Gibson inspired by 'fear-mongering' Bush (Mel Gibson)

UKNews ^

[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".

[Wallace T.]

Mel Gibson is to a great extent the son of his father, Hutton Gibson, an American with an Australian mother, who was a radical traditionalist Catholic even before Vatican II. He left the United States with his sons during the Vietnam War era so that they could avoid being drafted in what the elder Gibson thought was an anti-Catholic war. (Remember that the Catholic President of South Vietnam was assassinated in 1963 with U.S. complicity.)

A good source of the political ideology of many (though not all) traditionalist Catholics is the Web site, www.lewrockwell.com. Many of the contributors, such as Web master and editor Lew Rockwell, and scholars Joseph Sobran, Thomas DiLorenzo, and Thomas Woods, are traditionalist Catholics who are libertarians in the area of politics and, with regard to foreign affairs, more isolationist than Robert Taft or Patrick Buchanan ever were. Other traditionalist Catholics, such as Christopher Ferrara, a New Jersey attorney specializing in pro-life matters, believe the extreme governmental minimalism and the entirely secular character of Austrian economics of this group contradict historic Catholic social teachings. However, Ferrara is also isolationist. Some traditionalists, such as Hutton Gibson, inclined to be anti-Israel, if not outright anti-Semitic. (For example, Hutton Gibson denies that there were gas chambers at the Nazi concentration camps.)

Mel Gibson is quite different in his beliefs from others in the non-liberal minority in Hollywood. Until he directed The Passion of the Christ, he never generated the scorn of the Hollywood Left like Charlton Heston or Tom Selleck did.

[Restorer]

From Wikipedia:

However, some of the church fathers seem to imply that Matthew was originally written in Hebrew or more likely Aramaic, and there is another contention that the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews wrote in Hebrew, which was translated into Greek by Luke. Neither view holds much support among contemporary scholars, who argue that the literary facets of Matthew and Hebrews suggest that they were composed directly in Greek, rather than being translated.

From me: As far as I know, there is no real proof that either Matthew or Hebrews were originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic. Certainly the Greek of of the NT is heavily influenced by Aramaic, but that is to be expected when it was written by relatively uneducated (for the most part) Jews.

[Crolis]

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.

I remember that scene. It think it was most useful in giving the audience a mote of comic relief, not because Mel was trying to be flippant, but because up to that point, it was such an emotional ride, that I think many in the audience needed it. I certainly did.

[pollyannaish]

Charismatic maybe? Sometimes I think Gibson is good looking, and sometimes not so much.

I actually like men who look like men...not pretty boys and imo, most of the people in Hollywood today are Pansy Pretty boys. Beyond that I'm not overly picky. Tom Selleck and Sam Elliot spring to mind. But I also like guys that look like Gary Sinise and I have a really weird thing for Richard Dawson. I think I just find men fascinating because they are so...I don't know, different than I am.

Of course, to be honest, I really don't think there have been any brilliantly good looking men in Hollywood since Cary Grant.

[concrete is my business]

I think that is what people in show biz refer to as acting or hard work.-sarc-

[pollyannaish]

And check out post 153. I think he looks pretty good in some of those.

You know, the ones where he is "dark and clean cut?"

Tall is a relative thing. Being tall myself, I find that a criteria rather subjective.

[jan in Colorado]

" I actually like men who look like men...not pretty boys and imo, most of the people in Hollywood today are Pansy Pretty boys."

The men in Hollywood don't look like "men" because MOST of them aren't! ;o)

Now, Tom Selleck, he IS the exception!

[Let's Roll]

I guess Mel didn't hear about 9/11 - it was in all the papers. Musta been out of the country.

[Antoninus]

Mel's a paleo-con. I know plenty of people just like him. Unlike the left, they despise President Bush because they see him, rightly or wrongly, as a globalist. I have some sympathy with that position, even though I think it is largely overstated. Mel and Pat Buchanan would probably get along very well together.

Overall, however, people like Mel are well-meaning and generally good people, if stubborn and set in their ways. I can usually tolerate them. This is unlike the liberals for whom their positions on a given issue all depend on the politics of the moment. For them, it's all about attaining and maintaining power.

[Ace of Spades]

It just occurred to me, in "Signs" he played an Episcopalian minister. Wonder how that sat with him, being ultra-Catholic.

[Antoninus]

Is he a closet leftist?

No. The world is not made up of just 'left' and 'right.' Mel's got his own ideas and I seriously doubt the left would have him, considering he's staunchly Catholic, pro-life, etc. Keep in mind, his position on the Iraq war isn't that much different from Pope John Paul II's.

[BunnySlippers]

I wouldn't agree. But if I did it would be a huge stretch.

[JeffersonRepublic.com]

[Gibson reveals he used present day American politics as an inspiration, claiming the government callously plays on the nation's insecurities to maintain power. The fear-mongering we depict in the film reminds me of President Bush]

Gibson you should STFU!

[Antoninus]

The story of conservatives who betray their beliefs and turn left is generally not a happy one. Ask that traitor from The American Spectator.

Nowhere in Catholic doctrine are we urged to support President Bush or the War on Terror. As far as I know, Gibson's always felt this way about President Bush--and to a certain limited extent, I sympathize with him. President Bush wasn't even in my top 3 choices in the GOP primary in 2000.

Gibson's one of those guys who needs to be hit in the head with a 2x4 before he changes his mind on an issue. A lot of us are like that...

[Politicalmom]

I will NEVER give up my Patriot DVD, no matter how wacked out he gets. :)

[rlmorel]

It is true that both are preventable to some degree.

We could design cars that wouldn't go faster than 25 miles an hour and would fill with foam to protect the occupants in case they did collide with something.

We could implement biometric registration and tracking of every human being in the USA so we could figure out who is where and when.

We could put up huge walls around mountains to keep people from trying to climb them and getting themselves killed. The point is, accidents happen, people die, and it is considered a normal part of life. We are mortal.

What is not a part of life, and shouldn't be part of life, is people intentionally destroying other people who are minding their own business. If you equate a car accident and a terrorist bomb, you are missing the point, in my opinion.

[NaughtiusMaximus]

Ping for later read.

[Antoninus]

I find it less than inspiring, with so much focus on the bloody scourging.

Uhhhhh. If I remember correctly, you didn't even like it the first time around.... I'm surprised that you'd watch it again.

[Siena Dreaming]

Mel is socially conservative on some issues...abortion, homosexuality and religion.

However, on everything else he is liberal. He is not the conservative Republican icon so many knee-jerks thought he was. No surprise. He has made anti-Iraq war statements before.

[coladirienzi]

The last time anyone in the United States was killed by a car bomb was in the World Trade Center parking garage in 1993. Their may have been incidents involving Tony Soprano types in the interval, that I am unaware of, but unless you are in Tony's line of work, thats a non-issue.

The odds of your being harmed in any way by a terrorist are so infitesimal, as to be practically non-existant. If terrorists want to blow things up, it will happen, and there is absolutely nonthing even the more draconian government policies can do to stop it.