Mel Gibson - One Man's Journey Into Hell

For reasons unknown, I went to YouTube and listened to about four of Mel Gibson's phone rants with his wife. I have no dog in this fight. I don't know either party personally. She may be a saint and Mel is the devil incarnate, but are things ever that clear cut?

Secondly, I apologize to both for writing about what is really a private issue. My intent is not to invade the privacy of their relationship -- not beyond what has already become public domain, but to help clear up the mess that led to Mel Gibson's downfall from a commanding actor and director to basically being on the unemployable list. I ventured into this territory because of Mel's achievements and talents and the sudden curtailment of all activity as either actor or director. Yes, he's made a few minor films here and there, but it almost felt like charity work. He wasn't in this class, so what happened?

Okay, so I went to YouTube to hear the rants for myself. I wanted to know -- were they so terrible? Did they justify his being blacklisted? I couldn't hear a lot of what Mel was ranting about -- probably a shortcoming of my present system. But, even with that several things became abundantly clear.

1. His wife knew that the conversations were being recorded and thus her remarks are so demure as to be nearly unbelievable.

2. This is the kind of stuff (husband/wife fights) that should never get on the Internet. It's anyone's worst nightmare. Take a few of your worst nights in history and try to imagine them being recorded.

3. In several of the "conversations" Mel is definitely intoxicated. You get the sense that he feels seriously injured and needs to vent. At times you can actually hear him panting for breath. And you also get the sense that his cool, calm and collected wife is bating him. She keeps repeating, "I have done nothing." Well, I never cared to get into the particulars of their conflict nor should I. Something fed the fire in Mel. I don't know who did what to whom, and I don't care. Anyone who has gone through a messy break-up can understand the emotion -- at least on Mel's part -- drunk or not. Drinking does not usually bring about the best of a person's character -- in fact, it usually does the opposite. Some people can be silent/complacent drunks, and others get over-heated. That's an entirely separate issue. It may have been a contributing factor in Mel's fall-out with his wife, but that would be speculation. And I am not focused on alcoholism and its detriments in this Hub.

4. All of this shit hit the fan shortly after Mel directed "Passion of Christ," in which he pretty accurately depicted the Jewish establishment at the time as seeing Jesus as a danger to their orthodoxy. The film was a success. You may remember reading about bus-loads of church-going Christians to view a screening. At the time he made a lot of good Christians weep, and he inflamed the Hollywood Jewish oligarchs. I'm convinced they set out to deliberately end his career. It's not news that the Jewish establishment has a big foothold over Hollywood productions. I don't really have anything against this except when they might exert their influence over certain projects or specific actors. While bus loads of Christians were crying over "The Passion," another group was seriously offended.

5. Mel made himself such an easy target to bring down. Somehow, Mel was never schooled appropriately in the merits of self-control. And if you have a drinking problem, you have no choice but to learn when to shut up, when not to drive, etc. When you listen to him ranting endlessly with his wife over the telephone, it reaches a point of absurdity. The man truly exhausts himself. His anger probably had/has merit, but what are you going to achieve by repeatedly calling your wife a "fucking bitch?" How many times can you repeat it until your lungs just give out. Well, these recordings may have some scientific value on that level.

6. Nothing is ever quite what it seems. In these rants we hear the very worst from Mel while his wife (knowing that everything is being recorded) sounds too collected, cool to be real. The question then goes out -- who set her up with this recording apparatus? I suspect that post-"Passion," a number of insiders wanted to see Mel out of the biz and arranged his downfall. And it wasn't that hard to do. Get an alcoholic in his most "out there" state and he will rage... if feeling injured from present or past events. Bait him and you'll get the very, very worst. And that's what you hear in these recordings. Someone (anyone) without an alternative motive would just hang up the phone on someone in this state.

7. I feel resentful about those who may have set out to destroy Mel's career. I always thought he had remarkable acting talents and was proving himself to be a real master as a director. Mel became a bit too daring when he did "Passion." There is nothing in the film that isn't supported biblicaly. His portrayal of the Jews is all there in the Bible. The Jewish establishment (the Sanhedrin) conspired with a kind of who-gives-a-shit Roman leadership to have Jesus crucified. For the Romans crucifying a would-be messiah was nothing new. Golgotha was filled with the bones of anyone preaching anything other than their devotion and love for Caesar. Their main intent was to keep everything peaceful, and if that meant satisfying the whims of recognized Jewish heads of state -- well so be it. It cost the Romans nothing -- a few nails. Once "Passion" was released, the Jews went ape-shit because it brought back those ugly thoughts about a time when their leadership decided that their power and orthodoxy was far more important to preserve than the preaching of another man pretending to be the messiah. His new message went across the line, so he had to be silenced. No matter that "Passion" made a ton of money. I suppose it was independently funded, so the establishment didn't get their silver coins.

Is Mel Gibson an anti-Semite ... perhaps so, perhaps not, but even if he is and spouts his beliefs in drunken rages, are we to condemn him? Is this a valid reason for ending an artist's career?

8. I watched "The Passion" on DVD, and I thought it was just too graphic. The scourging scenes were too much for me -- realistic or not. I didn't walk away from it with an altered feeling about the Jews. The politics of the time was exonerated by the Vatican. Whatever selfish motives the Jews had a few thousand years ago is just history. Further, if events had not unfolded as they did at the time, we would never have had the resurrected Jesus who over the centuries would -- through his following -- build the basis for one of the largest religious groups that exists today.

9. So, Mel laid out his own downfall. What can you say? He should have known better but didn't. The final word from Mel in "Braveheart" as his limbs are being pulled apart is "freedom!" I hope Mel feels a sense of victory even in his personal crucifixion. He made his "Passion" and it cost him everything. The establishment decided to end his career and they succeeded. What really and truly disgusts me is how the Christians who flocked to see his "Passion" were so swift to abandon Mel in his time of need. I mean talk about being feckless. Mel rants. He seems to despise Jews. He calls afro-americans niggers, he calls his wife a whore. He gets a DUI in L.A. Bad Mel.

Where are those good Christian soldiers when you need them the most? You can't get behind and support a figure with so much dirt under his fingernails. It just wouldn't fit in, so you leave a guy you once thought of as a prince among men, to just duke it out by himself. That's religion mixed with business.

The lesson? Don't try to mix the two.