Mel Gibson, who previously drew unwanted attention to himself by using anti Semitic language in a drunken rant to police officers, may have finally sunk his career by apparently using one of the words you cannot say ever to his ex girl friend.
Oksana Grigorieva, Gibson’s ex girlfriend, recorded at least thirty minutes of phone conversations in which the actor/director ruminated about everything from breastfeeding their child, to the way she dressed in rants laced with profanity and at least one use of the “N word.” Grigorieva and Gibson are locked in a bitter custody battle over the child. Grigorieva has also accused Gibson of domestic violence, something the law enforcement is looking into.
The scandal has already hurt Gibson’s career, moribund since the anti Semitic incident. The William Morris Agency has dropped Gibson as a client. In any event, Gibson has had very few acting offers recently and no directing gigs since the pre Columbian epic ‘Apocalypto.’
The Mel Gibson tragedy is indicative of one thing. There is a certain selective morality practiced in the entertainment business. The use of the “N word” is certainly unacceptable, unless one is an African American comedian. Domestic violence is also bad, unless one is Charlie Sheen. Ranting on the phone to a relative or loved one is also not done, unless one is Alec Baldwin.
Mind, Mel Gibson clearly has anger management issues. And his last few films have been less than stellar at the box office. But one wonders if Gibson is not getting the kind of slack that other Hollywood people have gotten because the subjects of some of his movies have proven a little too cutting edge for some.
‘The Passion of the Christ’ was accused, falsely in this writer’s judgment, of being anti Semitic. After all, Jesus himself was Jewish and many of the other Jewish characters were presented in a favorable light. Of course Mel Gibson’s later anti Semitic rant did not help matters, suggesting that Gibson does have some demons he needs to wrestle with.
‘Apocalypto’ was criticized in certain quarters for depicting a native American culture in a less than favorable light and implying that the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors may have been, on the balance, a good thing.
This is not to say the Mel Gibson does not need an intervention or a terrific amount of anger management therapy. But one wonders why his career needs to be terminated because of his problems. It is not as if he has praised a third world dictator or wished that certain conservative figures were dead or accused ordinary Americans of being racists.
One can only hope that Mel Gibson, an actor and director of some talent, gets the help he needs and finds the peace he surely requires and then, somehow, puts his career back together. Otherwise, the collapse of Mel Gibson will be at once a waste and an example of Hollywood hypocrisy.
Source: Mel Gibson, IMDB
Website posts recording of racist Gibson rant, AP, July 9th, 2010
Words You Can’t Say Ever, Mark R. Whittington, Associated Content, March 22nd, 2007
