catholicsphere

Ah yes. Mel Gibson’s critics have not been slow to jump on the bandwagon attacking his comments during a drunken tirade (warning: difficult-to-read, PDF file). “Anti-Semite”, they refer to him as. But, just as with The Passion of the Christ, there is much over-reaction to his comments, in my opinion.

The Passion of the Christ was deemed “anti-Semitic”, although it contained depictions of some Jews that were quite close in their biblical accuracy. The Anti-Defamation League and other Jewish groups were harsh in their criticism of Gibson (not just his film); and, not wanting to seem insensitive, the media latched on and contributed to the controversy. However, The Passion of the Christ focused on the last hours of Christ’s life, not the Jewish people of the time. Still, Gibson was lambasted for making an anti-semitic movie. The comments were enough to create the hostile conflict.

Yet, no mention of that.

Gibson said at that time that he sought to portray the truth as closely as possible. The DaVinci Code didn’t have anything nearly as accurate to stand on, yet Catholics and other Christians were “over-reacting” to the charges of anti-Christian bias. People complain when the Church, or groups like the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, comment negatively on television and movies, etc because of their anti-Catholic bias. Why the double-standard?

Why is it ok for television and movies to portray Catholics and Christians negatively, but if there is any hint similar against Jews … all hell breaks loose?

I don’t excuse the fact that Mr. Gibson put lives in danger by getting behind the wheel after drinking too much. He can be forgiven for such, but that was stupid. I also don’t excuse his bad behavior, which is another reason for watching how much one drinks. And, I don’t excuse the comments that Gibson made … but, if you look around at the comments around the web, etc — in a similar vein as those made surrounding the release of The Passion of the Christ — you can see why Gibson might be driven to make such comments, particularly in a druken state.

Ah yes. Hollywood. Such a fun little place. The place that will in no way forgive comments made while intoxicated, but gives a standing ovation to Roman Polanski for his movie, “The Pianist”, despite having drugged and sodomized a 13-year old girl, and then becoming a fugitive of the law.

At least the critics are consistent in applying their double-standard.

[tags]Mel Gibson, police, hollywood, Passion of the Christ, anti-semitism, jews, catholic, anti-catholicism[/tags]