Mel Gibson, anti-Semite
By now, if you don't know that Mel Gibson was arrested for driving drunk and then let loose with a bunch of choice anti-Semitic lines, you're probably never going to hear it. I followed a lot of the aftermath, including things like whether it would hurt his career and whether he would speak at a synagogue in an attempt at atonement.Personally, I find it interesting that Gibson's blood-alcohol content level wasn't that far above the legal driving limit, especially for someone who has personally admitted to having battled alcoholism for years. Yet, when alcohol loosened his tongue, his instinct was to start ranting aginst Jews and blaming them for all wars.
So, now that the story has passed its news peak, the columnists are still at their own opinion peaks. For one thing, they point out that there's just no way Gibson needs to worry about his career. Anyone who can put something like $25 million of his money into "The Passion of the Christ" clearly is at a secure place in his life. Plus, anti-Semitism allegations arose during the making of that film, and were fueled by the fact that Gibson's father denies that the Holocaust even happened. And you can see how that affected Gibson: His movie grossed more than $370 million.
The other point, perhaps best made by this Boston Globe columnist, is that Gibson's DUI got a whole lot more attention than did the story of a man who went on a rampage through a Seattle center, killing one and injuring five.
Posted by Layla at 10:35 PM, August 07, 2006
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