Dumbass of the Week – Mel Gibson

So wrong in so many ways…

It’s been quite a while since a truly worthy candidate appeared for Dumbass of the Week.  Let’s face it, Jesse James is a hard act to follow in terms of utterly stupid self destruction and general smarminess.  But Mel Gibson – with an already tarnished record a mile and a half long – has outdone the ex-Mr. Bullock by a country mile.  Gibson makes James look like a choir boy.  Fine, a choir boy that’s a big fat creep, but still.

In case you haven’t been paying attention, Mel Gibson has gone off the deep end.  After his 2006 arrest during which he disparaged Jews, women and nearly flushed his career down the crapper, he checked himself into alcohol rehab (nice ploy, Mel – the public loooooves rehab).  This, combined with an apology (that wasn’t really an apology – more like a denial) and the critical success of Apocalypto, saved his sorry butt from the fiery furnace of public scorn.

Jump to 2009.  Mel divorces his wife of many years (and many children) and takes up with pianist Oksana Grigorieva, with whom he has yet another child (for the record, that makes 8).

Jump to this week, when Mel dives head first into the insanity pool in recorded conversations with the now estranged Grigorieva.  He’s not just angry, he’s raving.  He’s tossing out racial slurs, threats of violence, massive blasts of general misogyny and other little tidbits for the consumption of the masses.

First a disclaimer.  I don’t think this is a pure, one sided story with Gibson as devil and Grigorieva as angel.  It was she, after all, who made the tapes without his knowledge.  I do not believe that if we heard tapes of other conversations between the dueling duo that she would seem quite so calm and rational.  She wanted him to blow up so she could get a restraining order – fair enough.  But exactly how did those tapes make their way onto the internet?  The entire internet?  Right, I don’t think she’s quite as much of a fair damsel as she might like us to think.

On the other hand, Gibson is a raving lunatic.  He’s huffing and puffing and ranting and nearly incoherent in his vast, seemingly bottomless hatred.  Who is it that Mel hates?  Let’s take a look.  Mel Gibson probably hates you if:

– you are homosexual

– you are female

– you are African-American

– you are Hispanic

– you are Jewish

– you are the mother of any of his tribe of children

– you are not Mel Gibson

Yes, I think that just about covers it.  Chances are pretty much 100% that Mel Gibson hates you.  And me.

Think about it – this man was adored by women the world over from the time he made Galipoli in 1981.  At 54, he could be aging into a successful directing career (don’t forget, he owns an Oscar for Braveheart) as well as cherry picking plum acting roles.  But that isn’t how it is in MelWorld.

In MelWorld it’s impossible to cork it about your unpopular, bigoted and violent beliefs and just do your damn job.  In my perfect world I wouldn’t know word one about Mel Gibson’s religion, prejudices or bad habits.  Sure, being in the spotlight opens actors up to scrutiny and that sometimes sucks.  But Gibson has never failed to parade his weirdness as if it were a badge of courage and honor rather than a sign of mental illness.  That he can’t tell the difference is probably the most frightening thing of all.

Nice going, Mel.  Between the bottle, your warped psyche and your intense hatred for everyone who is not you, you’ve managed to alienate the world.  Rehab isn’t going to cut it this time.  At least for this movie-goer, you’re toast on a stick and your career is over.  Hopefully you’ll go to jail for beating your girlfriend (which you admitted) and save us all from having to see you or worse, hear you speak.  You are my Movie Rewind Dumbass of the Week, eclipsing any who have come before you with the sheer magnitude of your vile insanity.  Now, please, for the sake of everyone – shut the hell up!

Sue Millinocket

Sue reads a lot, writes a lot, edits a lot, and loves a good craft. She was deemed “too picky” to proofread her children’s school papers and wears this as a badge of honor. She is also proud of her aggressively average knitting skills  She is the Editorial Director at Silver Beacon Marketing and an aspiring Crazy Cat Lady.