comment #1

Hallick says ...

(sigh...) I don't know if Mel Gibson has it in him to go the distance on that advice. The man's infamous answer when asked about his father's views on the Holocaust was so pointlessly hair-splitting, I kind of think he loves whatever his "pure" opinion is of Judaism.

In his own mind, most of this is probably just a bunch of politically correct B.S. that he's going to tire of a lot sooner than he'll give these weird thoughts of his a good dose of rational introspection.

comment #2

Nicol D says ...

I agree he has a long road to climb, but because he is a decent man I think he will travel it.

If there is anger/hate in him, it doesn't matter if it is gone in 2 weeks...what matters is that it is gone in him before he dies.

Perhaps he should look at all of this as a blessing in disguise.

comment #3

nemo says ...

I've never understood how Mel Gibson can get away with making the subject of his father's anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial off-limits for interviewers. Why do they let him get away with that?

It's not as if it's his father's private opinion. His father has repeatedly broadcast this opinion to the whole world, and has apparently used his son's fame as a megaphone for that opinion.

Yeah, Mel is a rich, powerful, famous guy, and he might stalk off the set if an interviewer persists with such questions. I can understand why they back down. But it's still cowardly.

comment #4

Anonymous says ...

Gibson's father never denied the Holocaust happened, he has said that the Holocaust has been exagerated. There is a big difference. Just because someone says that the German's did not have the necessary means to dispose of 6 million bodies does not mean he is denying the event didn't take place. He has also said that the Holocaust also has focused that 6 million Jews were killed. There were more than just Jews in the concentration camps.

Just because people question the events doesn't make them anti-semitic and some nazi lover.

It is like saying you are anti-american for questioning the Iraq war.

comment #5

Anonymous says ...

Yeah, I don't think there is a solid list of 6 million people somewhere and those people have been traced to remains somewhere. There were people that were said to have been killed in the Trade Center that wound up being alive. Keeping track of people today is just a little more complicated.
Even if the number were a million it would still be horrific, but the number has continuously risen over the last few years, and the 6 million is just an estimate anyways.

comment #6

Anonymous says ...

sorry, keeping track of people is a little more advanced - not complicated

comment #7

Anonymous says ...

You don't disrespect your parents in front of the world, even if they are crackpots.

comment #8

Jon says ...

Apparently the Nazis kept for articulate records. I wouldn't be surprised there is a list with millions of people on it....

comment #9

nemo says ...

Nobody flatly denies the Holocaust anymore. That old school stuff gets you written off immediately as a nutcase.

New school Holocaust denial is always about, oh sure, some Jews were killed, of course, but not as many as they say, nobody knows the numbers for sure, it's all been exaggerated, and anyway, it's probably not as many as the number of Ukrainians that Stalin killed.

All the stuff that both Gibson and his dad say.

I can understand not disrespecting your parents in front of the world, but I also think that Gibson hides behind it. He could quietly say, my dad is entitled to his opinion, even if it is a completely wrong opinion. That faces the question without dissing his father.

But he doesn't say that. He just says, he's my dad, questions are off-limits. And it sure look like he hides in this way because in his heart of hearts, he still shares his dad's crackpot opinions on that subject.

comment #10

Mike Schaefer says ...

"Gibson's father never denied the Holocaust happened, he has said that the Holocaust has been exagerated... He has also said that the Holocaust also has focused that 6 million Jews were killed. There were more than just Jews in the concentration camps"

Very true. There were also homosexuals. And I'm sure Mel's dad just LOVES us homos! LOL!

comment #11

Anonymous says ...

To be completely fair, there were also Catholics.

comment #12

Thung says ...

He needs to do what a lot of people have done before him and that is trot out his family, the people who know him best, take them on Larry King with him and let them talk about the Mel they know, the loving father and husband, the good man.

comment #13

Nate West says ...

"[Gibson] has a long walk up a steep hill." Carrying a cross?

Yes, the man who so completely identifies with victims of torture and crucifixition (e.g., Jesus, William Wallace, Conspiracy Theory guy), finally manages to get himself strung up by the high priests of Hollywood (and they're Jews! What a coincidence!). I suggest some very strange wish-fulfillment is being played out here. Is Mel "sacrificing" his career so that other careers may live? Is his guilt about some hidden "sin" so great that only a ritualistic suicide (or Apocalypto) will deliver him?

comment #14

Sam Jones says ...

How is being honest about a parent's belief disrespect? If Mel Gibson did an interview where he said his fathers beliefs are incorrect, I don't think that qualifies as disrespect. I'm not saying throw dad to the wolves and call him a Nazi, but Mel has to challenge in the open now if he ever wants to be credible.
I grew up and live in the South (AL + GA). If my father ran around in public calling black people ni#*ers or attempting to justify slavery, then I think I have a responsibility to challenge those public statements in public.
Ignorance must be met head on with knowledge. Gibson's father is clearly ignorant of history, even if "all" he is doing is saying there were others killed by the Nazis. If anything, a man like Gibson's father is worse than a denier because he is making light of a horrific situation by rationalizing that more than "just" Jews were killed.
Mel Gibson needs to radically change his public perception if he wants to keep working. If he wants to be a racist or anti-Semite, then that is his business, as long as he is willing to stay at home the rest of his life. But if he wants to work in the public sphere as he always has, then there is a fundamental change in his worldview that will have to happen.

comment #15

Ida W. says ...

I'm just curious. Has anyone besides Mel even seen Apocalypto? Is there a chance it's the movie equivalent of "all work and no play make Jack a dull boy"?

comment #16

T. H. says ...

The second apology did smack of Mel being trapped inside a wish fullfilment fantasy and trying to throw hiself at the mercy of Jews in Hollywood. It would be a fitting irony in the end if they jointly uttered the famous agent's line, "no thanks, what's in it for me." And not rebuking Daddy but getting more into bed with him buying a church in Pittsburgh. To much Latin Mass may make Mel boring, and his kids. I always thought strapping young men who live in Malibu like to surf, not practice Latin mass. Maybe he's got sons in his employ doing secrecy detail on A-poc -- the only ones who've seen footage are: the telecine operator who works at the lab where the film was processed - and these sessions can be supervised, I've done that myself in the course of working as an assistant editor and the 2 picture editors and their assistants -- it would be easy (and smart) to pad your staff with close relatives, it's not that uncommon.

comment #17

Anonymous says ...

And the trailer editor. I haven't seen the trailer -- is it sweeping in scope or narrow? That matters in terms of how much cut footage the trailer editor was given to work with.

comment #18

T. H. says ...

Boring Mel, post POTC, did sit com Complete Savages for Diz owned ABC -- ever see it? Flatter than a left over pancake on Sunday morning. No more TV for boring Mel, show us what a good director you are with A-poc.

"In fall 2003, Gibson himself attended a meeting at ABC to pitch his family sitcom 'Complete Savages,' which was sold as a semiautobiographical, Bill Cosby-esque account of the star's joys and tribulations raising a large brood in real life."

from:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-channel7aug07,1,5827286.story?coll=la-headlines-entnews&track=crosspromo

comment #19

Anonymous says ...

Gotta go, have a nice day. (made ya look)

comment #20

Anonymous says ...

T.H.
I've met Mel, his wife, and kids on more than one occasion. They do surf, skateboard, and do all of the things you would expect teenagers to do. Mel is a very supportive father and takes an interest in his sons activities.

comment #21

David L. says ...

In my meetings with Mel, he poured blood on my head, but I took that as the cost of doing business in Hollywood.

comment #22

Big AB says ...

All this anti-Semitic talk is diverting attention from the real problem, alcoholism. What drunk hasn't said stupid sh*t? More people have died from alcoholism-health related or otherwise, than the Holocaust. We are just lucky that he didn't kill anyone driving legally drunk. Alcoholics are known to blame anything or anyone for his or her problems, so in this case the Jews are the scape-goat. I'm Jewish, and I say big deal. The big deal is that Mel was driving drunk and probably will again.