Mel Gibson's Secret Apology Phone Calls...

[Craig]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 8:46am

(from IMDB)

Gibson Makes Apology Calls

Mel Gibson is making secret phone calls to Hollywood's top Jews to personally apologize for an anti-Semitic rant he stunned Tinseltown with last month. The movie star launched into a scathing attack on Jews during a drunk-driving arrest in California, and now he's keen to make amends. A source tells TMZ.com that Gibson has been calling top Hollywood moguls, with whom he has worked in the past, to apologize for his much-publicized remarks. One of the people on the receiving end of disgraced Gibson's apology tells the website the actor said he wanted him to know he was really sorry and was working on his "problem." Gibson also said he hoped he would be able to work with him again. The unnamed mogul says he was civil to the Braveheart star but remains unconvinced the actor was being completely sincere. Gibson's publicist claims the actor is in a recovery program following his drunk-driving arrest. The actor has already turned down an invite to speak to Jews at Los Angeles' Temple Of The Arts on holy day Yom Kippur in October.

[Bluemoon]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 8:52am

I think Yom Kippur is just what he needs. What a missed opportunity for public contrition.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 8:54am

Let me get this right... he's only extending the personal apology to the "power Jews" that can actually benefit him and his career?

I'm deeply touched by his actions.

[mominator]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 9:02am

I am Bluemoon on this one. He turned down a perfect chance to apologize to the Jewish community. How truly sad.

[FranklinShepard-Inc.]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 9:03am

...I can see him already as a religious convert on behalf of his career
Updated On: 8/25/06 at 09:03 AM

[StageManager2]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 9:04am

"The actor has already turned down an invite to speak to Jews at Los Angeles' Temple Of The Arts on holy day Yom Kippur in October."

Maybe he thought they'd literally crucify him a la Jesus Christ.

Updated On: 8/25/06 at 09:04 AM

[Craig]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 9:10am

It's not that he shouldn't publicly apologize, I'm just not sure one of the holiest days of the year should be his forum. While the holiday is about purging oneself of their transgressions, I don't think it should become (at least at that location) "all about Mel"

Jesus must be awfully confused right now about Mel - you know, being jewish and all...

[DG]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 9:11am

"Maybe he thought they'd literally crucify him a la Jesus Christ."

Given his past directorial work, and some of the choices he made in those projects, I think he might actually enjoy that.

[mominator]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 9:12am

Thanks Craig I just spit coffee all over the screen!

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 7:50pm

Organized religion is supposed to give a person a strong sense of what is right and what is wrong. Thus, it should make its followers better people.

The strange brand of Catholicism that Mr. Gibson adheres to has failed miserably in this sense. He has to realize that he can't continue acting as he pleases when he leaves the confessional.

Mel Gibson is a sham in more ways than one.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 7:58pm

That's Rabbi David Baron's temple in Los Angeles. The late Nell Carter used to sing there after she converted to Judaism.

Yes, THAT Nell Carter.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 8:17pm

I don't think there's anything wrong with Gibson calling people to make a personal apology to them, particularly people he has worked with in the past.

If he doesn't know all the specifics of Yom Kippur, I don't think it's right to expect him to, since Judaism is not his religion.

A reformed alcoholic told me that as part of his recovery program AA instructed him to approach those whom he may have harmed by his alcoholic behavior and apologize and try to make it right with them. Looks like Gibson's doing just that to me.

I realize that many here are more cynical to him than I am, and you may be better informed and you may have cause. But then again, you may be wrong. Intention is very subjective.

A man who grew up with a father like Gibson's has had to have heard a lot of crap and had to himself expand beyond that outlook as best he could. It doesn't surprise me that he could vent off a lot of his father's rhetoric that he has heard while on a bender and then look at it, sober, and say "That is not me. I reject that. I am going to make amends."

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 8:21pm

double post Updated On: 8/25/06 at 08:21 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 8:54pm

"That is not me. I reject that. I am going to make amends."

That is exactly the problem with Mel. He has never said that about his father's Jew-hatred.

Mel has repeatedly refused to speak out publicly against his father's statements, which include (1) that the Holocaust is "fiction" and (2) that the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto were not exterminated--he says they "got up and left."

Updated On: 8/25/06 at 08:54 PM

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 9:04pm

You raise a very interesting point, PalJoey.

I don't see it the same way you do, however.

I believe there are other reasons that Mel Gibson would not contradict his father and has made statements to the effect that the man is his father (and therefore not responded).

I must presume that Mel is very aware of the Biblical commandment to honor thy father and mother and for this reason would not speak badly of either, no matter what they say or do. Secondly, his parents are family, and you do not disown your parents. To disown what they have said could be interpreted as disowning the people who gave you birth and fed you and sacrificed fo you, so to respect them he cannot do this. It does not mean he agrees with them, only that he honors his duty to them. He could disagree to them privately, but not publicly.

The Nazis were a group that encouraged children to spy upon and betray their parents.

I agree with Mel Gibson's choice on that one, as bad as his father's beliefs may be (sorry, I am not up on all he believes). If his father is not rational and not sane, I am still with Gibson's filial duty on this one. Filial piety is also a respected Asian tradition, so this concept is not unknown to other cultures. Updated On: 8/25/06 at 09:04 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 9:41pm

That interpretation of the Fifth Commandment would come under the rubric of "The Devil Cititng Scripture for His Own Purpose."

Your defense of Mel all along has been creepy.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 9:55pm

Actually, PalJoey, I find your little political tirades in threads to be tiresome. They come off as "holier than thou" rants to me. Have you any humility? Do you always presume that you are right and no one else has a worthy opinion from which you may benefit?

I think that what you find creepy is that someone has a different viewpoint than you. Facists don't want people to have any opinions of their own, either.

You repeatedly choose to ignore that I did not and have not defended WHAT Mel Gibson said, which shows me the insincerity and hubris in your arguments.

If you're going to engage in debate, do it right.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 9:56pm

So, what's with this obsession with Mel Gibson, anyway? Why does anyone care who he dislikes? I find it rather odd.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 10:03pm

You have never spoken out against it, nom. You have only defended him. And you have minimized other posters' anger and disgust at his bigotry.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 10:09pm

You are wrong, wrong, wrong, PalJoey.

Go find that other thread and see exactly what I posted. I said what he said was not defensible.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 10:13pm

Then why do you defend him?

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 10:25pm

It is more, PalJoey, that I keep an open mind about him.

He has created some fine things as an artist. His Mad Max performance. His Braveheart.

I do not believe that he is so limited as his father. I believe he is capable of good things, of great things. Of realizing that he has made mistakes, facing it, and choosing to do better.

He is going to pay for his errors. He is paying. He's dealing with a big scandal. He is not perfect.

I also do not believe that language has to attach to people like tattoos. I think when people voice an opinion, even sober, they may realize they disagree with it, that it doesn't make sense, that there is a better view to hold. I believe you can engage people in discussion and offer them examples that can give them cause to change their minds and how they perceive things.

I think gay folks and Jews should engage him, give him forgiveness if he asks for it, and offer to include and educate him. That kind of love destroys prejudice.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 10:27pm

He hasn't asked for it, yet, not in any kind of a sincere way, not from Jews and CERTAINLY not from gays!

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 10:31pm

Isn't the very topic of this thread that he is making phone calls to apologize?

His public statement was very apologetic.

Sincerity is a subjective thing to judge. You have the right to cynicism.

But what if you engaged him by sending a letter to him with your thoughts on how hurtful and untrue his beliefs were. You would have then made an attempt to directly engage him. Where would the harm be in that?

Let me also mention a quote from a rabbinical student I met: "Hate the sin but not the sinner." I think in this case that applies to where I am coming from with regard to Mel Gibson, though somewhat ironically, that rabbinical student was using the statement to describe Judaism's position toward homosexuality.

Updated On: 8/25/06 at 10:31 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 11:02pm

You obviously missed the point in the initial post in this thread: Gibson's apology was insincere:

One of the people on the receiving end of disgraced Gibson's apology tells the website the actor said he wanted him to know he was really sorry and was working on his "problem." Gibson also said he hoped he would be able to work with him again. The unnamed mogul says he was civil to the Braveheart star but remains unconvinced the actor was being completely sincere.