People News
Mel Gibson and the Mayans square off
By Stone Martindale Mar 23, 2007, 16:20 GMT
TMZ.com claims Mel Gibson "exploded in anger" last night at CSUN college campus after an expert on Mayan culture accused him of stereotyping the Mayans as bloodthirsty savages in the movie "Apocalypto."
It happened last night in Cal State University at Northridge, California. Gibson was speaking to a film class about his movies, and several members of the Mayan community were in the audience.
After Gibson's spoke, the question and answer period began with Alicia Estrada, an Assistant Professor of Central American Studies at CSUN, who TMZ claims challenged Gibson, asking him if he had read about the Mayan culture before shooting the controversial film.
Gibson said that he had.
Estrada kept on, stating that representations in the movie that the Mayans engaged in sacrificial ceremonies and had bloodthirsty tendencies were both wrong and racist.
TMZ.com reports Estada claims "Gibson exploded in anger, responding, 'Lady, F**k off.'
The Mayan delegation was allegedly escorted out of the room, and TMZ reports that Gibson allegedly retorted: "Make your own movie!"
Gibson's publicist, Howard Rubenstein, told TMZ, "He needs more anger management training. It's time to be cool."
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Older Talkback
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What kind of jackass would honestly try to stick up for people who have been dead for thousands of years?
I'm looking at you too Iran.
CSUN doesn't want any bad pr
and the person who told this to TMZ is the lady who prodded him at the event-
I refuse to believe he's antisemetic, and apply the same paradigm that they apply to Jesse Jackson, when he called jews 'Hymies'.
They contend that, despite his remarks, brother Jesse simply isn't a bigot or hateful person. Heck, what a slam. I think he's a terrific bigot!
But most of all, I love the fact that he went to the Hollywierdos, proposed a movie about Jesus, in a dead language, and they said 'Sure Mel...babe! I don't think anyone wants to see that. Hey! Let's do Lethal Weapon 10!'.
So he went out, made it himself, made zillions because, who the hell wants to watch a movie about Jesus, except every christian on earth?(duh)
Yeah, he's got game.
who the kcuf is TMZ?
'What kind of jackass would honestly try to stick up for people who have been dead for thousands of years?'
Good question. Maybe it should be asked of all the people who were outraged by The DaVinci Code.
Mel Gibson is probably not a bigot in the classical sense. It's more likely he's just bat 'poo' insane.
PS- I'd go see Lethal Weapon 10, espcially if they skipped 5-9. That would be neat-o!
The guy is a genius. He does need some polishing of his image, but he's a
genius nonetheless.
'Apocalipto' in Greek, means 'I reveal'; this may lead to an interpretation
of the movie as Gibson's view on the decline of the West (Q: Name that sole
superpower that is missing a heckuva an opportunity to lead the West by her
example...). The Mayans are depicted as a complex society, with a powerful
(albeit amoral) army. Contrast the emperor's kids -- seen at the scene depicting
the human sacrifices (the boy is obese, and they both are probably too used
to seeing that horrific scene to be bothered by it) -- with the boy in the well
with his mother (remember the scene with the ants?). See how degenerate the
Mayan society is depicted: members of the Mayan society accept their leaders
creation of classes of beings (slaves, and victims of human sacrifices) that do
not have the same status (right to life, liberty to pursue their ideals of
hapiness) as they do.
Apocalipto is 'chock-full' of snippets that warrants watching it a second,
and perhaps a third-time. It is an awesome critique of the decline of the West,
and consequently it can be seen as an indictment of the leader of the West (think
Times magazine Person of the Year 2006). This movie is as great a movie as the
Lord of the Rings trilogy. IMHO it deserved be discussed in many more colleges
across the country. I am sure that I'm missing some elements and I'd love to hear from other whatelse they saw in the movie.
I've read a few articles on this that were somewhat more extensive than yours and quoted more sources than TMZ. The thing that comes across mostly, whether you love Mel or hate him, is the arrogance. The press has many quotes: 'This is my movie, Go make your own'. 'F**K off lady',.....the list goes on. But my favorite is this one, from international news sources who had reporters on the scene. Mr. Gibson told Professor Estrada he had 'read a f***ing (lot) of books over two years' and that she should 'get a history book and read it'.
Now what except flaming arrogance would motivate an actor who had read 'a f***ing (lot) of books' to tell a woman who has studied many years at university to become a professor on the subject that she should 'get a history book and read it' ?
Mel, get a grip!
Mel Gibson is AN INTELLIGENT FOOL! Picking a fight with Mel about a tribe of people that existed hundreds or rather thousands of yrs. ago whatever.........is LUDACRIS. The people/cultures who are on the Earth RIGHT NOW need attention or a movie desperately made about them to show their plights & struggles!
I do not think that Mel Gibson's career can be resurrected. Sure, he can still make films and make money, but there are now too many people out there who believe they know what he is like (through his actions) and really don't want to see more violence and anger from this man. I thought he was pretty good in 'What Women Want' with Helen Hunt, but truthfully, many people could have played that part in a convincing way. I don't hate Mel Gibson. I am just tired of his tirades and tired of him. tanya
I took a class on Mexican culture and history way back in 84, and the prof told us that it was not at all uncommon for Mayas to sacrifice their enemies--even to eat a little of their heart as a part of the ritual.
Furthermore, it's commonly recognized that during the last 100 years of their civilization that the Mayas lay in moral ruin. When many archeological sites were first investigated in the 19th and early 20th century, reeserchers found that the Mayas had appearently allowed garbage to collect in public places for decades.
The murals can be very telling. It appears that the ruling class were fond of receiving enemas loaded with halucinogenic mushrooms. The whole society was fueled on shrooms.
The prof who took on Gibson obviously had a chip on her shoulder as well as a need to rewrite history so that it is PC for her activist clique; on the other hand Gibson is a self-righteous jerk on a dry drunk who should have never used the f-word to deal with someone who obviously is about as socially adept has he is.
For all of you geniuses who are saying that the Maya people existed hundreds of years ago and are now a dead tribe, I want tell you how it is. Your ignorance is beyond comprehension! There are many Maya still alive and well to this day. No, your white, imperialistic, forefathers did not kill all of us! Talk about human sacrifice! Look at your history of genocide before you accuse a people that existed quite well before the advent of your evil into the Americas.
How would you like to have your culture and history trashed by the lies of this pig Gibson? Do you want to be told how much bloodletting was done by your barbarian ancestors? Forget your art and high civilization. The Maya people understood the deepest truths of time when your ancestors were wearing skins and eating wild pig.
Gibson's offense goes far beyond his racial hatred and religious bigotry. He can no longer hide behind the cloak of his lies. What he is has become appearent to everyone.
Whoa. It's freaking me out that TMZ is being quoted as a legitimate 'news' source. TMZ is a *gossip* site. Anyone can send anything to them and they'll post it. I don't know how true this stuff is, but I ~have~ seen TMZ post extremely hurtful lies in the past. Don't believe everything you read there!(or in tabloids for that matter! don't be a dummy! i have a very dense friend who believes every word tabloids print. she's truly living in an alternate 'tabloid' universe. i mentioned the name of a singer, and great guy, and she was all 'ewww, gross'... all because of some ridiculously unbelievable lie she read about him in a tabloid, and believed. tabloids hurt good people. they're disgusting and beneath me.)
One of my favorite actors. This is the case of a woman wanting 15 minutes of fame and taking a shot at it; but, she did it with the wrong person. You have to know who you pick your fights with. MG is not a whimp. Don't label him or call him names because he's defending his work and his integrity. Nobody is perfect.
I for one am glad Mel put that lady in her place!! She went off on the defence because like everyone these days, she knows Mel Gibson's weakness.....which is his mouth & lack of thought for other people's feelings. But Mel is no different than the rest of us who say 'crude rude' things in private away from our collegues & strangers. WE all do it sometimes. The only difference between Mel & us is he's famous & got caught in front of the whole world. We say & do shit & get away with it because no one gives a damn. We all would love to tell some person/persons who annoy the hell out of us to f**k off, sometimes.
Mel Gibson's movies are regarded across the board to have 100% more historical integrity than the usual effluent pumped out by Hollywood. He is subjected to unfair scrutiny.
She was just being disruptive. Here is another version of the story by an audience member which reveals:
A) Gibson was initially very patient with the professor and
B) She had it coming.
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jose cuervoMar 23rd, 2007 - 19:53:21
I'm just happy he didn't make any anti-semitic slurs. How come CSUN homepage has made no acknowledgment of this happening?
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