I’ve been following the Mel Gibson story the past two days in the same way that one can’t help but peek at a car accident. In case you want the details, you can go to RadarOnline and read this. It is full of insane cursing, insults, threats and his 8 month old baby crying in the background (so says Radar, obviously no one else has actually heard the tape).
Today, I read this article on The Daily Beast. It is asking whether or not Mel’s career can recover from this. They are comparing it to his infamous DUI arrest in 2006 when he proclaimed that Jews are “responsible for all the wars in the world” (hey Mel, does that include Jesus, the most famous Jew of all-time? Just wondering since you are so ultra-religious) and called the female cop a most ridiculous name. Here is a quote from the article that caught my eye and inspired me to write about this:
This seems to be the assumption, regardless of the fact that, as Ross Johnson, head of strategic communication at the PR firm PMK-BNC, put it: “He’s getting into the most emotionally and politically charged area that he can get into in American culture, which is the relationship and history between black people and white people in this country. He’s ratcheted this up a notch.”
Really? That’s what he got from this? It’s fascinating to me that people are turning this into a racial thing and ignoring the rest. I mean, yes, obviously it is full of horrible racial slurs. But it is almost like this Ross Johnson didn’t hear this part: “I am going to come and burn the f–king house down… but you will blow me first.” Or this: ’Mel told Oksana she looked like a “f—ing pig in heat” who — because of her fashion sense — risked getting “raped by a pack of n—ers.” “It will be your fault,” Mel said.’
Isn’t this an incident of domestic abuse/violence, first and foremost? Am I the only one taking it this way? Doesn’t it sound very close to being OJ Simpson kind of crazy? Is it now okay to mentally (and allegedly, physically) abuse the mother of your child, just as long as you don’t use the N-word? Is it just easier to think that he is a racist and ignore the rest? Have we suddenly regressed 20 years in the area of domestic violence awareness? Did we learn nothing from those pictures of Nicole Brown Simpson and Rheanna, or Nicole and OJ’s 911 tape?
Mel apparently has a few movies lined up to be released in the next year. Is anyone going to see them? And if so, what does it say about our culture. If Chris Brown remains a pariah (and rightfully so), shouldn’t Mel too forever be remembered for this? I will be interested to see who in Hollywood is willing to work with Mel in the future, especially considering the supposed enlightened and liberal viewpoints of those in the industry. Then again, many of them lined up to show support for Roman Polanski, a convicted child rapist. So what do I know about their morality. But it’s something to consider when deciding to whom you should give your $10 per movie.
