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And when the mother of his 8-month-old daughter suggests he needs medication, he says she “needs a fucking bat in the side of the head.” (He also blasts her as a “little girl with a dysfunctional cunt.”)
Listen to Gibson go crazier than you’ve ever heard an Oscar-winning Hollywood star go before here.
David Schmader—former weed columnist and Stranger associate editor—is the author of the solo plays Straight and Letter to Axl, which he’s performed in Seattle and across the US. His latest... More by David Schmader
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whoa, holy cow, is he serious?
and i’m actually really impressed with how calmly she’s handling this. personally, i’d have a hard time keeping my voice steady and reacting as diplomaticly and reasonably while being spoken to that way.
Mel’s bipolar (So is Britney). His meds aren’t working — he’s manic. The girlfriend’s right, I’ve been in her position, adjust the meds! You’re batshit, Mel. (And the religious fanaticism is probably a 12 step substitute for the drugs/alcohol he used to self medicate the bi-polar disorder) I’m not dissing a 12-step program or equating addicts/alcoholics with Mel, but there it is.
@46 etc.: I didn’t say it was “morally ambiguous”. I didn’t say he was a terrific fellow, or that what he did was cool. But the fact is, in the seventies, the standard punishment for unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor involved no jail time. That’s simply a fact. And that’s what Polanski was convicted of.
And yes, most of the pop stars and movie stars of the time did the exact same thing, and were never even punished for it. This is your entertainment business. Fucking little girls is right there on the agenda. See? They’re all over there naked in the pool.
@ Fnarf, what’s your basis for this claim:
“But the fact is, in the seventies, the standard punishment for unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor involved no jail time. That’s simply a fact.”
Because I’m not familiar with this and have never read it anywhere before.
I do know Polanski was afraid of additional jail time – allegedly because the judge wasn’t going to accept the plea bargain he set up with the prosecution – and if that’s so, then it kind of undermines your point, even if your statement is correct.
As far as what was happening between celebrities and minors in the 70s, my understanding is that most of those encounters were consensual on the part of the teens (or at least it was ambiguous enough that force could never be demonstrated satisfactorily to its legal definition). That clearly wasn’t the case with Polanski.
he is an alcoholic who is not in recovery
i think that pretty much says it all.
i’ve heard a thousand other crazy drunken rants and this pretty much sounds like most of them. the only thing is, he’s famous and this was caught on tape.
She’s so calm because she’s recording it. I’d imagine it’s far easier not to be the unhinged one when you know the conversation is being recorded. It’s a set up – though Mel makes for easy game.
I wish Tom Cruise would do something like this. You know he has it in him — if someone would just catch him on tape being a racist, sexist douchebag with abusive tendencies, we’d finally have our hands washed of both Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson.
Am I the only one who was sad, hearing that audio? That man has sooo much money, and has had so many opportunities to help himself. We’ve known that he’s a self-medicating drunk with a background that is undoubtedly complicated, but here it’s clear that he’s actually mentally ill. He belongs in an institution and on some serious medication.
He has access to thousands of beautiful women who would be happy to play whatever role he has in mind, so why would he choose to be with someone whom he clearly hates? It’s a sad fact that this relationship is exactly what he wants (if only he could prevent her from pressing “record”). There’s all that fucking pain in his voice.
[i’ve touched the man! he brushed by me on the way to the Pink Door bathroom, followed by his bodyguard, who pushed me aside. he was in town to promote his film, braveheart, which premiered at SIFF]
@58 – Well, sad for humanity in general, maybe, but for Mel, no. He’s had his opportunities to – let’s be civil and say, “adjust his thinking.” But his rage is so all-encompassing and monolithic that he thinks any woman could fill his need, if you could call it that. And he’s going to treat them just like that: retrofittings to support his own lack of real character. I can’t get past that demeaning demand.
I just can’t sympathize too deeply with a guy who’s been on this planet for 50 years, who has paraded his gaudiest moments of introspection — what Joni Mitchell would call “miraculous repentences” — who can insist upon our gall at the treatment of his Redeemer, but still can’t teach himself the ugliest truths. I know he found Jesus, Scottish nationalism and Danny Glover, but they haven’t worked. This is what happens when your rebirths turn out to be skin-deep.
Sure, I hope he gets help. For the sake of his future companions and the sanity of his attorneys, I hope so. But in this one I’m a little more inclined to sympathize with the woman he knocked around in the teeth (allegedly). I just don’t feel like coddling somebody who can tell a great story on celluloid, but can’t think through the narrative of his own, richly rewarded life through.
There are bipolars who need help and can’t get it easily; then there are those who can get it but wilfully ignore it. I sympathize with one of those camps, and I have Mel in the other. You can probably figure out which.
@59 – Are you really worried about the sanity of his attorneys? The crazier he is, the more work they’ll have defending him, and odds are they are billing him quite a lot by the hour.
@60 – No, I was using Sarcasm Lite(TM).
@61 do you have a concealed carry permit for that?
He sounds possessed. Perhaps an exorcism is in order.
I fear for Mel G’s child. He is so full of anger…..he needs help…they all need help…..on the other hand a former close friend of the GF……has come forward……and spoken about her. He says she is very manipulative and knows exactly how to push Mel’s buttons……maybe Mel has finally woken up……..to her manipulative ways….and maybe……that is why he is angry….but also maybe…the anger is misplaced for the most part…and he is really angry at himself….for being such a fool.