What the Hell Happened to Mel Gibson?
What the Hell Happened to Mel Gibson? by Roxanne McDonald
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He used to be so good humored, so likeable, such a hard-working and appealing star. |
Did directorial duties go to his head? Did he start a chain of negative press when he made The Passion of the Christ? Is he justified in his latest retorts?
I saw Mad Max: Road Warrior in the student union at the college where I studied, fell in love, and began my personal campaign for all things Mel Gibson. I had postcards and posters (one picture clipped to my car visor, in fact), began collecting his movies (still on VHS back then), read everything I could about this wonderful import from Australia, and even jokingly made him my higher power.
He was faithful to his wife.
He was determined as an actor—at one point wanting a part in The River so badly, for example, that after Peter Ryder expressed concern over the Australian accent for an American farmer, Mel studied and practiced until he auditioned and got the part.
And he was good humored. In interviews after buddy-pic comedies like Lethal Weapon, he would bring on the self-effacing humor till we were crying from laughing.
Then he did the drunken racial slurring eight months back after cops arrested him for a DUI. Now, he is in the news again for responding in a less that humorous or friendly manner:
Mel appeared to address film students at Cal State University at Northridge. Central American Studies Professor Alicia Estrada stood to not only “accuse Gibson of racially stereotyping Mayans in the movie Apocalypto” and challenge his research measures pre-filming (according to the Daily Mail, TMZ. Celebrity Spider, and most other presses syndicated or other), but went on to translate a Spanish-spoken protest
against the film as it was read aloud by a Mayan One patient community leader.
Now in one respect, I can completely appreciate where Mel was coming from. Here he is giving away free time and expertise, anticipating questions (not unsolicited lambasting critiques and political protests), and getting two individuals spewing vitriolic in bi-lingual stereo.
Not sure I wouldn’t have been pissed that my art was being judged as something other than art; not sure I would have taken kindly to intrusive and inappropriate treatment of my film student audience’s time; and pretty sure I would have done as Gibson did—1) request the mics (being abused) be turned off; 2) wait for the offenders (except the professor) to leave; and 3) tell her to either “get a history book and read,” suggest she make her own damned movie, or simply shut her up by telling her to “fu-k off.”
It seems especially inappropriate—even if she thought she was modeling empowered behavior, or whatever—to steal time from students to run her own self-indulgent, self-aggrandizing forum.
Hasn’t Mel had enough upset or caused enough at other times? She might be glad she is not making her 15 minutes of fame by way of him telling the &$$%#$& [racist or sexist slur] to get the f**k out of his spotlight.
Celebrity Spider Mel Gisbson links
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