Apocalypto gets Gibson Hollywood's respect - not love

Movies Features

By Andy Goldberg Dec 11, 2006, 18:56 GMT

Los Angeles - Controversy. Violence. Box office success. Mel Gibson has combined his three favourite ingredients for his latest cinematic triumph. A handout picture of the latest production of the american film director Mel Gibson, 'Apocalypto', shot in Mayan language in Mexico. EPA/CORTESIA

A handout picture of the latest production of the american film director Mel Gibson, 'Apocalypto', shot in Mayan language in Mexico. EPA/CORTESIABut while his almighty earning capacity might get him the reluctant respect of his industry peers, it will do little to rehabilitate his personal position in the insular film community. The former action movie star's violently compelling new movie 'Apocalypto' may have debuted at the top of the US box office and earned grudgingly positive reviews. But don't expect the movie to wow Oscar voters into giving Gibson a second Oscar to go with the statuette he received for his 1995 movie Braveheart. Nor is it likely to make him Hollywood's favourite person. The movie, which in true Gibson fashion tells the story of one man's fight to save his family from evil outsiders, purportedly takes place at the decline of the Mayan civilization. The Disney release, told in an obscure Mayan language, opened with 14.2 million dollars to top the box office. This was enough to narrowly beat the Cameron Diaz romantic comedy 'Holiday' but way behind the sensational 83.8 million dollars that his previous movie, 'The Passion of the Christ,' earned on its debut weekend. That movie however had more going for it than Gibson's latest endeavour. First of all, it had the benefit of a massive grassroots marketing campaign in America's thousands of churches. It was also the most controversial and talked-about film of the year, as Jewish leaders charged that it rehashed the basic excuse for thousands of years of anti-Semitism - that the Jews were responsible for the death of Christ. 'Apocalypto' is also tinged by anti-Semitic controversy - namely Gibson's notorious anti-Jewish rant earlier this year after he was arrested for drunk driving in Malibu. Reviewers also balked at the excruciating levels of violence in the movie. AO Scott of The New York Times said the movie showed Gibson's 'apparently limitless appetite for gore' and listed a catalogue of torment celebrated in the pic, including disembowelings, impalings, clubbings, beheadings, live heart extractions, faces being chewed off by a jaguar, and the dark art of skin flaying. It's not just the high brow Times that got a little squeamish in the face of such delights. A sampling of headlines listed on the movie blog Defamer includes the following uplifting headlines: 'Snuff Epic,' (Indianapolis Star); ' 'Apocalypto' soaks the screen in gore,' (USA Today); 'Drowning in sea of blood,' (Edmonton Sun) and 'Another bloodbath, Mel Gibson's 'Apocalypto' doesn't miss an impalement or a dismemberment,' (San Francisco Chronicle.) Descendants of the bloodthirsty Mayans depicted in the movie and historians of the civilization are also critical of the film. The 'film feeds into old stereotypes about the Maya being savages,' said Zachary Hruby, a Maya scholar at the University of California, Riverside. 'Hundreds of men are sacrificed on an Aztec-style sacrificial stone, their headless bodies thrown into a giant ditch reminiscent of a Holocaust documentary. Problem is, there exists no archaeological, historic, or ethnohistoric data to suggest that any such mass sacrifices took place in the Maya world,' Hruby said in a statement. Nevertheless, there is a consensus that Gibson, however flawed his world view and notwithstanding his tolerance level for violence, knows how to make a decent movie. 'Say what you will about him - about his problem with booze or his problem with Jews - he is a serious filmmaker,' noted Scott. That isn't likely to endear him much to his co-workers in the industry. Though his amazing prowess at the box office commands their grudging respect, there is little love lost for the maverick Australian in the executive suites of Hollywood, if an anonymous poll in Variety has any validity. The industry trade bible asked executives to comment on Gibson's chances of adding to the Oscars he won for 'Braveheart' and the prognosis was not encouraging. 'You can never forget that the Academy is people ... and considering that many of those people (are Jewish), he's screwed,' said one unnamed publicist quoted in Variety. 'I don't care if it's the most amazing movie since 'Gone with the Wind' and 'Citizen Kane,' put together. He's gotten the last ones (Oscars) and he should keep them in nice condition because there's no more coming.' © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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ThomasDec 11th, 2006 - 20:06:30

But the Academy will throw awards at a rapist (Roman Polanski), again and again. Seemingly hateful drunken speech > sexual assault of a minor, in Hollywood's eyes.

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FPGDec 11th, 2006 - 20:15:31

This is the most riddiculus article I have read in a while. It is extremely presumptious to assume that the Academy is composed of all Jews that are so sardonic as to not vote for Mel Gibson due to his remarks. And to quote other critics shows very little self esteem...make your own critique, don't copy others. I am not writing this post because I plan to see the movie or agree with its premise. I am writing this post because the writer of this article apears ignorant.

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C-UnitDec 11th, 2006 - 20:19:20

Well, we all know that the awards aren't really for the best movie, but rather for people in Hollywood to give awards to other actors, directors, etc. that they like and are friends with. It's about politics and not about the actual worth of the work.

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C-UnitDec 11th, 2006 - 20:21:21

Well the majority of Hollywood IS made up of Jews, that's just a fact. If me saying that offends you then you might as well get offended when I say that most of the NHL is made up of white dudes, and most of the rap world is made up of black dudes. Get over it man, stop being so touchy and whiny and 'PC' about things that everyone knows are true and aren't even offensive in the first place.

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B. GarlandDec 11th, 2006 - 20:24:33

...and of course who can forget Hollyweird's love affair with Broke Dick Mounting -- nothing butt gratuitous pornography between two men(?)?

Jumping ahead; I wonder if New York will be able to fill in the gaps when L.A. dissapears into the Pacific Ocean? Of course the Mexican/Muslim war, over what's left of America, will be going on so there will be a lot of finger pointing on the new Pacific beach front...Arizona?

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grendelDec 11th, 2006 - 20:25:36

The Roman Polanski reference is excessively kind. He did not 'sexually assault a minor'. He took a thirteen year old girl into his office, drugged her with wine and Quaalude, and RAPED her. Not statutory rape...it wasn't just that she wasn't old enough to consent. She didn't consent....nor could she have legally consented, not after he'd gotten her drunk...not after he'd drugged her, even if she had been of legal age.

He assaulted her with the drug and the alcohol, and then he RAPED her. And he admitted to it in open court....then fled to France after he posted bail. And there he stays, in the land of cheese-eating surrender monkies, while he continues to make movies and while the Academy continues to fawn over him.

So they are going to blackball Gibson? For a drunken rant? Not for anything he did to anyone...but because of something he said while he was drunk?

Who shows their true values here, one would have to ask?

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JLBDec 11th, 2006 - 20:27:47

I can never forget that the 'Academy is JEWISH people' ... and considering that,... many of those people WILL NOT VOTE FOR THE FILM....because of the man (Mel Gibson) and his statements about the Jewsish people. His statements about the Jews are no more disgracefull than Jessie Jackson's statements about the whites, or my neighbor spouting off about the blacks. Let us not forget, that every race has, and continues to make crude, rude remarks about there own,.. and other races. These remarks are, and have been made in public,privately among there peers and without remorse... thoughout time by man as a whole. I would hope that the world, its people would not judge a man by only his mistakes but also for his acomplishments. It is in these moments of anger, disgust, envy, drunkeness, & mistust,.. that everyman has been guilty of thinking , let alone speaking with an unclean tongue.
'Let him who is without sin cast the first stone!'

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Tom ReaseDec 11th, 2006 - 20:27:47

I agree that a rapist might get an oscar but a person labeled as an anti-semite will never get one. I think the author is a little less naive and little more aware.

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Johnny HollywoodDec 11th, 2006 - 20:39:47

It's the Mayan Chainsaw Massacre. Mel Gibson is doing what he does best, telling a story through the eyes of a tormented Catholic pedophile, his desire for violence is only eclipsed by his impotence as a man.

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Mein KackDec 11th, 2006 - 21:01:51

All of you are idiots and wastes of skin

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