Mel Gibson launches scathing attack on George W. Bush

[kurth]

Gibson Inspired by 'Fear-Mongering' Bush
By WENN | Friday, May 12, 2006

HOLLYWOOD - Film star and director Mel Gibson has launched a scathing attack on President George W. Bush, comparing his leadership to the barbaric rulers of the Mayan civilization in his new film Apocalypto.

The epic, due for release later this year, captures the decline of the Maya kingdom and the slaughter of thousands of inhabitants as human sacrifices in a bid to save the nation from collapsing.

Gibson reveals he used present-day American politics as an inspiration, claiming the government callously plays on the nation's insecurities to maintain power.

He tells British film magazine Hotdog, "The fear-mongering we depict in the film reminds me of President Bush and his guys."

http://www.hollywood.com/news/detail/id/3500331

[C_U_L8R]

1. Oh my... Fundie heads are gonna POP !

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. NON- fundie heads, too.

Mine just did.

[Richard D]

10. Mine too

[Seabiscuit]

22. Yup! Dey gunnago Pop!Pop!Pop! !111!!!11!

Here dey go:

Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!

:wow:

[Dunvegan]

2. Ooops...there goes another 2% of the backwash...

...lost another 100,000 fundy voters again, George.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. I stopped watch Mel Gibson movies after Passion of Christ

I may have to make an exception for this movie. :)

[Lisa0825]

13. Exactly what I was thinking!LOL

Mel may have redeemed himself just a bit.... not enough, but just a bit!

[samplegirl]

34. He's got another movie coming out about war

it's all about $$$$$$$$$ to him.

[Dorian Gray]

25. Was he in any/Did he make any

other films after Passion of Christ? I thought that was his last film. Not a long boycot! ;) (I'm teasing!)

[SammyBlue]

28. I like Mel's movies. His politics suck, but his movies are decent.

Personally, I don't do the "vote with your dollar" idea of movie watching or media buying. If the group doesn't suck or the movie looks decent, I'll go watch it or buy it.

The only place I am politically selective is print media. I will not give wingnut authors money EVER, EVER, EVER!!!

[ComerPerro]

4. A large majority of the nation is christian, he makes a Christian movie

a large majority disapproves of Bush, he is now anti-Bush.

Hmm...

[reichstag911]

5. It's good, although disturbing,...

...to see Mel speaking out against Bush* after cozying up to all the fundies for The Passion of Christ promotional opportunities, the very same fundies who have so effectively mobilized their flocks on behalf of *.

[realisticphish]

6. refreshing

to see a right winger seperate politics from religion. I'm no fan of Gibson, but at least he isn't someone who is blinded by Bush's supposed faith

[butterfly77]

7. Oh Really!

I thought he was suppose to be in bush's pocket.

[Monk06]

9. So much for Saint Mel on FR...n/t

[LilyLibber]

12. If that makes me giggle...

does that make me a bad person? :dilemma:

[Mike Daniels]

20. FR is jumping ship on Gibson as we speak

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1631140/posts

A few have the insight to believe that Mel is about the $ over any real political conviction.

[seabeyond]

11. i have never heard him support bush. his religion is his own

didnt watch passion and see a bit of hypocrisy in the fear mongering, because i think that is what his passion picture did..... even though not his intent, i dont think he honored the beyond of what jesus did. but regardless, i have never heard im support bush.

i have liked him in interviews and movies, seems nice enough. i did see during election him pound bush on the fear mongering.

[AspenRose]

30. From the Diane Sawyer interview

DIANE SAWYER: But what about Mel Gibson superstar, the box office lethal weapon? Can you go back to making those films after this?

MEL GIBSON: You know, I just, I'm kinda, I don't know, I don't know. I don't feel like I want to. I don't feel like I want to get in front of a camera any more. I like getting, you know, just being a slob behind a camera and watching other people look good. You know, I might not hurry back. I might go and go somewhere no-one can find me. You know where that is? You know where the place is no-one can find you? I was thinking of pitching my tent right next to the weapons of mass destruction. Then no-one would find me.

http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/sixtyminutes/stories/2004_02_22/story_1034.asp

Mel is a maverick and he can't/won't be pigeonholed.

[MessiahRp]

31. I think I drew my conclusion from the Schiavo comments

he made. Not so much Passion of the Christ which Freepers went crazy gaga for.

Rp

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. Sorry Mel you lost me

and I just don't trust you anymore.


Have a nice career.

[RaleighNCDUer]

17. Fortunately, he is not a decider,

which allows me to continue to enjoy Mad Max and the first two Lethal Weapons, and I still think that Galipoli is one of the best anti-war films of all time.

[proud2BlibKansan]

32. Oh no problem with that

I just have no intention of giving him anymore of my money.

[Stand and Fight]

15. Recommended...

This will send shockwaves throughout the corridors of Fundamentalist Christian Bush-supporters...

The revolution is in play.

[pepperbear]

16. It sems to me the real motivation is to

PROMOTE HIS FILM...

"he's bad bad BAD.....just like the mayans in my new movie Apocalypto, opening everywhere Summer 2006!"

Hey, Mel is good at what he does, but F**K HIM, jumping on the bandwagon in the wake of bad poll numbers...and mention Bush and his new movie in the same breath. :eyes: :eyes:

[dogday]

18. At this point, I am happy that

someone else has recognized the failures of this administration and is not afraid to come forward and tell the country... I give him one thumbs up for this :thumbsup:

[WiseButAngrySara]

23. Ditto your post! Best I've read so far, and states it concisely. ...n/t

[alphafemale]

19. A pig just flew by my window

:wow:

[Armstead]

21. As I recall, he was very supportive of Michael Moore

They were in head to head competition for sone movie award a couple of years ago. But Gibson said very positive things about Moore and Farenheight 9-11 and laid out a few juicy slams at Bush.

He's an unpredictable cat.

[frustrated_lefty]

24. Mel Gibson

He's usually pretty quiet about his beliefs. When he opened up a bit with The Passion of the Christ, he got a lot of negative feedback from the left, the right, and everything in between.

He hasn't had his publicist calling stations and demand they remove programming that conflicts with his perspective.....hellooooo, Tom Cruise. They're his views and he mostly keeps them to himself.

I have yet to hear a word from a co-star saying anything that wasn't glowing about working with him. He keeps his kids close to him, which makes me think he cares a lot about them.

He has what may be a perverse obsession with telling tales about men who sacrificed their health and/or their lives for their beliefs. Hell, that traces back to "Roadwarrior." Like his movies or not, he seems to try to understand why people do what they do. What brings passion into people's beliefs?

It's evident throughout the Lethal Weapon series. Ransom had traces of that. The flick where he was a CIA brainwash subject touched on that. Braveheart bleeds that. The Passion of the Christ did too, it just pissed some people off because of the subject matter.

Look, you could give a crap what I say. Think about this, though. What makes people feel or believe so strongly in something, they're willing to die for it? What emotion or realization would have that effect on you?

Gibson tends to address these things, although not always in ways we might like. The questions, the inquiry seem genuine, though.

All that aside, he tends to make good movies. If the subject matter is too confounding to address, it is at least visually striking.

[Alamom]

26. I agree. Thank you, n/t

[Bridget Burke]

27. Apparently Mel did The Passion for his own reasons.

Many Fundamentalists adopted it, not realizing that parts of the story came from a very Catholic mystic--not just the New Testament.

Mel does march to his own drummer. Even if I don't often want to follow, I'll give him that.

[Tactical Progressive]

29. I don't know that his religious convictions were ever political

I don't recall him ever saying he voted for Bush or making political endorsements of Republicans. It wouldn't surprise me if he did given how tightly conservatives have wound religion into politics, but I don't remember it.

[Ksec]

33. another one sees hes on the wrong side and does a flipflop

Theyre coming fast.

People who dont want to be associated with bush and get out while the gettin's good.

[LSK]

35. what was that stuff his father said a few years ago??