Art from the artist
Mel Gibson is not only a drunk, but he's a Jew-hater. That's pretty indisputable. The idea that having a few drinks can make someone say what they don't really believe is risible, especially to those of us -- ahem -- who have been known to have been overserved a time or two, or ten, in our lives. You could get me falling-down drunk -- and according to his blood alcohol level, Gibson was far from that -- and I wouldn't say what Gibson said because I don't believe those things about Jews. Sure, like everybody else, I have my own prejudices, which by the grace of God I struggle to overcome. And it's certainly possible that were I drunk enough, I might spout a few lines that I would be mortified over while sober, and which I would sincerely regret. But those things are still in my heart. I'd guess that most people, if blind drunk, would be at serious risk of saying prejudiced things, or at least things that we'd be ashamed of in our right minds.
Gibson has apologized. There's no way to tell at this point if he's sincere -- I am deeply suspicious of all celebrity apologies -- but I think it's pretty classless of the ADL's Abe Foxman to declare the apology "unremorseful." How the heck would he know? If Foxman said he was skeptical of Gibson's apology, but hoping to see proof later that Gibson meant it, then I'd pretty much agree with him. The proof of Mel's contrition will be demonstrated -- or not -- later.
I sincerely hope Gibson will find his way out of this stinking hole he's dug for himself, both with his alcoholism and his Jew-hatred. He is a Catholic. He needs spiritual help, and can get it, if he wants it. We are all of us more than our sins, and redemption is denied to no one. Grace for Mel Gibson will not come cheap. But it can be his. He needs to spend a lot of time studying the Holocaust, to see where the beliefs he keeps in his heart of hearts lead.
That said, I find a lot of this self-righteousness about Mel Gibson coming out of Hollywood to be obnoxious in the extreme. These are people who gave Roman Polanski an Oscar even though he drugged and raped a young teenage girl, and fled the country to escape prosecution. These are people who routinely absolve their own of all kinds of awful things. These are people who wouldn't shun Vanessa Redgrave after she made her appalling appeal on behalf of the PLO at the Oscars. Nor should they have shunned her. As rotten as her politics are, she is a consummate artist, and that must be recognized. Of course, her arguably anti-Semitic politics come from the left, while Gibson is associated with the Christian right, so he really is unforgivable in Hollywood circles.
The most important question -- maybe the only important question -- raised by the Gibson debacle is to what extent we can or should separate the artist from his art. Many great artists were moral wrecks of one sort of another. Kim Masters, writing in Slate, asks:
UPDATE: Mel Gibson has released a new statement. I find this moving and honest. He didn't blame the booze for his rant. He took responsibility for his words. I hope that Jewish leaders, as well as Catholic ones, will honor his request to help him confront and expel the demon of anti-Semitism. By the way, a friend writes to say that it's too strong to call him, as I did at the beginning of this post, a "Jew- hater." The friend reminds me that any of us who have been raised in (for example) a racist culture might be tempted to make a racist remark while drunk because of lingering racism of the sort that while in our right minds, we would recognize as evil and something to be fought against. I see his point, and withdraw my accusation.
Gibson has apologized. There's no way to tell at this point if he's sincere -- I am deeply suspicious of all celebrity apologies -- but I think it's pretty classless of the ADL's Abe Foxman to declare the apology "unremorseful." How the heck would he know? If Foxman said he was skeptical of Gibson's apology, but hoping to see proof later that Gibson meant it, then I'd pretty much agree with him. The proof of Mel's contrition will be demonstrated -- or not -- later.
I sincerely hope Gibson will find his way out of this stinking hole he's dug for himself, both with his alcoholism and his Jew-hatred. He is a Catholic. He needs spiritual help, and can get it, if he wants it. We are all of us more than our sins, and redemption is denied to no one. Grace for Mel Gibson will not come cheap. But it can be his. He needs to spend a lot of time studying the Holocaust, to see where the beliefs he keeps in his heart of hearts lead.
That said, I find a lot of this self-righteousness about Mel Gibson coming out of Hollywood to be obnoxious in the extreme. These are people who gave Roman Polanski an Oscar even though he drugged and raped a young teenage girl, and fled the country to escape prosecution. These are people who routinely absolve their own of all kinds of awful things. These are people who wouldn't shun Vanessa Redgrave after she made her appalling appeal on behalf of the PLO at the Oscars. Nor should they have shunned her. As rotten as her politics are, she is a consummate artist, and that must be recognized. Of course, her arguably anti-Semitic politics come from the left, while Gibson is associated with the Christian right, so he really is unforgivable in Hollywood circles.
The most important question -- maybe the only important question -- raised by the Gibson debacle is to what extent we can or should separate the artist from his art. Many great artists were moral wrecks of one sort of another. Kim Masters, writing in Slate, asks:
How many Gauguin canvases would you give up if the artist in exchange didn't abandon his wife and five children and knocked up fewer young girls in the Third World? What if you were responsible for chatting Gauguin up as you financed and promoted his disease-spreading adventures? Once you've got all that figured out, how do you think Mel Gibson stacks up as an artist against Gauguin, and what bargain would you make there?
UPDATE: Mel Gibson has released a new statement. I find this moving and honest. He didn't blame the booze for his rant. He took responsibility for his words. I hope that Jewish leaders, as well as Catholic ones, will honor his request to help him confront and expel the demon of anti-Semitism. By the way, a friend writes to say that it's too strong to call him, as I did at the beginning of this post, a "Jew- hater." The friend reminds me that any of us who have been raised in (for example) a racist culture might be tempted to make a racist remark while drunk because of lingering racism of the sort that while in our right minds, we would recognize as evil and something to be fought against. I see his point, and withdraw my accusation.
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