Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 7:13pm

Crazy Mel

 

 

Back in 2011 I reported that Mel Gibson was working on a screenplay about the Maccabean revolt.  Go here to read the post.  I hoped that this movie would help Gibson work out the personal demons that afflict him.  Alas, such is not the case.  The project has been shelved, and the screenwriter of the play Joe Eszterhas has unloaded on Gibson in a nine page letter that may be read here.  (Caution as to strong language.)  Mel Gibson is the most prominent Catholic of his generation in Hollywood.  His Passion of the Christ is a masterful film that inspired, and inspires, huge numbers of people around the globe.  To see him destroy his life and reputation since then has been painful.  Gibson needs our prayers and a swift kick in the hind end.

Update I:  Hattip to commenter Chris P.  Go here to read Gibson’s response to the Eszterhas letter.

Update II:  Go here to read Eszterhas’ response to Gibson.

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Chris
Thursday, April 12, AD 2012 7:19am

Can we still consider him Catholic? He did form his own schismatic church.

Ivan
Ivan
Thursday, April 12, AD 2012 8:48am

It appears from the letter that Gibson was being fitted out for a Maoist confessional, with the Enemy of The People receiving absolution after some heavy going. Madness or his guardian angel saved him from that ignominious fate. Good on ya mate, ha ha.

Student
Student
Thursday, April 12, AD 2012 9:10am

I thought Mel was a Sedevacantist…. like Sungenis.

Leticia Velasquez
Thursday, April 12, AD 2012 9:16am

When Jim Caviezel was interviewed about the filming of “The Passion” he said Mel insisted they both go to daily confession and daily (Latin) Mass to remain safe from demonic attacks. That was a wise move, and the incredible success of “The Passion” is a testament that they harnessed great spiritual power. But Mel let his guard down afterward and obviously the devil has had his way with him. Part of his problem is the sedevacantist mindset which mocks Blessed John Paul and encourages Holocaust denial. I have had many friends attend SSPX churches and eventually this crept into their thinking. They become their own popes, deciding for themselves which pope is valid and which is a Mason, which means they are no longer Catholics, they just look like them. Add to that the wealth which I and the millions who attended many showings of “The Passion” helped him accumulate. Wealth ruins many people as they can afford to terrorize their staff, build and staff their own churches, becoming isolated dictators.
Mel needs a tough priest, who says Latin Mass and is an exorcist to confront him, and the spirits which have infested him.

T. Shaw
T. Shaw
Thursday, April 12, AD 2012 10:08am

“Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.”

Am I a sedevacantist? I ask because I only say three (Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious) sets of Mysteries of the Holy Rosary and I don’t totally buy that “human dignity” stuff. Otherwise, I honor Pope John Paul II.

In 1979, during his visit to NYC, I came within 100 feet of Pope John Paul II. I was walking past St Patrick’s on my way to work and he and Terence Cardinal Cook were taking a quiet stroll about the Cathedral (behind NYPD barricades). I waved to him. I don’t think he saw me. And, I could feel the holiness.

Leticia Velasquez
Thursday, April 12, AD 2012 10:27am

T.Shaw. You may not be a sedevacantist but you are dead wrong if you say you can pick and choose which papal teachings to accept. What makes you any better than liberal Catholics who accept Church social teaching which fit with their liberal agenda and ignore Humanae Vitae and Evangelium Vitae?
Its the same thing Mel does, you go with your feelings. Mel agrees with his father that JPII is “Garullous Carolus the Koran Kisser” and mocks him. You ‘feel’ his holiness. IT=ts not about feelings, its about submitting to authority which Christ put over you as a Catholic. If you do not accept papal authority, you are a Protestant.
Name one saint who was disobedient to his superiors, even when they were morally bankrupt and jealously suppressing him, as in the case of St Faustina and Padre Pio.
Why don’t you read some of Blessed John Paul’s writing on human dignity and his Marian writings. You may find that your disobedience is borne out of ignorance and pride. They don’t call Blessed John Paul II Great for nothing.

Dale Price
Dale Price
Thursday, April 12, AD 2012 11:09am

TShaw:

Well, unless you have a nigh-unto-unique form of sedevacantism which holds that JP2 was a valid pope and B16 is not, it’s pretty clear you’re not.

The Luminous mysteries are optional. I’m not sure what you mean by the “human dignity stuff,” but man does an excellent job of effacing his God-given dignity these days, that’s for sure.

Phillip
Phillip
Thursday, April 12, AD 2012 11:17am

Though part of Catholic teaching is Veritatis Splendor which talks about intrinsic evils which can never be supported (abortion, contraception, torture) and those things which are not evils per se (income inequality). The former can never be accepted while (within reason) the latter can.

Then of course are the licit variety of approaches to applying social teaching which Catholic teaching itself allows. For example the licit variety of approaches for providing health care. One can be a faithful Catholic and vary on such approaches. This as opposed to some who abuse the term “human dignity” to justify a particular approach to a problem and villify those who don’t agree.

Chris P
Chris P
Thursday, April 12, AD 2012 2:29pm

Well, I can say this much, that letter comes across as a pretty crazy read in and of itself regardless of Gibson….

I really hope Gibson turns things around for himself. I hope he seeks out that first step to recovery and receives the sacrament of reconciliation from a properly ordained priest.

Chris P
Chris P
Thursday, April 12, AD 2012 2:58pm

Funny after reading this post I came across this article on yahoo movies. It really seems to put things in a different light. Mel comes across as very level headed and professional.

http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/mel-gibson-fires-back-another-round-anti-semite-163409130.html

trackback
Thursday, April 12, AD 2012 6:00pm

[…] Crazy Mel (Gibson) – Donald R. McClarey, The American Catholic […]

Robert Sungenis
Thursday, April 12, AD 2012 9:10pm

To “Student”: I really hate responding to people who don’t use their real name, but, for the record, I’m not a sedevacantist and never have been. I have had several debates against sedevacantists (e.g., Peter Dimond, John Lane). So please, no more rumors. If you want to know something about me, ask me. Anything else is gossip. Capice?

Jasper
Jasper
Friday, April 13, AD 2012 10:54am

I don’t get it. How many times does Mel Gibson have to apoligize?

Student
Student
Friday, April 13, AD 2012 11:45am

I apologize, Robert Sungenis.
I feel kind of foolish – yes, I was pretty much just parroting what I have heard others say.

Pinky
Pinky
Friday, April 13, AD 2012 2:10pm

The man behind “Showgirls” versus the man behind “The Passion of the Christ”, and it looks like Eszterhas is in the right. This is why being a human is so interesting.

Larry
Larry
Friday, April 13, AD 2012 2:41pm

Pinky,

Joe Eszterhas underwent his own conversion – he’s also no the man he used to be.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/hollywood_author_writes_of_his_damascuslike_conversion/

digdigby
digdigby
Friday, April 13, AD 2012 3:03pm

The Passion of Christ is a still a major S&M cult film. No wonder. Mr. Gibson has a very strange propensity (in movie after movie) of showing naked young men being hideously tortured in extreme close-up. Heresy and PRIDE go together like a fish in water. He plays the little ‘pope’ with his own ‘church’, hands out ‘spiritual advice’ and yet is a cringing embarrassment with his bigotry, foul mouth and adolescent sexual indulgence and rages. I find Juno to be a MUCH more inspiring ‘Catholic’ film than ‘Passion’.

digdigby
digdigby
Friday, April 13, AD 2012 3:51pm

Mr. McClarey, . Being ‘moved’ by the life of Jesus Christ means nothing to me. I’m still moved to tears by Old Yeller. In the movie ‘Juno’ I was made ashamed in a real, Catholic way at how I judged the character ‘Vanessa’. Enough to shake me up at how I see people in my own life.

Ivan
Ivan
Saturday, April 14, AD 2012 3:30am

digdigby does have a point. Mel Gibson’s movies from the Mad Max to Lethal Weapon series rely on the character’s capacity for controlled mayhem in a sadistic environment for their effect. Gibson is not a versatile actor, he needs violence to sell his movies. That said, I do not think he intends to kill his ex or anyone else for that matter. Though quite clearly he enjoys being a sob and a bigot.

digdigby
digdigby
Saturday, April 14, AD 2012 3:24pm

“Pope John Paul II thought rather highly of the Passion of the Christ.”.
He also thought highly of Maciel.

Bonchamps
Saturday, April 14, AD 2012 10:44pm

Given the above…

1. Mel has apologized enough for his drunken outburst. And while it certainly doesn’t excuse his remarks, let’s not forget the extent to which he was harassed and maligned by certain Jewish groups that were categorically opposed to any popular portrayal of the Scriptural truth.

2. The Passion is most certainly not an “S&M film.” If your modern sensibilities are so delicate that you can’t bear to see the truth of what really happened, I really just pity you.

I can usually tell whether or not I’ll like someone or get along with them based on their position on that film. I guess you either “get it” or you don’t, and if you don’t, well you’re just not my kind of people.

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