Apocolypto Never

In case you have been under a rock, Mel Gibson has a new movie coming out. In typical fashion, the Gibson movie, titled "Apocolypto," is filled with blood and guts, and traces history back all the way to the Mayan empire. When the preview came on in my New York City movie theater, it was met by boos and hisses.

Mel Gibson had everything going for him. He was a great action hero. Not only did he star is such great films as Lethal Weapon, but he made a name for himself as a director with films like Academy Award winner "Braveheart." But Gibson really stuck his neck out with his last film, "The Passion of the Christ" which perpetuates a long debunked anti-Semitic myth of Jewish deicide. At the same time, Gibson refused to distance himself from his father, Hutton Gibson, who has long espoused anti-semitic religious views. For example, Hutton Gibson is on record as saying that the Second Vatican Counsel was a secret anti-Catholic plot perpetrated by Jews and Masons. Mel's father has also denied much of the Holocaust.

Mel was able to sidestep much of the negative publicity surrounding the film and his father and "The Passion" was a commercial success. However, those who believed that Gibson was in fact an anti-semite had their suspicions confirmed one August evening when Gibson had a little too much to drink. An inebriated Gibson was arrested for DUI and once in police custody said "fucking jews...The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world."

Now this brings us to his latest film Apocolypto. As far as I am concerned it is reprehensible that Gibson's movie is being released with fanfare and a million dollar push. There are higher causes for a movie studio than making money. We must speak out against hatred and bigotry. In this instance, the only way we can speak out against Gibson's anti-semitism is by not going to his movies. We need to send a message to the studios that would allow this man to continue to make movies that we will not tolerate hatred. Mel Gibson has a right to make movies. But because he has that right, we have the responsibility to counter that by advocating that people not pay to see his movies. Gibson may be a good filmmaker but then again, so was Leni Riefenstahl.

I still have not seen "The Passion" and I will never see Apocolypto. If you are thinking of going to see Apocolypto, I say don't. Take the 20 bucks you were going to spend on tickets and popcorn and send it to the Anti-Defamation League. Send a message, no matter how small, that anti-semitism has its consequences.