Mel Gibson A few things on my mind this morning. Joe over at NiT asks if the Mel Gibson debacle from the weekend really matters. I thought about this and I think the answer is yes and no. People get DUI's. People are racist. Gibson's arrest spotlights that just because you are famous doesn't mean that you are above special treatment. I think the deputy did the right thing on this one. I used to work with battered women and abused children. A lot of the time, the excuse used when a woman would get the crap beat out of her by her abuser was that he was "drunk" at the time. When I would go to court with these women, and this would be used by their attorneys as an excuse, I would tell the judge that it honestly shouldn't be admissible. I think alcohol just makes people more uninhibited to do or say what lurks within them. If you say things when your drunk, you still said them. It doesn't make them go away. I commend Gibson for immediately coming out and apologizing. But the apologizing doesn't take back the harsh words and it could be debated that the apology was a "have-to" sort of thing. But let's not forget, slurs have come out of Gibson's mouth before. Years ago, Gibson made some homophobic slurs in 1992 in the Spanish Magazine El Pais, then defended his statements and later apologized for those as well. From Wikipedia:

In the interview, when asked what he thought of gay people, he said, "They take it up the a**." Gibson then bent over and pointed to his buttocks, saying, "This is only for taking a sh*t." When the interviewer recalled that Gibson previously had expressed fear that people would think he is gay because he's an actor, Gibson responded by saying, "Do I sound like a homosexual? Do I talk like them? Do I move like them?". Gibson later defended his comments on Good Morning America, saying, "I don't think there's an apology necessary, and I'm certainly not giving one.

In 1997, Gibson did work with Gladd with gay and lesbian teen filmakers. Was it to make amends? I have no idea but it appears that it was. I'm trying to be fair here. Before all of you start trying to beat the hell out of me, Let me say this. Words can be used as terrible weapons. I hope Gibson gets the help he needs. I hope anybody with an addiction can get the help they need, not just a guy who is a movie star. He will if he wants to continue to have credibility in his career. He has the money to go to rehab, pay his fines without taking a second job, redeem himself in whatever way is necessary. But being that he is a movie star and he has an open mike on him at all times doesn't give him the right to use words as a weapon. Against Jewish people, against gay people, against people different than him. And apologies, though great, still don't take back things that are hurtful. He is not the victim here. And if he you think he is, just remember he created this situation himself.  ¶ 7/30/2006 10:08:00 AM