10.12.2006

Have Another Drink, Mel Gibson

Tom Shales tells us that ABC "host" Diane Sawyer (who happens to be married to famed director Mike Nichols), one of the few women besides Monica Crowley to still love Dick Nixon, gets tough in her interview with drunken doofus Mel Gibson.

Maybe I'd believe Mel's contrite if I hadn't already heard from numerous sources that Mel is right back drinking again. His stunt visit for alcoholism may not have kept him dry for even a day.

But this guy simply deserves no respect - although he gets my pity - for that venomous tirade against Jews (earth to Mel: Jesus and his mother, Mary, were Jews). He wanted every influential Jew to stop what they were doing so he could apologize to them at a time when many Jews were very worried about the situation going on in Lebanon and Israel over the summer. This wasn't about a genuine request for forgiveness; Mel just wanted off the hot seat.

While I'm willing to believe you can find a way, probably at gunpoint, to stop Mel from drinking, you can't turn that dark, dank place between his ears into a more suitable citadel of intelligence.

Funny, I never liked Mel when he was very hot. But I didn't hate him and my dislike had nothing to do with the fact he was a known coke freak, a loud mouth imbecile, or an egotist of monumental stature. No. I just thought he sucked as an actor. Still does. His direction and production skills are also rather mediocre.

Only the far right wing gave him the monetary success of his Jesus film. Serious critics, by and large, panned it. I did not bother to see it.

Sadly, having lots of money does not buy one a brain OR a soul. Have a good life, Mel. Just do it somewhere else.