Mel Gibson explodes in rage at college campus

[Cannikin]

Director reportedly screams, swears at professor, Mayans

Gibson reportedly exploded in rage on Thursday night during a presentation on the campus of Cal State University at Northridge where students and members of the Mayan community came to listen to the actor-director talk about his film “Apocalypto.”

According to a report, Alicia Estrada, an Assistant Professor of Central American Studies at the school, began to question Mel’s portrayal of Mayan culture in the film, accusing him of racial stereotyping.

When Estrada insisted Gibson’s depiction of Mayans as a bloodthirsty society that performed sacrificial ceremonies was both incorrect and racist, Gibson reportedly erupted, yelling “Lady, f**k off.”

Additionally, as members of the Mayan community in the audience began to protest the way they were portrayed in the film, Mel allegedly screamed, “Make your own movie!” as they were being escorted out of the room.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17760133/from/RS.3/

[datasuspect]

1. number one anti-jew warrior melvin gibson strikes again!

what an ass.

[uriel1972]

2. I don't know why

Australians still wan't to call him Australian:eyes:

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

4. Many Texans Still Want To Call King george A Texan

Even though he's NOT.

[Tsiyu]

3. Anger management is good

Maybe next he could make us a movie about an egotistical ass with poor impulse control set in California in the Year 2007?

[Wapsie B]

5. Memo to Mel:

From now on, limit campus appearances to Bob Jones, Liberty, BYU and the like.

[slj0101]

6. Awwww...his widdle histowically incowwect epic movie tanked.

:nopity:

[KitchenWitch]

7. Time for another spindry in rehab Mellie?

x(

[JitterbugPerfume]

8. he is an ass

what did you expect?

[MistressOverdone]

9. You know, I have to admit

I didn't know there were any Mayans left.

[Blue-Jay]

14. The Mayans are still around, actually.

Nobody knows why they abandoned their impressive cities and moved into the Yucatan jungles, but there are a lot of unproven theories. But make no mistake: they are still there, and many of them still speak a language that is completely separate from Spanish. Their civilization fell into decline, but the people didn't vanish.

[hellbound-liberal]

10. Am I the only one who thinks Mel looks like Soupy Sales?

[mike_c]

12. wow, I had to do a double take....

Yep.

[madinmaryland]

15. OMG. They do look alike!!

:rofl:

[Sanity Claws]

19. Mel did not age well.

He was handsome as a younger man. I guess all that booze and hate affected his looks.

[undeterred]

11. Well, he certainly is Catholic.

:bounce:

[Elidor]

13. SNL -- Apocalypto Recut

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP2Fp7vJD4E

[grace0418]

16. Klassy with a "K", as usual.

Why does anyone give that asshole a forum for anything? All he really needs is a fucking mirror.

[Alexander]

17. I remember a Family Guy episode where he had Nazi memorabilia.

This was before his DUI incident, back when only people who dug into his quotes and history suspected him of anti-Semitism.

Mad Mel really needs to go away now. He jumped the shark long ago with the "Passion of the Christ".

[WindRavenX]

18. I didn't know people still took him seriously.

He lost me long ago, but the DUI anti-Semitic explosion was the final straw for me. And I'm not surprised to read that members of the community he depicted in his film was historically inaccurate and painted from the lens of a privileged, white member of society.

[UTUSN]

20. A contrarian, sure-to-be-unpopular post (so what else is new).

Here's the deal. I'm not a Mel fan. I might have seen Mad Max back when, I don't remember. But I certainly didn't see the cop buddy ones. I saw his Hamlet and thought it was all right, or so-so, or same'ol'. Last year saw Gallipoli on t.v., and it was bigger than just him, was not a Mel movie so to speak. O.K., saw Braveheart and The Patriot, and started wondering about the violence.

I went out of my way to see The Passion because of the brouhaha and was one of the first here on DU to call it nothing more than a snuff film.

So I saw Apocalypto, and I gotta say that it was spellbinding. I don't know how or whether the Mayas were as bloodthirsty as in the movie or whether Mel conflated them into the Aztecs. But what MOVIE has much historical credibility?

Now, I lambasted The Passion because of its being a tool for the Fundies. I despise Mel's Da, and my growing suspicion is that Mel shares more of Da's philosophy than he lets on. And the blood-soakingness of anything Mel has control over is a bigger concern all the time.

All disclaimers aside, I'm saying that Apocalypto was compelling in its thin storyline. I mean it was basically all a chase. And I have NO patience for almost all chase films. I'll say again that I didn't see the last 30 seconds with the European While males arriving as a message that they were the "saviors". I saw it as a stunning plot device, a deus ex machina, because the bloodthirsty killers were only stopped by one thing before, an eclipse, and only something earth shattering in their world view would stop them in their tracks as the sight of the ships and the utterly ALIEN men.

Now, Mel's drunken rant on Jews was undoubtedly wrong. But, while I have my doubts as mentioned about whether he actually DOES share his Da's views, I know that alcohol is mind ALTERING. Try driving or TYPING here under the influence and see what makes sense.

As for this current episode: I still have a reservoir of the "good Mel" if there ever was one. While watching the Oscars and hearing the 3 nominations for Apocalypto, I was sad at thinking what a creative person feels when their extensive good work is overshadowed by something extraneous to it.

And digging my hole deeper: We Dems (actually ALL partisans) tend to cater to---or PANDER to---our constituencies and paint rosy pictures of what we want to hear about them, and saying what THEY want to hear. I don't KNOW what the Maya were like. In fact, to a degree I thought GIBSON's personalizing and individualizing the story was an anachronism and that he was projecting our historically modern narcissism back on them. So it goes back to the beginning of this post, that almost NO movies are historically accurate, and so far as that goes, people who want a different movie SHOULD make their own.

[Jamastiene]

21. Bigots don't like to be challenged...

He knows he's wrong. And of course, after another stint in rehab, he'll whine and make another false apology like the last time. He's a fucking prick.