Mel Gibson

Prejudice: Rehab Won't Solve The Problem, Washington, Gibson And Richards Apologized, But Racism Remains - The ShowBuzz:

It's a little soon to determine how their outbursts will affect them in the long run. But so far Richards' career was nowhere to begin with so he can only go up, Mel Gibson bounced back with "Apocalypto," and Isaiah Washington hasn't been discharged from "Grey's Anatomy." Yet.

Unfortunately, it's too easy to vilify these three stooges for their public outbursts and ignore the fact that racism, homophobia and anti-Semitism remain a real problem in our society.

I do have to say that the United States has come a long way when ethnic whites and black Americans can come together in their bigotry and express with so much gusto the diversity of prejudice we harbor in this country.

At least it is not just one group of people against another. No, it's more like a clusterf0ck of hate.

Hate that gets a slap on the wrist and a tap on the back after the haters 'repent' and announce their sabbatical at a 'rehab' center.

W. T. F.

Kudos to Judy for inspiring the title. Now go and read her whole entry at the Showbuzz.

I wonder if the hipsters over at Jewschool have found out about Mel Gibson's "new movie" ... heh.

YouTube - Mel Gibson's Next Movie

It is a brilliant little gem of political incorrectness.

This is one of those moments I wished I had a staff. I almost forgot to tell you about The Showbuzz podcast.

The lovely Judy Farber invited me over to her gig at The Showbuzz to rant and rave about Mel Gibson's tirade. And, being the marketing whore I am, I also used the opportunity to also announce the beta launch of Hollywoodistas.com on September 1st.

Oh yeargh baby, it's coming.

Listen up!

Separated at Hate?

I grew up in a family obsessed with religion. My mom and dad practiced everything : catholicism, santeria, espiritismo. Yet they made sure we went to a catholic school with strong theology and catechism curricula and, if possible, went once a week to church.

Twelve years of that my friends; which is why I am now an atheist --and I don't digress.

You see, conservative catholic Puerto Rican culture primes its 'devotees' into being blindingly anti-semitic.

Jews killed Jesus after all.

And the more connected that culture is to the "madre patria" or Spain, the more ... let's say ... ahem ... obliviously hateful it is.

For example, when I was a kid I was called la judía because I liked to hoard my allowance and be the bank when playing Monopoly. Yes people, having a fascination with finances made me a Jew.

Judy Farber has a fantastic list of assumptions about Jews that she's come across all her life. She is so dead on it's scary. I too believed Jews only did it through a sheet or that Jews made for better hagglers ... 'cause, you know, that money thing.

  

Not exactly a face that would make most women swoon.

When Eva Braun was a teenager, she worked as a salesgirl in the shop of the official Nazi Party Photographer, Heinrich Hoffmann. Eventually, she began working as his photography assistant and it was in his darkroom that she first glimpsed the man whose paranoia, gastrointestinal agonies (do the research), and "Vitamin B" shots caused the death of millions.

She fell in love with a face that only a (blind) mother could love. Yeah, yeah, I know...I have slept with men who are unconventially sexy, but I doubt anyone in their right mind would classify Hitler as such. He suffered from constant bouts of noxious gas, had terrible taste in clothes, and quite frankly, that whole trying to take over the world thing just doesn't work for me.

I imagine Eva standing in a darkroom as she watches the glow of his face form into an image that captures her heart. Now, I have no idea if it happened this way or not, although it is documented that she met Hitler in this shop and because Hoffman was the official Nazi Party Photographer, she did see photos of Hitler before she met him. As a woman, I can almost guarantee she was already drawn to him through the photos.