Sympathy For Mel Gibson
Getting ready to strap Mel up there.
He endured public humiliation, ridicule, torture, and scorn. He was jeered, mocked, and savagely beaten. The blood-thirsty rabble, blind to its own flaws, heaped self-righteous reprobation upon him. His suffering and torment were made public, for the world to enjoy. The Passion of the Christ? No: the trials and tribulations of erstwhile movie star Mel Gibson.
Nobody deserves to have their private anguish broadcast publicly – least of all, private citizens. Gibson is just that; he is not a politician, his personal life should not concern us. But so long as his rantings and ravings have now made it into the public square, the situation does bear comment.
The Gibson tapes present the image of a man in profound emotional anguish. Disregard the profanity and the few (and indefensible) racial slurs, and you find a man who is genuinely suffering. Here is someone who feels his “life is being ruined,” that he gets no “support,” that he and his lover, Oksana Grigorieva, share no “spiritual ground.” He feels that that Grigorieva”doesn’t care for him” even now, when he is “having a hard time.” He worries about his young daughter, frets that Grigorieva is not being attentive to her needs. To be sure, Gibson comes off as relatively crazed in these tapes. But it’s the kind of crazed state that is familiar to many who have been in intense and grueling relationships. Love makes fools of us all, after all.
Prominent readings of the situation have been comically, preposterously bad. David Brooks of the New York Times ludicrously claimed that it was Gibson’s “narcissism” that led him to act the way he did. Yet, if anything, Gibson comes off as desperate for Grigorieva’s affection in the tapes. He craves her approval and support. This it not self-love manifesting itself; this is insecurity and neediness. If anything, Gibson appears to be suffering from a lack of self-love.
Meanwhile, here at True/Slant, Todd Essig, a psychologist, argued that “hatred” motivates Gibson’s behavior. But this is another incredibly wrong-headed reading of the situation. Gibson is not motivated by “hatred” here – he is motivated by a pathological need to be approved and loved by others. Far from “hatred,” and the hardened state that that implies, Gibson appears a needy, almost child-like figure.
The elite media’s sick celebration of this spectacle calls to mind another phrase associated with this fine actor: Payback. In 2004, when the Gibson-helmed Passion of the Christ was released, our cultural gatekeepers were shocked and appalled. Frank Rich devoted no fewer than four of his New York Times columns to the film. Christopher Hitchens, writing in Slate, said that Gibson deserved a “flogging,” and that the movie was “fascist.” The New Yorker said it was “one of the cruelest movies in the history of cinema.” All of this may be true – I have not seen the movie, but, from what I understand, its politics and aesthetics are truly despicable. It’s worth noting, however, that our cultural elite was appalled at Gibson’s treatment of the crucifixion insofar as it was hyper-violent and disgusting. But now they’re relishing the opportunity to crucify Mel, themselves.
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It’s an actor, for Christ’s sake. Who cares if it lives or dies, really?
The condemnation he faces reflects well on society. It shows that we clearly don’t tolerate beating or threatening to murder the mother of your child. Being crucified (via mean words instead of nails and wood) after viciously tormenting someone is a bit different than being literally crucified after (supposedly) preaching holy truth and spreading messages of love and happiness etc, so I don’t think the JC – MG comparison really works.
Disregard the profanity and the few (and indefensible) racial slurs, and you find a man who is genuinely suffering.
Well, hey, since we’re just going to disregard things! Of course, disregard the suffering and anguish along with the profanity and racism and you have a perfectly happy and well-adjusted individual who loves rose gardens.
That’s a neat trick – simply ignore everything that stands in stark contradiction of what you’d like to believe.
Disregard everything Justin St. Giles Payne has ever posted at True/Slant, and you find a man who is intelligent and well-adjusted.
In response to another comment. See in context »Oh, so you do read these comments! Well, you’d never given any indication of it, before.
Now, if you could kindly actually address the arguments that have been made, that would be great. I think there’s about twenty threads you have to catch up on, but I’m ok if you could start with this one. Could you explain how telling a woman that she should “just fucking smile and blow me” is a request for her approval and support? Could you explain how threatening to murder a woman and put the body in “a fucking rose garden” is a request for her approval and support? Could you explain how telling her that she dresses “like a Vegas whore” and looks like “a fucking bitch in heat” is a request for her approval and support?
Please be specific.
In response to another comment. See in context »Yes, Gibson is genuinely suffering. You’re correct on that point. A balanced and secure person doesn’t carry on that way, even while high. The responses to your point have been as inane as we can expect from the amateur logicians trolling T/S.
However, Gibson has made a career of bullying, even threatening, those he has a beef with, so of course he’s going to get it back with interest–especially now that (as Frank Rich points out) the media isn’t cleaning up his mess for him. We get what we give, and he’s getting his.
In response to another comment. See in context »Sorry, I hadn’t even read the whole thing. I was literally rendered speechless by the breathtaking stupidity of Ethan Epstein.
He craves her approval and support.
I know when I crave someone’s approval and support, I threaten to murder them and hide the body. And I make sure they know that they “dress like a Vegas whore”, and look like a “fucking bitch in heat.” And, of course, reminding them that they should “just fucking smile and blow me” never fails to win hearts and minds when I crave someone’s approval and support.
You’re a deranged moron, Ethan. You must truly be True/Slant’s stupidest contributor. Please, please tell me you’re going to be fired by Forbes.
Reminds me of a song, what was it called? Oh yeah, Sympathy for the Devil. I have more sympathy for him than Mel Gibson. He’s a virulent racist, homophone, and anti-Semite. His statements down through the years bear that out. And the “but he has black/jewish/gay friends!” defense is laughable. Anyone who hangs around white people enough nows that “having black friends” doesn’t preclude them from being really racist when they’re with just white people.
So, in short, no Ethan, I will not have sympathy for Gibson-just the opposite in fact: anything bad that happens to him is just gravy in my book.
I don’t even know where to start mocking what you have written here, and I used to go after fucking creationists.
Ha. Ha?
I’m making a subjective point, Barrett – the pain that Gibson is enduring arouses sympathy in me, not joy or schadenfreude. I would be interested in hearing what’s so mockable about that.
In response to another comment. See in context »You are making several points, actually, most of which involve something quite different than mere sympathy for a flawed man: derision for those who disapprove of his flaws. You condemn men for condemning a man who has done something that merits condemnation. I will reply at greater length momentarily.
In response to another comment. See in context »Because he’s a disgusting, gross bigot, and our sympathies should be reserved for those who deserve them. Some human beings, like Mel Gibson, are so twisted by hate and intolerance that they simply don’t deserve even the smallest human courtesty.
I’m all for being big of heart, but reasonable, compassionate people have to draw the line at taking the side of the man who says that if his ex-wife is “raped by a pack of n*ggers” it’ll be her own fault.
In response to another comment. See in context »As promised, I have expanded on my assertion that your post is nonsense.
In response to another comment. See in context »The real issue is the surreal contrast between Gibson’s invented image and the reality. When you pretend to be a paragon of morality and the world’s premiere family guy, and then tapes turn up in which you’re screaming “f*cking blow me”… Well, questions will follow. Judgments will be passed. Sorry, but they will.
Listening to the tapes (ugh), I hear a seriously disturbed man in need of help, especially if he reached his ranting, puffing state without the primary benefit of alcohol, drugs, or glue fumes.
Can the media do a worse job on the guy than he’s doing on himself? Doubtful.
I’m all for contrarianism, but this is preposterous. Mel Gibson is an entitled, spoiled, rich, and deluded asshole who justly deserves the public flaying he is receiving, and I can’t actually believe that you really feel that he is being treated unjustly. Maybe love makes fools of us all, but love does not make us all savage, loutish, babbling, racist, nutcases.
Good galloping grief. I just read today’s Frank Rich piece–are you aware of the threats Gibson made to Rich? Do you think it’s possible that people have a justified beef with this threat-making loony?
How about the fact that the “elite media,” until recently, was perfectly fine with Gibson’s fascist behavior? Or maybe that was some other elite media.
Minus the media protection he once enjoyed, Gibson may be caving under the new pressure.
Ethan, you are a pain in the ass.
[...] Epstein (who, based on his profile picture, is clearly part of the hipster demographic) argued for Sympathy for Mel Gibson and decried the “elite media” for attacking Mel, not just now but six years ago. [...]
I have to agree with most of the commentators here. Sucks for Mel but there are literally billions of people far more deserving of sympathy that he is. Why single him out for special attention?
PS. I liked Passion.
so…Ethan…lots of people do bad things because they’re ‘tortured souls’.
but what in the holy hell has you so confused about the fact that sympathy does not preclude condemnation?
Barrett is right, as usual. This is about as intellectually shoddy as thinking that the universe is 6,000 years old…