When the secular society stops making money and fame their God?

[CaneBrain 95]

This is a weird article. Mel Gibson's problem is not religion.....his views on that are not shared by any mainstream religion.He is a crazy asshat.....mainly because his father is an even crazier asshat. But he damn sure knows plot structure.

[Balloon guy 158]

This is a weird article. Mel Gibson's problem is not religion.....his views on that are not shared by any mainstream religion.He is a crazy asshat.....mainly because his father is an even crazier asshat. But he damn sure knows plot structure.

Like there is one actor in all of Hollywood that would refuse to do a Mel Gibson movie on principle.In a way it's kind of funny, he is so talented, and talented people are often unstable nutcases.But if you are unstable and hate yourself then kill yourself it's "Poor tortured soul'If you are unstable and hate other people and become a racist, then its "What a horrible person"It's the talent...

[Balloon guy 158]

This also reminds me that I have yet to see the Passion of the Christ.I think I own it on dvd though.

[CaneBrain 95]

Like there is one actor in all of Hollywood that would refuse to do a Mel Gibson movie on principle.In a way it's kind of funny, he is so talented, and talented people are often unstable nutcases.But if you are unstable and hate yourself then kill yourself it's "Poor tortured soul'If you are unstable and hate other people and become a racist, then its "What a horrible person"It's the talent...

Is there a Jewish producer who would not back him despite his ridic anti-semitism? Maybe a couple I guess. Probably not many, unless they think he cant bring in the money anymore.He is incredibly talented. But he is a crazy person.

[Balloon guy 158]

He is incredibly talented. But he is a crazy person.

These two things go together more often than they don't.Van GoghFatty ArbuckleJimi HendrixLindsey LohenThe list is endless until you get to like Gary Coleman, then the list gets thin...

[JubilantLankyLad 1,957]

short! dammit, BG, the list get SHORT at gary coleman!EDIT: I feel like you must feel when someone deliberately posts to get you riled up about Jebus. dammit, man, you're funnier than this!

[SuitedAces21 2,722]

These two things go together more often than they don't.Van GoghFatty ArbuckleJimi HendrixLindsey LohenThe list is endless until you get to like Gary Coleman, then the list gets thin...

of all the crazy things you've ever said, this may take the cake. lindsey lohan? talented? you cannot be serious.

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

of all the crazy things you've ever said, this may take the cake. lindsey lohan? talented? you cannot be serious.

[SuitedAces21 2,722]

i know, dude. i know.

[Balloon guy 158]

short! dammit, BG, the list get SHORT at gary coleman!EDIT: I feel like you must feel when someone deliberately posts to get you riled up about Jebus. dammit, man, you're funnier than this!

I was laughing to myself about the Fatty Arbuckle reference and I missed it.Thanks for reminding me that one of our greatest child actors is dead, killed by the very society that sold him thin on life.He deserved better.I guess it's still too soon.

[brvheart 1,752]

If he keeps making movies like Braveheart and Apocalypto, I'm still giving him my money. I don't care how crazy he is. Sidenote: I also like Tom Cruise flicks.

[SuitedAces21 2,722]

Sidenote: I also like Tom Cruise flicks.

what was his last good movie? minority report? the last samuria (carried by ken watanabe)?

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

what was his last good movie? minority report? the last samuria (carried by ken watanabe)?

you thought dances with asians was good?

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

also he was the best part of tropic thunder

[brvheart 1,752]

what was his last good movie? minority report? the last samuria (carried by ken watanabe)?

Minority Report was great. I also liked Tropic Thunder.EDIT: DAMMIT BIGD!

[SuitedAces21 2,722]

you thought dances with asians was good?

yeah, i did, in spite of tommy cruise. ken watanabe rocked the shit in that one.and the best part of tropic thunder was robert downey jr.

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

yeah, i did, in spite of tommy cruise. ken watanabe rocked the shit in that one.and the best part of tropic thunder was robert downey jr.

Theoretically, but he wasn't actually that funny.

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

and we're both wrong, obv. THe only good part of tropic thunder was simple jack.

[LongLiveYorke 38]

what was his last good movie? minority report? the last samuria (carried by ken watanabe)?

Mi3, duh. That movie's amazing; I don't know why people don't like it more.

[JoeyJoJo 18]

Minority Report was great. I also liked Tropic Thunder.

I thought you would've gone straight to Collateral.

[Balloon guy 158]

I thought you would've gone straight to Collateral.

You know Tropic Thunder told us a little secret about going 'full retard' that Jamie Fox from Collateral should have heard when he starred with Robert Downey Jr. in the Soloist.

[SuitedAces21 2,722]

I thought you would've gone straight to Collateral.

there it is. the only movie out of the one's mentioned where tommy's performance ENHANCED the movie, rather than simply not detracting from it.

[loogie 115]

Like there is one actor in all of Hollywood that would refuse to do a Mel Gibson movie on principle.

Bill Murray wouldn't do it.