Saturday, July 29, 2006

Oh Yes I Absolutely WILL Gloat About This

Remember when Jewish leaders (and bloggers) were concerned about Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ fueling anti-Semitism? Remember how many Christians were all, "I can't believe you'd even think a thing like that! It's like you're trying to crucify us all over again?" And then the Jews were going, "Well, Catholics don't exactly have the best track record, and also, Mel Gibson's father is very crazy?" And it kept going back and forth, back and forth like that, and meanwhile the atheists kept muttering, "Can we talk about something else now? Please?"

Well, make of this what you will:

The report says Gibson then launched into a barrage of anti-Semitic statements: "F*****g Jews... The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." Gibson then asked the deputy, "Are you a Jew?"

The deputy became alarmed as Gibson's tirade escalated, and called ahead for a sergeant to meet them when they arrived at the station. When they arrived, a sergeant began videotaping Gibson, who noticed the camera and then said, "What the f*** do you think you're doing?"

A law enforcement source says Gibson then noticed another female sergeant and yelled, "What do you think you're looking at, sugar tits?"

And don't protest to me that he was "just drunk." The boyfriend and I get drunk plenty, but somehow we manage to leave the hate speech out of it. You're supposed to drink for fun, not for vengeance.

(Gibson tirade link via Pam at Pandagon.)

UPDATE: I'm truly speechless.

9 comments:

Susan B. said...

**sigh**

Well, The Passion was not anti-Semitic, but I'm not going to argue about that anymore.

Needless to say, I'm disappointed in Mr. Gibson. Apparently he's fought a lot of demons in the past and he's still fighting them. Even if I hated Gibson and The Passion, I wouldn't gloat over that.

As for the drunk thing...some people get very, very mean when drunk. Unfortunately, I know this from personal experience.

Zendo Deb said...

People may get mean when they are drunk, but are you saying they turn into anti-Semites only when drunk?

Try again.

Susan B. said...

Deb,

No, I'm not saying that. There's no excuse for the things Gibson said. Like I said, the man is apparently struggling with demons -- alcoholism and anti-Semitism (which is probably from his father's influence). I think the whole situation is really sad. I hope Gibson can overcome both demons.

ilyka said...

I hope Gibson can overcome both demons.

You're right that I shouldn't gloat. I try not to be the Christianity Police--I can't think of a single job for which I'd be less qualified--but if you don't mind my saying so, I think that line right there is a perfect expression of the proper Christian attitude towards Gibson.

Maybe it really is time for me to pray for the intersection of St. Genevieve. Couldn't hurt.

I also think you hit the nail on the head about it being largely due to his father's influence. What pains me about that sort of thing is when I recall how many Masses I've not taken Communion at (about half a dozen) because the priest devoted the bulk of his homily to bemoaning the suffering of "Palestine." Hutton Gibson seems to me to be merely a more extreme version of that.

Helen said...

I have no idea whether I'm disappointed, surprised, shocked, or not. I'm rather annoyed by his "sugar tits" comment, but somehow also not surprised. If this is the man he becomes when he's three sheets, you have to wonder about the man he is when the demons are collared and tied up.

I guess the only thing I can say is currently 5 million Scots are celebrating the send-down (aka come-uppance) of what they view as one of the worst Scottish accents in film history.

Anonymous said...

"If this is the man he becomes when he's three sheets, you have to wonder about the man he is when the demons are collared and tied up."

That's exactly right. Alcohol lessens the drinker's inhibitions about saying what's on his or her mind; it doesn't plant thoughts that weren't there in the first place.

Rob said...

Gibson wasn't just drunk. He was also angry. It's not unusual for people to have conflicting thoughts in their head. Sometimes, people suppress thoughts for all the right reasons. It's not just that they may get you in trouble or that they're not popular thoughts, it's that you genuinely don't believe them but you can't seem to get them out of your head, either. Drunkenness and anger can both bring them to the surface. That said, I don't believe that to be the case here in his anti-Semitic rant. I do, however, think that to be the case in his "sugar tits" remark. I think he was extremely pissed off and was going to go off on whomever was present.

Amanda Marcotte said...

In vino veritas. People say things they don't mean to say when drunk, but they never say anything they don't think.

I'll add that anyone who thinks Jews are going to hell is a de facto anti-Semite, so I don't know why there's a debate.

belledame222 said...

What Amanda said.

As per demons: well, you know, I certainly wish him the best in exorcising them, same as I would anyone else.

I'm just rather tired of all the people who seem determined to use the world stage as their own personal psychodrama.

not to mention me and mine as the beanbag being bashed with the therapeutic hitty stick.

seriously, how many wars and evil laws are due to people like this, working out their Daddy issues on everything and everyone except their actual Daddy?