Thursday, August 03, 2006

Lest We Forget...

...Mel Gibson is a first class homophobe, too.

Money quote:
In the original interview, in the Dec. 1 issue of the El
Pais Sunday magazine, Gibson was directly asked his opinion of
homosexuals. He responded, "They take it up the ass."

According to El Pais, he laughed, got up, bent over, pointed
to his butt, and continued, "This is only for taking a shit."


Apparently, some of us use our mouth for that, too...

16 Comments:

Blogger bj said...

how do i get my pic next to my comment?

8/3/06, 1:33 PM  
Blogger Scott said...

Stephen... what "great movies" would these be, then? Braveheart? Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome? The Patriot? What Women Want? (Sugar tits, apparently.)

OK, OK: Gallipoli and The Year of Living Dangerously are great movies. But they are great *despite* him, and because of Peter Weir, who, strictly speaking, doesn't make bad movies. (Maybe one time.)

8/3/06, 2:49 PM  
Blogger Paul said...

Don't come for Beyond Thunderdome.. I'm all about that movie..

Wanna play Master-Blaster this weekend? You could get on my shoulders and....

8/3/06, 3:14 PM  
Blogger Scott said...

I think I've already been doing that and calling it something else . . .

8/3/06, 3:23 PM  
Blogger The Truffle said...

I thought it was common knowledge for years that Gibson was crazy as a loon. Why is just now that people have figured this out?

8/3/06, 5:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Braveheart is a solidly awesome movie. That's a indisputable fact. And by "indisputable fact", I mean "my personal opinion". Historically inaccurate, yes. But a great film, nonetheless.

I'd also give the Leathel Weapon series two thumbs up, although I won't go as far as to say it belongs in the AMC canon. His Riggs character is freakin' classic.

And, as much as I actually disliked the film from a taste standpoint, The Passion of The Christ was a beautiful film. Putting aside whether Gibson cinematically placed the blame on the Jews for Jesus' death or not (which is difficult), he did a spectacular job directing that movie.

Given what I've seen of Apocalypto, I also expect that to be a fun ride.

All-in-all, I think the guy is a good director. He's a douchebag, and there's no getting around that, but he makes pretty art.

I can't believe you pulled Green Card out. That's f#cking hilarious.

8/3/06, 5:45 PM  
Blogger Scott said...

And here are the "indisputable facts" as I see 'em: Braveheart is a homophobic piece of shit (don't see how any gay person could get behind that movie)...

The Passion is a *horribly* directed, Jew-hating snuff film (adapting a telling of the story that has served to incite antisemitic pogroms for centuries)...

And the Lethal Weapon series has only one mildly diverting installment (#2). And even *that* had nothing to do with Gibson--It had a fantastic Jeff Boam script and Joe Pesci chewing the scenery.

Bottom line: this fucker is a misogynistic, homophobic antisemite (and god knows what he thinks about people with brown skin). He's a mediocre-at-best actor, and a truly pathetic excuse for a director who has just committed career suicide. (Maybe we should get together and send him a thank you note, signed "from people who like *good* movies.")

8/3/06, 6:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I started writing a comment and realized it was just WAY too wordy.

Suffices to say, we obviously have a difference of opinion. I find myself able to look past the idiot and find redeeming qualities in a lot of what he creates.

Mel Gibson is a zealot, a bigot, and a homophobe. You're absolutely right about that. But I feel that he's a talented zealot, bigot, and homophobe. I can't easily dismiss what he creates just because he's an idiot.

Removing ourselves from the immediate example for a moment and realizing that I'm not making an EXACT analogy here, ask yourself this: If a axe-murdering rapist makes good art, is the art still worthwhile? Is it still valid as art if the artist is unredeemable?

8/4/06, 4:05 PM  
Blogger Scott said...

Absolutely, it's valid. But that's not how I see his work, or how I saw his work *before* I found out he was a bigot (which was when Braveheart came out).

On the other hand, this is not the case of a painter or a sculptor--This is an actor. To enjoy his work, one must be LOOKING at his face and LISTENING to his voice, which requires suspension of disbelief.

When he's directing, it's not his actual, but his auctorial voice involved... and in both Braveheart and The Passion, his bigoted point of view came through loud and clear.

Let's talk about a bigoted artist I *do* think is talented: David Mamet. He's clearly a brilliant writer, a master storyteller ... and he HATES women. He makes Hitchcock look well-adjusted in that regard. Consequently, I cannot watch his stuff.

8/4/06, 5:36 PM  
Blogger Scott said...

Then there's someone like Orson Scott Card. Again, very talented. He's a master storyteller. And a vicious homophobe. And yet his case is trickier than Mamet's because I've never seen a hint of his real life craziness in the work.

In fact, in one of his best novels, Speaker for the Dead (the sequel to Ender's Game), there is a fully-fleshed out, entirely sympathetic gay character. Not a hint of his politics infecting his fiction (at least, none that I could detect, and I'm pretty sensitive to such things).

Still, I can't bring myself to put money in his pocket anymore.

8/4/06, 5:45 PM  
Blogger Paul said...

Wait... who's the gay character in Speaker for the Dead?? refresh my memory??

8/4/06, 7:34 PM  
Blogger Scott said...

There are two, if I remember correctly--one of the families on the alien planet--but I can't remember their names. There's one in Ender's Game, too (can't remember the details--it's been 15 years since I read these books). There are a lot of gay characters in his work, almost all of them very postiive depictions... which makes his nonfiction writings on the subject all the more suspect. Can you say "the lady doth protest too much?" Knew ya could.

8/4/06, 8:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Understood and agreed.

I believe you and I, Scott, do not have a fundamental difference of argument here.

We have a fundamental difference of taste. :-)

8/4/06, 8:03 PM  
Blogger Scott said...

^^^You're too cute to hate. :)

8/4/06, 9:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am sure Mel totally cares what you think. I mean I am sure it will affect his 600 million dollar net worth.

8/6/06, 2:08 PM  
Blogger Scott said...

Whatever, Mary.

8/6/06, 4:08 PM  

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