Arrested development of Mel Gibson: Once the sexiest man alive; now the craziest?

When I heard about the crazed anti-Semitic tirade Mel Gibson launched into after his DUI arrest in Malibu on Friday, I thought immediately about how he excused his devoutly Jew-hating Daddy as just a lovable eccentric and about how “The Passion of The Christ” (the Passion) may have been Gibson’s (not so subliminal) homage to his Daddy’s (and his) “eccentric” views about Jews.

Of course, most of us are not inclined to hold what a person says in a drunken stupor against him – no matter the truth beneath such uninhibited ranting. And, given the way our society indulges the bad behavior of celebrities these days, I imagine most people are predisposed to forgive this megastar his trespass, especially after he conveys appropriately crafted contrition.

But it’s instructive to know that – in his church-going sober state, Gibson anoints himself as more Catholic than the Pope. And, that he’s a proud member of a Catholic sect that believes only its leaders have the authority to interpret the word of God. Indeed, many religious scholars profess that this is why Gibson proselytized his version of the crucifixion, in the Passion, using what is believed to have been the mother tongue of Jesus, Aramaic.

Yet, even though Gibson may have emulated Hitler’s propagandist Joseph Goebbels in making it, this passion film posed little threat to the welfare of Jews (despite the hysterical reaction by some in the Jewish community). However, it is undeniably a pernicious and potentially dangerous feature of Gibson’s religious dogmatism that he propagates the views of Holocaust deniers. After all, these views are grounded in the doctrine of his “traditionalist Catholic church”. And its members defiantly reject the papal reforms (decreed in Vatican II) that were intended, inter alia, to eradicate the biblical sanction of anti-Semitism, which has fueled so much violence against the Jews.

Therefore, in this light, what Gibson said seems to reflect his religious beliefs. And, this fearful symmetry makes a mockery of his PR apology, which read in part:

…when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I am deeply ashamed of everything I said….I have battled with the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse.

Hmmm, how’s that for “appropriately crafted contrition”? Nonetheless, whatever one thinks about his movies or his erstwhile sex appeal, Gibson is clearly a man possessed of many demons. And, frankly, alcoholism is the least of them.

To be fair, however, Gibson is hardly the first celebrity to blame his appalling behavior on alcohol. But, instead of apologizing for being a reckless drunk, he really should have apologized for being a hypocrite and anti-Semite. Indeed, if President George W. Bush was exposed as a religious hypocrite when he was overheard saying “shit” recently, then what does it reveal about the holier-than-the-Pope Gibson – who yelled at the arresting officer “You mother f*%ker. I’m going to f*%k you”?

Even more curious, though, is what his Jewish friends in Hollywood, who, I suspect, have always harbored misgivings about his passion for The Christ, will make of these raw revelations.

Stay tuned….

NOTE: It’s interesting that mainstream media have reported virtually nothing on the alleged attempt by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department to “sanitize” the report on Gibson’s arrest. But here’s how the highly-regarded celebrity website TMZ.com covered this angle:

Indeed, despite Gibson’s own admission that he resisted arrest in a profane and abusive manner, it seems L.A. Sheriffs were still prepared to accord him above-the-law celebrity treatment by reporting that he’d been arrested “without incident”.

ENDNOTE (from the ridiculous to the sublime): Because they apparently believe his drunken fulminations reflect his (and their) true beliefs, Jew haters all over the world have been reveling in them and embracing Gibson as their new celebrity spokesman. Nevertheless, I urge you to ignore anyone who tries to draw a nexus between Gibson’s ranting and the Middle East conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Since even constitutionally anti-Semitic governments in the Arab world have slammed Hezbollah as being solely responsible for starting this war….

Mel Gibson DUI arrest