Re: Crash and Burn
With the leak of audiotapes allegedly featuring the voice of Mel Gibson wishing his girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva very bad things, commentators are now speculating on the future of Gibson’s career. Once the beloved star of the Lethal Weapon franchise and friend to Christians everywhere with The Passion of the Christ, Gibson has been dropped by his talent agency and has caught the interest of police who are investigating allegations of domestic abuse. Most commentators agree that Mel can forget making a studio film. His future, they argue, depends upon the forgiving hearts of his fans and his bank account. In other words, if Gibson self-finances another hit, fans may embrace him and the studios will cautiously follow.
Studios will bring Mel back into the fold because Hollywood is a business and Mel used to be big business. If he can be big business again (on his own dime), all is forgiven, at least in terms of everyone’s bank accounts. So Mel’s potential career resurrection depends on audiences and their feelings. Currently, he’s not feeling the love. If it is Gibson on the tapes, and neither he nor his representatives have so far denied it, then he is a shameful disgrace. People across the internet are voicing their disgust. However, people also have a short memory.
Mel’s ability to capitalize on his audience’s memory loss depends on crafting a believable villain for his story. First choice would be drugs, alcohol and wait for it…a stay in rehab. The problem is that other actors have been careless with the publicity gift that is rehab and ruined it for everyone else who uses it to try and save their career. There’s Isaiah Washington who checked into rehab after calling fellow Grey’s Anatomy cast member T.R. Knight a fagot because he thought people might believe that rehab can cure the affliction of being an a**hole. Then there’s Lindsay Lohan who should spend her impending prison time writing a dissertation on: The Use of Rehab as Publicity Stunt. Yet, ‘career drunk’ with a stay in a recovery facility is still Gibson’s best chance. If you listen closely to the tape, you can hear him slur a few words.
If the villain thing works out, Mel spends time laying low, rehabs it and eventually dips into his personal fortune to put himself into a movie, then viewers would need to separate his life from his art to ensure his comeback.
They shouldn’t.
While acting is the art of pretending, viewers shouldn’t pretend that Gibson’s problems aren’t deeply disturbing. He is clearly a racist and if the allegations on the leaked tapes are true, much more. These qualities don’t deserve to be rewarded with the price of a movie ticket and a sit-down with Oprah. Certainly, Gibson is not the only actor who has a troubled personal life that is hidden from a sparkling on-screen one but he got caught, twice (See: 2006’s anti-Semitic tirade). America is the land of second chances but he threw his away. Now both his on-screen image–lovable rogue, conquering hero and his off-screen one–Christian family man (arguably this was already tarnished but not irreparable) are shattered. Using your money to support any future film plans he may have says that his actions don’t matter, that it’s okay to be a racist and that it’s okay to hit your girlfriend as long as you are entertaining. This is not recognizing good acting as art separated from life. It’s turning a blind eye.
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