The Post Where I Let Mel Gibson Off the Hook

So, there's a new Mel Gibson movie coming out soon. It's actually a movie where he's acting and not directing. I hadn't realized it, but it's been over 7 years since he's been in front of the camera. Surprise, surprise, he's playing an unhinged detective seeking revenge in a violent romp across some underbelly or other.

It actually felt gratifying to read the linked article above that said his movies are "typically blood soaked," which has been my axe to grind all along. I've never understood his compulsion to create violent tableaus and present them as art. It's always seemed wicked to me...the glee with which he tried to shock us into getting his point. It made me wonder if he wasn't just some kind of misanthropic weirdo. He certainly wasn't adding anything worthwhile to the conversations about faith or history with this stuff. But he was pretending to be historical, accurate. I thought that bit was alarming. Imagine if his megalomania took root and he gathered something of a following.

A lot of folks seem to think now that his career as a serious artist is over, after the drunken anti-semetic rant he presented a few years ago. Funny that that would be what pushed him out of public favor. I would think his gory displays of wet violence might do that. But then again, I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to violence. Either way, his message is getting lost in the mayhem he's created for himself. Which: Good.

And he's being a bit of a lunatic with the press, even though he's going through the motions of being a well-behaved celebrity to promote his new movie. I'm thinking he's putting the nails in his own coffin as we speak. It is unlikely that he will have a lot of influence in the future.

And that's good enough for me. This will be the last post where I blame Mel Gibson for anything. My righteous anger against him has fizzled out. Besides, it's not really fun to beat a dead horse, unless your in a Mel Gibson movie, I suppose. Hell, I might even go see the Viking movie he's making with Leo DiCaprio, done in Old Norse, if you can believe it. He claims that it "will put the V in Viking." Having briefly studied Old Norse (i.e. opened up a folder of translations, glanced at the letters and had the good sense to pass on it all together), I can tell you that it will be a painful, if harmless, experience for all involved.

Skal, Mel Gibson! Many a man's nose has been broke by his own flapping tongue. (An Old Norse saying)