The downside of being a celebrity is that people are interested in everything you say. And what you say while you're being arrested, that's very interesting. And if it's controversial - woo hoo! Jackpot!
I don't know how to react to Mel Gibson's rather Nixonian Jew-baiting comments. To anyone's, actually. I've always considered hatred of Jews to be a ridiculous anachronism, at least in America. It's obviously of vital importance in the Middle East, where there is land at stake. But here? I thought we settled that question in the forties, decided the Jews were okay by us and it's time to move on to the darkies. Isn't it great that I can be so cynical and so naive at the same time?
The turn of this century seems to be a time where we dig up every unpleasant aspect of humanity and give them another airing. It could be good for us. You have to examine your stupid resentments once in a while, express them to exorcise them. Unfortunately every time we do this we are risking conveying the message with nuclear weapons. So far the species has had enough built-in survival instinct to avoid wiping itself out, but past performance is no guarantee of future earnings, and if one lemming gets his hands (it will surely be male hands) on the bomb, well, that's all it takes.
As for Mel Gibson, he lost me around the 2nd Lethal Weapon movie. Dude's too freaky.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Mel Gibson - In Vino, Veritas
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Huh. For me, the strange thing about Mel Gibson's comments is how completely UN-surprising they were. Mel's dad is an avowed anti-semite, and Mel makes no secret of the fact he's a conservative, pre-Vatican II Catholic. Read Christopher Hitchen's article in SLATE if ya want the details.
You're surprised there's anti-semitism in America? Really?
"In Vino Veritas" is an observation which has been beaten to death by the press. I wonder what odd or terrible thing you'd say-- What ANYONE would say-- if you were truly three sheets to the wind?
This is a rather unpopular stance, but Mel's woes are a unique learning experience for us all. All rational thought is built on the foundation of reflexive emotion. This is a reflection of the orogeny-recapitulates-phylogeny organization of our brains-- cool, rational cortexes literally laying atop R-complexes of ugly reptilian emotion.
Everyone, deep down, is a bigot. Everyone, deep down, makes superficial judgements based on stereotypes.
What makes us better people, what allows us to rise above our base instincts, is our capacity to recognize these faults in our fellow humans. To understand all is to forgive all.
--Skot
p.s. forgive me if I'm rambling. I'm soooo f***ed up right now.
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