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News & ArtsMonday, July 12, 2010
Character Study Mel Gibson Is Mentally Ill
Posted by David Schmader on Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 1:18 PM
And when the mother of his 8-month-old daughter suggests he needs medication, he says she "needs a fucking bat in the side of the head." (He also blasts her as a "little girl with a dysfunctional cunt.")
Listen to Gibson go crazier than you've ever heard an Oscar-winning Hollywood star go before here.
5
One of the things people are discussing in the film world right now is "Who is Worse: Mel Gibson or Roman Polanski?"
Personally, I think Polanski is both the better director and the sickest.
Personally, I think Polanski is both the better director and the sickest.
6
Gee, I thought everyone was so over Mel Gibson and beyond surprise at anything he could do.
There's a valuable life lesson there though. No matter how pretty the gift wrapping (and no one was ever prettier than MG back in the day), there is always the possibility of a poisonous turd inside the package.
It's not that I'm ashamed of ever enjoying his work, but let's just say that the joy of watching The Year of Living Dangerously is now somewhat diminished.
There's a valuable life lesson there though. No matter how pretty the gift wrapping (and no one was ever prettier than MG back in the day), there is always the possibility of a poisonous turd inside the package.
It's not that I'm ashamed of ever enjoying his work, but let's just say that the joy of watching The Year of Living Dangerously is now somewhat diminished.
7
@4 I though that was either/or Apocalyptico or the "Sugartits Incident" (which ought to be a band name).
8
@5:
Mel Gibson, because Polanski has Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown. Plus, not to excuse whatever Polanski did or didn't do, but who knows how fucked up seeing your wife and unborn son and/or your family slaughtered makes you. What made MG such a dick? Catholicism?
Mel Gibson, because Polanski has Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown. Plus, not to excuse whatever Polanski did or didn't do, but who knows how fucked up seeing your wife and unborn son and/or your family slaughtered makes you. What made MG such a dick? Catholicism?
10
I agree with 9. There is a huge difference between being mentally ill and being an asshole religious freak. He is not mentally ill. He is a douchebag.
12
@1 Michael K. is always my first choice for news. (could have done without scrolling down to the nipple picture, though.)
@6 Sooo pretty in Mrs. Soffel. Too bad about the crazy. And it's true, facial symmetry does not always equal nice person, sadly.
@6 Sooo pretty in Mrs. Soffel. Too bad about the crazy. And it's true, facial symmetry does not always equal nice person, sadly.
13
Crazy or no... I'm still waiting eagerly for Mad Mel to release "Passion of the Christ II: The Eucharist Strikes Back"
15
@ 8 and other Polanski supporters. Keep in mind that Polanski was convicted of rape. It's not "whatever he did or didn't do." He did it.
That said, arguing over who is the worse person is like arguing over whether it's worse to lose your left eye or your right.
That said, arguing over who is the worse person is like arguing over whether it's worse to lose your left eye or your right.
16
nope.
8 for the win.
this guy is a fucking monster. polanski made a SEVERELY poor choice that messed up lives in a morally ambiguous time and place. still rotten, very very rotten. but gibson?????this guy is clearly capable of some OJ shit.
8 for the win.
this guy is a fucking monster. polanski made a SEVERELY poor choice that messed up lives in a morally ambiguous time and place. still rotten, very very rotten. but gibson?????this guy is clearly capable of some OJ shit.
18
and 15-at the risk of sounding like a supporter, which i wouldnt call myself!-being convicted of something in court most certainly is NOT absolute universal proof that anything ever happened. sorry but believing otherwise is naive. no offense.
19
finally career-a-cide for this doucebag. what a fucking idiot and he's not mentally ill - not even close, he comes off like an abusive, rich spoiled motherfucker.
good riddance to white trash.
good riddance to white trash.
22
I think this is just an audition tape from "Enough 2: Seriously, You Should Stop Saying That Shit."
24
@17 And they're both apparently sober, too, ew. Don't you think one of these days he's gonna miss that thing?
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@11 - No way. The Britney Breakdown was AMAZING. I made t-shirts. The Britney Recovery has been VERY DISAPPOINTING.
26
i'm not going to listen to this hateful drivel. i am however going to continue to ask The Stranger to stop publishing this garbage. gibson's hateful, worthless, angry and small-minded trash is beneath us. the best we can do is ignore him
28
@15, he wasn't convicted of rape, he was convicted of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, a lesser charge. And he served an evaluation sentence in prison. It was only when the possibility of further sentencing was raised that he fled.
To modern eyes his crime looks indefensible and his punishment laughable. But this was the Seventies, in LA; sexual offenses against minors by celebrities were commonplace. Read a few chapters on what Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys was getting up to in his house (where Charles Manson and his girls were long-term houseguests) or up in the country-rock party houses in Laurel Canyon, where groupies as young as twelve were sometimes on the menu. Don Henley had an underage girl on an overdose removed from his house; Christ can only imagine who was running naked in and out of David Crosby's.
And that's just the rock stars. That was the Hollywood norm back in those days, from the mid-sixties until cocaine had finally burned out that last brain cell in the mid-eighties. Everybody wanted a piece of it. I guarantee that most of the popular music and movie figures of the day were either participants or witnesses to scenes like Polanski's.
Next, ask me what Rock Hudson was doing down at the Los Angeles Farmer's Market at 3 AM most nights.
To modern eyes his crime looks indefensible and his punishment laughable. But this was the Seventies, in LA; sexual offenses against minors by celebrities were commonplace. Read a few chapters on what Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys was getting up to in his house (where Charles Manson and his girls were long-term houseguests) or up in the country-rock party houses in Laurel Canyon, where groupies as young as twelve were sometimes on the menu. Don Henley had an underage girl on an overdose removed from his house; Christ can only imagine who was running naked in and out of David Crosby's.
And that's just the rock stars. That was the Hollywood norm back in those days, from the mid-sixties until cocaine had finally burned out that last brain cell in the mid-eighties. Everybody wanted a piece of it. I guarantee that most of the popular music and movie figures of the day were either participants or witnesses to scenes like Polanski's.
Next, ask me what Rock Hudson was doing down at the Los Angeles Farmer's Market at 3 AM most nights.
30
@15: Analogy FAIL - losing your dominant eye is slightly worse than losing the other one.
@20: Unbelievable, yes. Fake, no.
@20: Unbelievable, yes. Fake, no.
32
hey fnarf, it looks like you are writing endless disquisitions about what you imagine about the private lives of people you've never met...
or you are quoting from books that are readily available to all. and you know-authors! talk about a window to reality!
or maybe you were in the Byrds? which is it?
or you are quoting from books that are readily available to all. and you know-authors! talk about a window to reality!
or maybe you were in the Byrds? which is it?
34
@28 - Are you seriously going with the "It was the times, man; everyone was doing it!" excuse?
Raping children is not OK. This is true whether it's 1977 or 2010, whether you're a famous Hollywood director or Joe Schmo the elementary school janitor.
Raping children is not OK. This is true whether it's 1977 or 2010, whether you're a famous Hollywood director or Joe Schmo the elementary school janitor.
35
If it were anyone else, I would think "too bad a guy who made a few good movies has descended into madness, or extreme douchebaggery, whatever you want to call it." But since it's Mel fucking Gibson, hero to antisemitic Christian torture-porn enthusiasts everywhere, I'm having a good laugh at his self-destruction.
37
@34
I don't remember seeing this topic coming up in the 10 commandments. If you are going to pronounce a behavior "wrong" in some absolute sense, please reference your source.
I don't remember seeing this topic coming up in the 10 commandments. If you are going to pronounce a behavior "wrong" in some absolute sense, please reference your source.
38
Seconded @27 -- "You should just smile and blow me, because I deserve it!"
That about sums it up. He's rich & famous, she's just arm candy. He should have gotten rid of her the first time she didn't behave that way.
That about sums it up. He's rich & famous, she's just arm candy. He should have gotten rid of her the first time she didn't behave that way.
40
How do we know the tape is real? Because Mel Gibson hasn't said one fucking word about it. He hasn't even denied that it's real.
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@ 32: crisco: Fnarf was in The Byrds. I'm surprised you don't remember his bass mandolin solo on the third track of side 3 of The Return of Sweetheart of the Rodeo: LIVE at Winterland.
43
Here me out, perhaps these are all excerpts from an audition tape he made for a Neil Labute movie?!
44
dave, you're giving the mentally ill a bad rap, here. gibson's just mean and ignorant and religious.
46
It's always disappointing to see people who should know better giving someone a pass on the bullshit that he did because he's an artist, and the backbending and moral twisting they go through to downplay what he did. I mean really, you think they didn't have the goods on Polanski? If anything you guys said was accurate, he would have gotten off with a suspended sentence if not had the charges dropped.
Read up on the case, people.
Read up on the case, people.
48
The Bran Flakes have to have some kind of use for this. "You've got to fucking soul!" = dancefloor gold.
50
@46: thx for that.
Seriously people, read the girl's testimony before you decide that what Polanski did was so "morally ambiguous" or whatever
Seriously people, read the girl's testimony before you decide that what Polanski did was so "morally ambiguous" or whatever
51
whoa, holy cow, is he serious?
and i'm actually really impressed with how calmly she's handling this. personally, i'd have a hard time keeping my voice steady and reacting as diplomaticly and reasonably while being spoken to that way.
and i'm actually really impressed with how calmly she's handling this. personally, i'd have a hard time keeping my voice steady and reacting as diplomaticly and reasonably while being spoken to that way.
52
Mel's bipolar (So is Britney). His meds aren't working -- he's manic. The girlfriend's right, I've been in her position, adjust the meds! You're batshit, Mel. (And the religious fanaticism is probably a 12 step substitute for the drugs/alcohol he used to self medicate the bi-polar disorder) I'm not dissing a 12-step program or equating addicts/alcoholics with Mel, but there it is.
53
@46 etc.: I didn't say it was "morally ambiguous". I didn't say he was a terrific fellow, or that what he did was cool. But the fact is, in the seventies, the standard punishment for unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor involved no jail time. That's simply a fact. And that's what Polanski was convicted of.
And yes, most of the pop stars and movie stars of the time did the exact same thing, and were never even punished for it. This is your entertainment business. Fucking little girls is right there on the agenda. See? They're all over there naked in the pool.
And yes, most of the pop stars and movie stars of the time did the exact same thing, and were never even punished for it. This is your entertainment business. Fucking little girls is right there on the agenda. See? They're all over there naked in the pool.
54
@ Fnarf, what's your basis for this claim:
"But the fact is, in the seventies, the standard punishment for unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor involved no jail time. That's simply a fact."
Because I'm not familiar with this and have never read it anywhere before.
I do know Polanski was afraid of additional jail time - allegedly because the judge wasn't going to accept the plea bargain he set up with the prosecution - and if that's so, then it kind of undermines your point, even if your statement is correct.
As far as what was happening between celebrities and minors in the 70s, my understanding is that most of those encounters were consensual on the part of the teens (or at least it was ambiguous enough that force could never be demonstrated satisfactorily to its legal definition). That clearly wasn't the case with Polanski.
"But the fact is, in the seventies, the standard punishment for unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor involved no jail time. That's simply a fact."
Because I'm not familiar with this and have never read it anywhere before.
I do know Polanski was afraid of additional jail time - allegedly because the judge wasn't going to accept the plea bargain he set up with the prosecution - and if that's so, then it kind of undermines your point, even if your statement is correct.
As far as what was happening between celebrities and minors in the 70s, my understanding is that most of those encounters were consensual on the part of the teens (or at least it was ambiguous enough that force could never be demonstrated satisfactorily to its legal definition). That clearly wasn't the case with Polanski.
55
he is an alcoholic who is not in recovery
i think that pretty much says it all.
i've heard a thousand other crazy drunken rants and this pretty much sounds like most of them. the only thing is, he's famous and this was caught on tape.
i think that pretty much says it all.
i've heard a thousand other crazy drunken rants and this pretty much sounds like most of them. the only thing is, he's famous and this was caught on tape.
56
She's so calm because she's recording it. I'd imagine it's far easier not to be the unhinged one when you know the conversation is being recorded. It's a set up - though Mel makes for easy game.
57
I wish Tom Cruise would do something like this. You know he has it in him -- if someone would just catch him on tape being a racist, sexist douchebag with abusive tendencies, we'd finally have our hands washed of both Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson.
58
Am I the only one who was sad, hearing that audio? That man has sooo much money, and has had so many opportunities to help himself. We've known that he's a self-medicating drunk with a background that is undoubtedly complicated, but here it's clear that he's actually mentally ill. He belongs in an institution and on some serious medication.
He has access to thousands of beautiful women who would be happy to play whatever role he has in mind, so why would he choose to be with someone whom he clearly hates? It's a sad fact that this relationship is exactly what he wants (if only he could prevent her from pressing "record"). There's all that fucking pain in his voice.
[i've touched the man! he brushed by me on the way to the Pink Door bathroom, followed by his bodyguard, who pushed me aside. he was in town to promote his film, braveheart, which premiered at SIFF]
He has access to thousands of beautiful women who would be happy to play whatever role he has in mind, so why would he choose to be with someone whom he clearly hates? It's a sad fact that this relationship is exactly what he wants (if only he could prevent her from pressing "record"). There's all that fucking pain in his voice.
[i've touched the man! he brushed by me on the way to the Pink Door bathroom, followed by his bodyguard, who pushed me aside. he was in town to promote his film, braveheart, which premiered at SIFF]
59
@58 - Well, sad for humanity in general, maybe, but for Mel, no. He's had his opportunities to - let's be civil and say, "adjust his thinking." But his rage is so all-encompassing and monolithic that he thinks any woman could fill his need, if you could call it that. And he's going to treat them just like that: retrofittings to support his own lack of real character. I can't get past that demeaning demand.
I just can't sympathize too deeply with a guy who's been on this planet for 50 years, who has paraded his gaudiest moments of introspection -- what Joni Mitchell would call "miraculous repentences" -- who can insist upon our gall at the treatment of his Redeemer, but still can't teach himself the ugliest truths. I know he found Jesus, Scottish nationalism and Danny Glover, but they haven't worked. This is what happens when your rebirths turn out to be skin-deep.
Sure, I hope he gets help. For the sake of his future companions and the sanity of his attorneys, I hope so. But in this one I'm a little more inclined to sympathize with the woman he knocked around in the teeth (allegedly). I just don't feel like coddling somebody who can tell a great story on celluloid, but can't think through the narrative of his own, richly rewarded life through.
There are bipolars who need help and can't get it easily; then there are those who can get it but wilfully ignore it. I sympathize with one of those camps, and I have Mel in the other. You can probably figure out which.
I just can't sympathize too deeply with a guy who's been on this planet for 50 years, who has paraded his gaudiest moments of introspection -- what Joni Mitchell would call "miraculous repentences" -- who can insist upon our gall at the treatment of his Redeemer, but still can't teach himself the ugliest truths. I know he found Jesus, Scottish nationalism and Danny Glover, but they haven't worked. This is what happens when your rebirths turn out to be skin-deep.
Sure, I hope he gets help. For the sake of his future companions and the sanity of his attorneys, I hope so. But in this one I'm a little more inclined to sympathize with the woman he knocked around in the teeth (allegedly). I just don't feel like coddling somebody who can tell a great story on celluloid, but can't think through the narrative of his own, richly rewarded life through.
There are bipolars who need help and can't get it easily; then there are those who can get it but wilfully ignore it. I sympathize with one of those camps, and I have Mel in the other. You can probably figure out which.
60
@59 - Are you really worried about the sanity of his attorneys? The crazier he is, the more work they'll have defending him, and odds are they are billing him quite a lot by the hour.
64
I fear for Mel G's child. He is so full of anger.....he needs help...they all need help.....on the other hand a former close friend of the GF......has come forward......and spoken about her. He says she is very manipulative and knows exactly how to push Mel's buttons......maybe Mel has finally woken up........to her manipulative ways....and maybe......that is why he is angry....but also maybe...the anger is misplaced for the most part...and he is really angry at himself....for being such a fool.
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