On July 28 2006, Oscar-winning actor and director Mel Gibson was arrested on a DUI charge by local police in Malibu, California. A breathalyzer test confirmed Gibson's BAC as .12%, clearly exceeding the state's legal limit of .08%. Upon arrest, Gibson made several anti-semitic remarks to officer James Mee, voicing such profanities as "f***ing jews" and "the jews are responsible for all the wars in the world". Gibson was later contained in a detox-cell until he posted bail the following morning. That next saturday, he issued the following statement.
Initially, one may see this particular incident as simply a feat of drunkenness, where unintentional remarks are made due to the effects of alcohol on the brain. In this case, however, Mel Gibson was not only reprimanded for drunk driving. His anti-semitism has been in question since the release of his graphic film "The Passion of the Christ," due mostly to its very explicit depiction of jewish discrimination in biblical times. It also doesn't help the case when Gibson's father, Hutton Gibson, has been quoted to deny the occurrence of the Holocaust.
Does/did the Jewish community deserve in an apology? Absolutely. Gibson has a lot of ground to cover in terms of totally clearing any anti-semitic sentiment he is alluded to have. His apology seemed fair, as he openly admitted to making those anti-semitic remarks, though it is not the only task he must complete before he is essentially "acquitted" by his peers.
I think the link you posted might be dead. I got to it earlier today but right now it doesn't seem to be connecting. Regardless, I found his apology on Wikipedia.org.
ReplyDeleteBe sure to mention that Gibson showed an even higher level of humility by not just apologizing to the police force, but thanking them for doing their job by keep him and others safe. He personalizes this sentiment by referring to the times they helped him and looked out for his safety.
If this is not the "only task he must complete," what are the other steps he must/did take to reestablish rapport with the public? I don't know what actually happened in this incident but I'm sure he followed up his apology with other news statements.
-Michael