Posted on 05/12/2006 8:55:00 AM PDT by doesnt suffer fools gladly
Film star and director Mel Gibson has launched a scathing attack on US President George W Bush, comparing his leadership to the barbaric rulers of the Mayan civilisation in his new film Apocalypto.
The epic, due for release later this year, captures the decline of the Maya kingdom and the slaughter of thousands of inhabitants as human sacrifices in a bid to save the nation from collapsing.
Gibson reveals he used present day American politics as an inspiration, claiming the government callously plays on the nation's insecurities to maintain power.
He tells British film magazine Hotdog, "The fear-mongering we depict in the film reminds me of President Bush and his guys".
Anything to sell tickets...
Not his proudest moment.
LOL, to bad some are not strong enough to resist BDS!
I guess I'll have to miss this film.
Sad.
Gotta get his Hollyweird credibility back after the Jesus movie.
Gibson is insane, pure and simple.
Now I wonder if alot of us that thought he was a Conservative will now dump on him?
If I could return my copy of the Passion of the Christ to get my money back, I would.
Hollywood just needs to shut up and act, regardless of their politcal leanings.
I'm not surprised.
Even as an evangelical Christian conservative, I couldn't bring myself to like "The Passion". I thought it was in turns silly (e.g. the scene that implied that Jesus the carpenter invented the table-chair combo and the depiction of Satan) and melodramatic without being at all thought-provoking.
I just hate to hear Jack Aubrey saying things like this.
No one can accuse Gibson of being predictable and doing what is expected of him. Interesting, brilliantly talented man.
"claiming the government callously plays on the nation's insecurities to maintain power."
Ah, Mel - we vote for our leaders and as far as I know, GWB has not had to resort to human sacrifices to stay in power. Geesh - what is he on?
used to respect him. but even before this nonsense, he started getting a funny look in his eyes.
Degranged Bush Hating Syndrome (DBHS) strikes another one.
Is he a closet leftist?
What happened to him?
Doesn't be realize the terrorist threat is REAL?
Has his extreme wealth removed him from reality?
Us common folk, have lost loved ones in 9/11.
Mel, please just go do Mad Max 4 and shut up.
I laugh how people calim President Bush uses fear as a tactic, especially the rats, who've used fear as a staple of their political strategy for years:
To the poor: Vote Republican and you'll lose your welfare!
To the Old: Vote Republican and you'll lose your medicare!
To the blacks: Vote Republican and your churches will burn!
To teachers: Vote Republican and you may be held accountable for your job!
Was he always nuts?
I thought I was the only one who didn't fawn over it. I found it very boring and the fact that it left out the resurrection really bothered me.
Brilliant?
To come out with something so INSANE?
No, he is not "brilliant". He's just good at making money at someone elses expense.
Brilliant?
To come out with something so INSANE?
No, he is not "brilliant". He's just good at making money at someone elses expense.
Everyone sells fear in politics. This site has more fear salesmen than any I've ever seen.
???
Is Gibson going to play Jack Aubrey?
well that tears it...
next thing out of his mouth will be that we FORCED the Muslims to fly jets into the WTC.
Your accusation is indeed of a factual nature; that is to say it can be proven true or false.
The proof of the matter lies in actually watching the film ... should you ever do so, you will find your accusation proven to be ...
FALSE!!!
But of course, on FR, anyone who isn't a Bushbot is automatically a communist jihadi.
"(e.g. the scene that implied that Jesus the carpenter invented the table-chair combo........)"
You're reaching to find something negative to say about Mel Gibson. The scene you refer to didn't imply anything other than that Jesus was a carpenter.
Not to mention "The Patriot" and "We Were Soldiers Once", "Braveheart" etc. Although he didn't produce or direct "The Patriot" or "Soldiers" as he did "Braveheart" and "Passion". He also didn't direct the "Lethal Weapon" series, wherein his character makes some anti NRA remarks. I always figure you can't blame an actor very much for what his characters say or do, but a producer or director is different as they have more control or the content of the film.
All in all, the remarks seems somewhat out of character for Gibson.
Wow three of us. I found the directing pretty heavy handed and boring, everything kept grinding to a halt for various Deep Symbolic Moments (tm).
Mr. Gibson is NO conservative. From the interviews I saw of him before the election, he in no way endorsed George W. Bush. He made a comment of picking the lesser of two evils (paraphrased) but he wouldn't even say which candidate that would be!
I must have fallen asleep then. Are you sure it showed the resurrection?
Unless Gibson is going to play Aubrey in a sequel, you're thinking of Russell Crowe.
Goodby Mr. Gibson. Your fame and riches were due to the conservative part of America. No longer, you moron.
Nah....Gibson's the real deal. He is an antiwar conservative, and always has been.
I don't think Braveheart required any sort of apology to Hollywood as it was showered with Oscars.
I always thought he was nuts, not that I follow Hollywood too closely. I remember hearing something about his saying his wife would go to hell for not being the right sort of Catholic and that he slaughtered calves on his ranch "for relaxation" and some other things. I also, personally, think most of his movies sucked, especially "Signs". His hairdo sucked too, big permed mop thing. Men should have short hair.
Gibson IS a conservative, albeit one who hates foreign quagmires.
So all of a sudden it's a bad move or did you just buy it to be supportive of Gibson?
Yes. Gibson's true personality is very close to the character he plays in the Lethal Weapon movies. That's why they were so successful.
Gibson was just being Gibson.
Huh. Did it really leave out the ressurection? I cannot remember.
For sometime now I have begun to see the Passion of the Christ as a movie made from the context of Mel Gibson's near prurient interest in matters related to blood and brutality. Think about it, apart from his commecial box office movies, i.e., Lethal Weapon, What Women Want, etc., all his movies have all nearly been devoted to blood and brutality.
He didn't depict it exactly the way I would have, but I'm not the one with megabucks to bankroll my own film.
But there's just one thing, there's a lot to fear these days and Bush's greatest contribution as a President may turn out to be his determination to keep reminding people about that.
Four of us.
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