Mel Gibson's Drunken Rant

Mel Gibson has been all over the news due to his DUI arrest and drunken anti-Semitic ranting. As to be expected the blogosphere has begun to weigh in on this story, and nowhere is the Hollywood opinion going to be more debated than at The Huffington Post. Arianna Huffington weighs in here, and here’s another opinion.

My answer to those disproportionate criticisms is this:

Yes, Gibson should be ostracized to a point. His rant does make it tougher to show legitimate criticism of Israel, and for that reason he should not be taken seriously in a political arena. That is to say he should be ostracized from ever becoming one of those actors that will run for governor, or become involved in politics in a real way - a la Warren Beatty or Rob Reiner. And, it is definitely a good idea that he no longer be attached in any way to making a holocaust mini-series. His ability to be seen as being fair to that subject is forever put into question.

However, we should not stand by and let a brilliant artist, with some extreme views, be morphed into some kind of Klan leader. His thoughts are no different than those of any person with extreme views. I’ve personally heard many middle class white people, who are otherwise normal and intelligent, during heated political debates, call all Arabs either animals, subhuman, rats, or other such comments. Of course, this is not right either and I think those people were fools. But, it’s a reality of this world that many people have the ability to go to that extreme when they get emotional about an issue; and some of them are probably in your family. I guarantee that some time in private during the last 5 years Ron Silver has uttered a sentence that extreme. I would condemn Ron Silver for that if I heard of it (he is pretty much a total clown), but I don’t think it necessary that his agent and publicist have to quit working with him.

Making a prejudice statement about Jews or Israelis should not – and will not in my mind – become more of a crime than an equally prejudice statement against any other group. The backlash that might gain some steam surrounding this story will be because people can sense that Jews and Israel get preferential treatment in that regard. That’s not to say there isn’t real racism and hatred directed at them. There is. The same way there’s real racism and hatred in the world aimed at black people, Mexicans, Arabs, gays, and so on… None of it is right, and none of it is any more wrong than another example. We shouldn’t encourage any of it. And, if we’re prepared to ostracize everyone in society that is that intolerant - that entire 25% of the population – then I could maybe sign onto that.

However, until then it doesn’t make sense to shun just Mel Gibson. This is considering that he is not the leader of an anti-Semitic movement, and giving him the benefit of the doubt that he is merely someone who once in a while gets real pissed and goes to the extreme in his comments. It is the same extreme that far too many people go to in their private lives; some of us only pretend that doesn’t exist or that it doesn’t count as much when it’s not about Jews.

It should be said that Mel Gibson is getting the benefit of the doubt because of the fact that he is a brilliant artist. Movies have been our dominant art form for at least 70 years, and Braveheart is in the pantheon of the greatest movies ever made. So, there’s nothing wrong with continuing to appreciate his art. He’s not getting out of legal trouble because of his talent – he’ll get found guilty and take the normal punishment for drinking and driving. He’s an artist, not a political leader, so if his art is good, then the world is still better off with that art then without it.

In the same manner, I would still eat the food at a good restaurant if, for example, the chef/owner secretly thought that being gay was a disease that could be cured by sending all the gays to a homo island boot camp. However, you know what: I’d feel a lot worse about eating in that restaurant if I knew the chef/owner was a pedophile or sexually assaulted 13 year old girls. Those are far worse crimes that should rise to the level of being totally shunned from society. Interestingly enough Hollywood never thought seriously about shunning either Woody Allen or Roman Polanski, so this “line in the sand” regarding Mel Gibson is not justified.

Bush Strikes Again

George Bush had quite a week at the G8 Summit. It's hard to keep track of the ways that he embarrassed himself (and our nation in the process). First there was him getting burned by Putin during a press conference when Putin responded to Bush by saying Russia doesn't want the kind of democracy they have in Iraq. Then he gets caught, when he didn't know their was a microphone on, sounding like a complete idiot talking to Tony Blair and showing off his amateurish understanding of diplomacy as pertaining to the Israeli-Arab conflict - not to mention his realization that Russia and China are both big countries.

And, finally he's caught on video giving German Chancellor Angela Merkel a quick unsuspecting massage. This last gaffe will probably be the least reported on and discussed incident, but I think it is possibly the most important incident worth focusing on. Though Bush's simplified beliefs on how to stop the fighting between Israel and their Arab foes deserves it's own special place in The Bush Hall of Fame. However, that shouldn't take the focus away from an equally telling Bush moment which might at first seem like nothing to take seriously.

However, Bush grabbing the German Chancellor is not something to overlook. It may seem innocuous, but it is as telling as any of Bush’s gaffes about what a complete and utter clown this man is. There’s no denying that the German Chancellor cringed, and you can’t spin that any other way because it was a completely natural, spontaneous reaction by her that’s as obvious as anything.

I’m sure in Bush’s mind it wasn’t malicious or perverted. Of course not, but what he is too ignorant and arrogant to understand is that it's a clear sign of disrespect. That woman happens to be the leader of Germany. The leader! Just think about that. Right or wrong there’s a certain sense of importance that all leaders have. It’s only natural; and they happen to think their presence commands a certain amount of respect. They usually don’t get grabbed unexpectedly in front of other people, by any human being on the planet, while they're acting in their capacity as leader of a country. People don’t pinch their cheeks, or give them noogies, or go to shake their hand and then at the last second pull back their hand and run it through their hair while saying, “Sike!”

It couldn’t be more disrespectful. I’m pretty sure the people of Germany think they are a pretty important, powerful country and should be afforded more respect. They are not Guam (my apologies to that guy in Guam that’s reading this). And, what they also know is that people only disrespect someone like that who they think they’re better than. People don’t do that to their boss; they do that to their assistant. You also have to wonder if he would have grabbed a man like that. I can’t imagine Bush walking behind Putin and unexpectedly grabbing the tendons between his shoulders and neck. I think the German Chancellor knows this, as do the German people.

It may seem like nothing, but it’s not nothing when most of the world already hates you and think you’re an arrogant nation run by an arrogant, incompetent bully. And, it’s not going to help as you try to get other nations, like Germany, to follow your lead on the most serious matters around the world.