I don't know if you've heard any portion of the tapes of Mel Gibson's recent phone conversations with his girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, who is also mother of their 8-month old. My goodness! I could only take a couple of minutes of it before my gut filled up with something awful that left me retching. The man was literally exhausted and panting from his profane diatribe against this woman. It was pure rage and hatred, with all sorts of perverted sexual suggestions with a number of threats thrown in for good measure. Verbal abuse to the max!

Now what's sad about this is that the media have picked up on it so that even the likes of NPR have publicized it. Why? Because Gibson is a celebrity, for sure, and because he uses racially charged language about Blacks and Hispanics. Add that to his slur against Jews when resisting arrest for a DUI sometime back and the director of "The Passion of the Christ" will probably, henceforth, be pretty much done with any prominent acting or directing positions.

The more troubling question, however, is what's going on, here? His marriage to Robyn Moore broke up last year, after 29 years and 7 children. Obviously, his relationship with Oksana Grigorieva is quite troubled. It's sad to see such a gifted person who has had such a full life go to pieces, as seems to be the case. How can someone who's seemingly got everything going his way end up so miserable? He's had a history of alcohol abuse, so that might be part of it. Also, there's mid-life issues that could be going on. Who knows? We're not privy to what Gibson is doing to support his mental health, but I can tell you that I've never been impressed by his brand of ultra-conservative Catholicism, which he's credited for helping sustain him. That's not working, either.

Let's pray for Gibson and this situation. It's a sobering reminder to all of us of our need for God's grace to live a good and human life.

I only saw a minute or so of it, and then I changed the channel, only to discover that Mel was being discussed on several other channels! In the part I saw, he was being very accusatorial, saying that the woman he was talking to was entirely responsible for making him like this.

I won't speculate about the causes of his pscyhological troubles, but what is astonishing to me is that here is a man with the money and leisure time to afford the best psychotherapists in the world. But he doesn't go for it. Clearly there are people out there who could help him, but he doesn't seek them out.

The ladies on "The View" discuss Mel, all at once in a few points. This gives a sense of the media spectacle.
- http://abcnews.go.com/Entertai...gibson-rant-11152480

Some experts say the tapes were edited:
- http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/vide...es-tampered-11169063

Well, Mel Gibson is a documented extremist on several fronts: religion, ethnicity, and clearly also on the personal front.

I have not listened to the tapes – nor do I have any intention of doing so. Sorry, but it simply isn’t my cup of tea.

Mel Gibson’s behaviour is pathetic and abhorrent, granted.

I do have one question, though. What’s the angle of Oksana or/and the people around her? What’s their take? The whole way they’re playing the media, releasing one juicy (well-paid) nugget at a time, seems more calculated than aggrieved. And come to think of it, their take might be pretty good.

There are plenty of differences, of course. But it also seems there may be some troubling similarities to the Rachel Uchitel / Tiger Woods case. Uchitel & Associates reportedly got 10 mill.

It looks as though Oksana is, minimally, trying to build a case to demonstrate that Gibson is violent and unstable, which would enhance the likelihood of her receiving primary custody of their child. There's also been a suspicion that she recorded the conversations to threaten their release and maybe gain some money from it. I haven't kept up with it all, however. It is, as you noted, a sorry mess!

quote:

...will probably, henceforth, be pretty much done with any prominent acting or directing positions.

Phil, someone told me that Mel has his own production company. Because he's such a big money-maker, he'll probably stay in the business.

I wouldn't doubt that Mel was drinking heavily during that tirade. He needs to stay off the booze and apologize to a number of people. As awful as his words were, he didn't (as far as I know) hit her. There are plenty of rap stars still making oodles of money who can't say that. Some have even shot people and that increased their "street cred" and their market appeal.

I've been a fan of Gibson before he was ever a big name. Check out some of his very earlier movies such as "Tim," "Gallipoli," "The Bounty," "Forever Young," and especially "The Man without a Face."

Let's just keep this in perspective. He said some bad and abusive things. But, unlike Jane Fonda, he did not go to North Korea and actively support a brutal Communist dictatorship who was the enemy of our country and the enemy of everything decent. Unlike Sean Penn and other Hollywood rubes, he did not go to Cuba and come back with praise for yet another anti-America Communist murderous totalitarian regime.

Mel should be held to the standards of civilized behavior. But so should these others. If we flip out over Mel while overlooking some of the truly egregious things that leftist Hollywood stars do (including actively supporting some of the worst dictators in the world), we will lose perspective.

And I refuse to be pulled into someone else's machinations. Oksana may have had reason, but that was not a phone conversation. That was a set-up.

I have to add my 2 cents, this stuff isn't my cup of tea either, this guy has a weakness, he is also very talented, he produced one of the most powerful movies I have ever seen, The Passion of Christ. Does satan want people to see a movie like that? I think not. Would he want Mel to continue to have an effect on people at that level? I think not. Find the weakness, play it has hard as it can be and the result is a messed up Mel. How can one explain leaving a wife of so many years and his many children. Doesn't make sense. This is a spiritual battle. Lets pray he , Mel, hasn't lost quite yet.

I think Gibson's alcoholism explains most everything about those calls, especially if he'd been drinking, which I'm not sure about. But even if he hadn't been, dry drunk behavior comes with the illness.

Good point about the phone conversation being a set-up, Brad. But I'm sure they must have happened at other times as well, which is why she figured he'd do it again. As noted above, I think this is more about a custody battle for their child than making Gibson look bad.

carmel, alcoholism is difficult to live with, even if the other is a "good person" and there have been many years of marriage, not to mention children. But the way I recall it all unfolding, it was his affair that was the final straw for his wife, Robyn.

Carmel, I like your attitude to this. I'll be praying for him, too--and also the women and offspring connected with him. I'm hesitant to blame ordinary human weakness on spiritual attacks (I guess I watched the Church Lady too much on SNL when I was growing up) but who knows?--surely he needs our prayers, though, as does Anne Rice. Not that Mel and Anne have acted in any comparable manner...

You're rich, famous, and get to be involved in an amazing creative venture like making movies. Still, that's apparently not enough. I think there's a lesson in there for all of us. Hopefully Mel will get the help he needs. I also have the request that he make some movies that don't have so much blood in them. Mel seems to love the blood and gore these day.

to clarify my point, we don't blame spiritual attacks for our weakness, its that because of human weakness evil finds an easy way in. the path of least resistance. that is why solid spiritual direction, prayer, Eucharistic Adoration is paramount. Stay as close to God as possible. Sounds simple but we humans have a way of complicating life don't we.