Dogpiling on Mel Gibson
Unlike Andrew Sullivan, I really don’t have much to say about Mel Gibson’s drunken, anti-Semitic, misogynist rant against the cops who pulled him over for drunken driving last week. Mostly, this is because Tim Noah framed the event pretty well in Slate: The best case that can be made for Gibson’s belief system now is ...
Unlike Andrew Sullivan, I really don't have much to say about Mel Gibson's drunken, anti-Semitic, misogynist rant against the cops who pulled him over for drunken driving last week. Mostly, this is because Tim Noah framed the event pretty well in Slate: The best case that can be made for Gibson's belief system now is that he's anti-Semitic only when he's three sheets to the wind. And really, now. Are you in the habit of declaring, "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world" when you get pie-eyed? Or simply of muttering, "Fucking Jews"? Or of asking your arresting officer, "Are you a Jew?" (Here Gibson revealed an anti-Jewish bigotry so all-consuming that he couldn't even get his ethnic stereotypes straight. The Jews control international banking, Mel. It's the Irish who control the police.) Well, I have two more thoughts on the matter. The first is that there needs to be a term that describes the mechanism through which the New York Times manages to run stories about scandals while claiming that they are really metastories (In the past week alone, they managed a front-pager about the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes baby as well). To their credit, however, the Times story by Allison Hope Weiner contains this juicy tidbit: "On Monday, Hope Hartman, a spokeswoman for Disney?s ABC television network, said the company was dropping its plans to produce a Holocaust-themed miniseries in collaboration with Mr. Gibson." Second, I'll ask my readers to suggest the likelihood of the following arc taking place: 1) Gibson repeatedly issues contrite apologies -- oh, wait, that's already happened. 2) Exiting rehab, Gibson does heartfelt interview with Diane Sawyer in which he: a) Admits to various chemical dependencies/imbalances that affect his behavior; b) Explains that his father's rank anti-Semitism led to psychological abuse during his childhood; c) Cries on camera3) Appears on Saturday Night Live to skewer his own behavior, right before; 4) Apocalypto comes out -- and then tanks; at which point either 5a) Hollywood treats Gibson as persona non grata because "it's the right thing to do"; or,; 5b) Gibson signs up for Lethal Weapon V for $15 million and Hollywood treats Gibson as "a man who learned his lsson"
Unlike Andrew Sullivan, I really don’t have much to say about Mel Gibson’s drunken, anti-Semitic, misogynist rant against the cops who pulled him over for drunken driving last week. Mostly, this is because Tim Noah framed the event pretty well in Slate:
The best case that can be made for Gibson’s belief system now is that he’s anti-Semitic only when he’s three sheets to the wind. And really, now. Are you in the habit of declaring, “The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world” when you get pie-eyed? Or simply of muttering, “Fucking Jews”? Or of asking your arresting officer, “Are you a Jew?” (Here Gibson revealed an anti-Jewish bigotry so all-consuming that he couldn’t even get his ethnic stereotypes straight. The Jews control international banking, Mel. It’s the Irish who control the police.)
Well, I have two more thoughts on the matter. The first is that there needs to be a term that describes the mechanism through which the New York Times manages to run stories about scandals while claiming that they are really metastories (In the past week alone, they managed a front-pager about the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes baby as well). To their credit, however, the Times story by Allison Hope Weiner contains this juicy tidbit: “On Monday, Hope Hartman, a spokeswoman for Disney?s ABC television network, said the company was dropping its plans to produce a Holocaust-themed miniseries in collaboration with Mr. Gibson.” Second, I’ll ask my readers to suggest the likelihood of the following arc taking place:
1) Gibson repeatedly issues contrite apologies — oh, wait, that’s already happened. 2) Exiting rehab, Gibson does heartfelt interview with Diane Sawyer in which he:
a) Admits to various chemical dependencies/imbalances that affect his behavior; b) Explains that his father’s rank anti-Semitism led to psychological abuse during his childhood; c) Cries on camera
3) Appears on Saturday Night Live to skewer his own behavior, right before; 4) Apocalypto comes out — and then tanks; at which point either 5a) Hollywood treats Gibson as persona non grata because “it’s the right thing to do”; or,; 5b) Gibson signs up for Lethal Weapon V for $15 million and Hollywood treats Gibson as “a man who learned his lsson”
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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