Forgiving Mel

Okay, heres my Mel rant:

Mel Gibson's latest idiodicy scares me. And I mean, it really freaks me out. The guy doesn't like Jews. So why enter a profession where a majority of studios are run by, you guessed it, Jews? Take Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) for example, one of the earliest and largest production houses. Before these 3 companies became one huge one they were Metro Pictures, run at the time by Marcus Loew, the yid who went on to own a whole bunch of other stuff including hotels and theater chains, Goldwyn Pictures Corp., another yid, and Louis B. Mayer Pictures (can you get more yid then that?!). Why not get a job with people who share your views, like say, spokesperson for the KKK. Of course, Mel Gibson's dad Hutton, the infamous Holocaust denier, would have to retire from the position before he could assume it.

After hearing of his anti-semitic tirade to the Jewish officer, who by the way, sooo does not look Jewish, I almost found them comical. Here was a drunk dude just blabbering out of his mind about the F*****g Jews and how Jews are causing all these wars. That was until I realized how I get when I myself am out of my mind drunk. I might not get in my car to drive home (only tried that once, before I barfed on the driver's side door and then asked a friend to drive). I become the crazy paranoid drunk honest lady. All my inhibitions fly themselves out the window. Hell, I even remember asking a hot guy to prom when I was really drunk. That fact embarrassed me the next morning. Thank God he didn't say yes. I would have died. But the fact is nothing holds you back and nothing holds your tongue in that situation. All those feelings you have that you would never share sober find a way to slip out. I one time professed my love for someone that I never would have done sober. And yes, they still make fun of me to this day. I'll never live that one down. So the point is, Mel meant what he said. He hates Jews. He blames us for all the wars. You know how we know that? Cause that night on Pacific Coast Highway when he was pulled over by Officer Mee, he wasn't wearing the mask he wears every day when he leaves for the movie set. Just like almost anyone whos been to Mexico will tell you, tequila is a dangerous dangerous substance. If you don't believe me, ask anyone who was in that little bar in Rosarita when I found myself dancing with Kevin H. That last shot was a bad bad idea. Oy.

What I cannot force myself to understand is how accepting the Jewish community has been to this situation. Why we didn't just close the book on him after the Passion of the Christ I do not know. When I heard that an LA Rabbi invited him to speak at their Yom Kippur services I freaked out. In the JTA article It’s not about the publicity, insist Jewish groups inviting Mel Gibson the Rabbi in question David Baron said “In our faith, we are commanded to forgive when the offending party takes the necessary steps and offers an apology from the heart.” No Rabbi. Thats not how it works. Apologizing is not an easy thing in Jewish law. If the offender has done teshuva (repented), and is sincere in his or her repentance then we can forgive them. But we should only forgive him if he meant what he said. The type of forgiveness Rabbi Baron is offering is slicha. This is a more emotional forgiveness. It is given when you feel that the other person is only human and therefore deserving of sympathy. I'm sorry, and it might be wrong to say, but I don't think Mel is deserving of our sympathy. I'm not going to be sympathetic to a murderer because they had a tough upbringing and I sure as hell won't be sympathetic towards Mel because he is an alcoholic and has such a hard life. How many millions did he make for his last film?

The good news (and of course something good always comes out of this sort of thing) is that some other Jewish groups are using this as a starting point for a much more important discussion. NJOP asks the question Should Mel Gibson Be Forgiven? The group has created a blog of sorts entitled Project Forgiveness for people to discuss the topic of forgiveness and even post (anonymously if they prefer) things that they would like to apologize for. I'm interested to see how quickly this site takes off as we are leading up to the Days of Awe.

And then of course we have the humor in the situation. Thank God we have guys like Jon Stewart who can take the edge off. In his segment which one poster titled Mel-o-Drama he humorously discusses Mel. Being a Jew himself, Stewart was probably offended by the remarks but chose to make light of them to help us keep our sanity.



There was also this shirt I saw on eBay today:



But my favorite point of all was made by no other than Natalie Maines, the famous Bush basher. The Dixie Chicks, which I'm sure you all know from reading my past blogs, got themselves into a great deal of trouble for being critical of the President and making the simple statement that they are ashamed the President is from Texas. Their whole world practically imploded after that night. At the Dixie Chicks concert last week after dedicating their song White Trash Wedding to Mel "not a bigot" Gibson and pointing out that he used alchohol as his primary defense, Natalie told the sold out crowd, "All our controversies would have been over if I checked myself into rehab and said that I was drunk and didn't know what I was saying." The Dixie Chicks made one statement 3 years ago about the President and their careers are still suffering because of it. Are we going to allow Mel to get off any easier? I hope the hell not.

"To Err Is Human, To Forgive Divine." I'm sorry, but I'm just not ready to forgive him just yet. If he can prove to us that his apology really is truthful, then, and only then can we move on. Maybe twenty years from now I'll finally rent his new movie Apocalypto. That is, if Just One of the Guys is all checked out. Best cheesy 80s movie ever! Rent it! Peace!