Furor just before Gibson's 'The Passion' opens

[Sinister]

A week before Mel Gibson's movie about Jesus Christ hits theaters, his father has gone on an explosive rant against Jews - claiming they fabricated the Holocaust and are conspiring to take over the world.
"They're after one world religion and one world government," Hutton Gibson, 85, said in a radio interview that will air Monday night.

"That's why they've attacked the Catholic Church so strongly, to ultimately take control over it by their doctrine."

In the bizarre interview, Gibson also said Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan should be lynched and called for the government to be overthrown.

The movie star's father has made outrageous statements about the Holocaust and Jewish conspiracies before.

But the timing of his latest comments is certain to fuel the uproar over his son's movie, "The Passion of The Christ," which opens Ash Wednesday.

Some critics say the movie blames Jews for the death of Christ and will provoke anti-Semitism, and they question why Mel Gibson hasn't denounced his father's views.

Hutton Gibson spoke Monday to Steve Feuerstein of "Speak Your Piece!" on WSNR (620 AM), a show syndicated by Talkline, the largest syndicator of Jewish programming.

Some of his most outrageous rants focused on the millions of Jews exterminated by Adolf Hitler.

"They claimed that there were 6.2 million in Poland before the war, and they claimed after the war there were 200,000 - therefore he must have killed 6 million of them," he said. "They simply got up and left! They were all over the Bronx and Brooklyn and Sydney, Australia, and Los Angeles."

He said the Germans did not have enough gas to cremate 6 million people and that the concentration camps were just "work camps."

"It's all - maybe not all fiction - but most of it is," he said.

Gibson repeatedly smeared prominent Jews as money-grubbing power-mongers.

"Greenspan tells us what to do. Someone should take him out and hang him."

He even belittled the Pope's reported endorsement of "The Passion," recounting how Mel referred to the pontiff as an "ass."

Gibson reserved most of his vitriol for Judaism, asking: "Is the Jew still actively anti-Christian? He is, for by being a Jew, he is anti-everyone else."

Mel Gibson's spokesman, Alan Nierob, had no comment on the elder Gibson's tirade.

But Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League said they were the words of a "classical anti-Semite."

"If it wasn't so sad, it would be funny," he said.

He's troubled by Mel Gibson's failure to condemn his father's beliefs, and pointed to a recent interview where Gibson said his dad never lied to him.

"Well, he's been lying to the world, but it sounds like truth to the son? That's strange," Foxman said.


http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/story/165923p-145217c.html

[Sinister]

Mel Gibson's father says Holocaust exaggerated
February 19, 2004

A week before the United States release of Mel Gibson's controversial movie, The Passion of the Christ, the filmmaker's father has repeated claims the Holocaust was exaggerated.

Hutton Gibson's comments, made in a telephone interview with New York radio talk show host Steve Feuerstein, come at an awkward time for the actor-director who has been trying to deflect criticism from Jewish groups that his film might inflame anti-Semitic sentiment.

In his interview on WSNR radio's Speak Your Piece, to be broadcast on Monday, Hutton Gibson, argued that many European Jews counted as death camp victims of the Nazi regime had in fact fled to countries like Australia and the United States.

"It's all -- maybe not all fiction -- but most of it is," he said, adding that the gas chambers and crematoria at camps like Auschwitz would not have been capable of exterminating so many people.

"Do you know what it takes to get rid of a dead body? To cremate it?" he said. "It takes a litre of petrol and 20 minutes. Now, six million of them? They (the Germans) did not have the gas to do it. That's why they lost the war."


Gibson's father caused a furore last year when he made similar remarks in a New York Times article.

In a television interview with Diane Sawyer this week, Mel Gibson accused the Times of taking advantage of his father, and he warned Sawyer against broaching the subject again.

"He's my father. Gotta leave it alone Diane. Gotta leave it alone," Gibson said, while offering his own perspective on the Holocaust.

"Do I believe that there were concentration camps where defenceless and innocent Jews died cruelly under the Nazi regime? Of course I do; absolutely," he said. "It was an atrocity of monumental proportion."

During his lengthy radio interview, Hutton Gibson, 85, said Jews were out to create "one world religion and one world government" and outlined a conspiracy theory involving Jewish bankers, the US Federal Reserve and the Vatican, among others.

The Passion, which gets its US release on February 25, purports to be a faithful and graphic account of Christ's last 12 hours on earth.

Jewish leaders who have attended advance screenings have voiced concerns that its portrayal of the Jews' role in Christ's execution could stir up anti-Semitic feeling.

- AFP

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/19/1077072756433.html

[LesterX]

Yikes, he's certainly not doing his son any favors. I'm not comfortable with Mel Gibson's religious beliefs, but he's not responsible for his insane father. It's easy enough for others to sit back and say he should publicly denounce his father, but I wouldn't want to have to decide whether or not to get into a public war of words with my father. That's a tough situation.

[MerrySunshine]

^ Totally agree with Les. Tough situation when you have a vocal lune for a daddy. Even agree with the part about being uncomfortable with Mel's religious beliefs . . . since he's gone public about his belief that all non-Catholic Christians (including his wife) are headed to hell. But, hey, that's his opinion and he's entitled to it. I, of course, disagree. ;) Guess we'll see who is right in the end. Still like Braveheart and The Patriot (Yankee Doodle Braveheart), though, and am still planning to see the film. (Just hoping it doesn't turn out to be Hallelujeh Braveheart . . . since Mel's not in it, probably won't. ;) )

P.S. Cute kittie! :D

[DoubleEdgeSword]

Interesting.

"Hutton Gibson spoke Monday to Steve Feuerstein of "Speak Your Piece!" on WSNR (620 AM), a show syndicated by Talkline, the largest syndicator of Jewish programming."

I wonder if someone at this syndicator of Jewish programming knew Mel's father was a raving lunatic, and what he raved about. Odd this would come out just a few days before the opening of a film that the Jewish community has labeled anti-semitic. Seems a bit too convenient to me.


Talk about stoking the fires of anti-semitism..

[LesterX]

Originally posted by MerrySunshine
P.S. Cute kittie! :D

Thank you! That's Kitty #2 -- taken right after I found her. A couple of weeks ago I added Kitty #3 so that Kitty #2 would have a playmate. (Kitty #1 is very old and feels that 2-3 minutes of play per day is plenty.) One more kitty and I think I cross the line into crazy cat woman territory...

Sorry for the digression. Back to the saga of Mel's loon of a father...

[MerrySunshine]

Pbbbt, Mel's loon father!

Your progression -- old cat, new kitty, and new kitty to play with new kitty -- is frighteningly like mine into mom of three kitties-dom. Does that mean that in a couple of years you'll be thinking -- gosh, a dog would be nice! Because that's what's happening to me now. I will not do it! I will not be a single woman with four pets! But it would be fun to have a dog to walk with. :D

[LesterX]

Oh my. I love dogs, but I'm not really tempted because I travel quite a bit and like to be able to go on spur-of-the-moment trips, which is difficult with a dog.

Never fear -- I'm not sure three cats and a dog puts you in the single woman stereotype category, but four cats would definitely qualify you for some labeling! (Not that I personally see anything wrong with having four cats, mind you. ;) )And to keep this on topic, I offer the following hierarchy:

Raving loon -- Mel Gibson's father

Crazy Cat Lady -- 4+ cats

Borderline Eccentric -- 4 or more animals in any category (excluding fish and small caged animals like hamsters)

Feel better now? What's wrong with a little eccentricity?

[tiger_rascal]

At one time I had 4 dogs and 5 cats, not to mention all my fish. I lived in the country though.

[LesterX]

Wow, that's a whole lotta animals. Cool! Good point about being in the country. Perhaps there's a different hierarchy for city and country folk, although I'd have to leave Mel's daddy as the #1 loon on both lists. ;)

Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure that at one point when I was growing up we had four dogs and two cats and we did not live in the country! That was less about eccentricity and more about my parents' inability to establish boundaries for their eldest child (not me), who one time brought home a pit bull puppy because "somebody owed me $ and gave me this dog instead." (Despite the pit bull's reputation, I must say this was by far the sweetest dog I'd ever known.)

[DoubleEdgeSword]

I'm one bad relationship away from owning 30 cats.

[LesterX]

^That made me cackle loudly. Fortunately, only my cats are around to hear me.

[Leezard]

My sister and I joke that if either of us liked cats we'd be the ultimate cat ladies...lol

[Sinister]

Originally posted by LesterX
Yikes, he's certainly not doing his son any favors. I'm not comfortable with Mel Gibson's religious beliefs, but he's not responsible for his insane father. It's easy enough for others to sit back and say he should publicly denounce his father, but I wouldn't want to have to decide whether or not to get into a public war of words with my father. That's a tough situation.

I wouldn't want to get into a public war of words with my father, but I wouldn't simply ignore the situation either. I think I would release some kind of statement saying, my father's an adult, he can speak for himself, his views don't necessarily reflect my own..

[LesterX]

I completely see your point. I just think he's dealing with a wack job and maybe feels that he'll only inspire further commentary from Daddy Dearest if he makes any statement. If the man cared about his son, he would have the good sense to have kept his mouth shut about now, but he obviously can't resist an opportunity to spew his bile.

Without saying it directly, it seems that Mel Gibson did essentially divorce himself from his father's Holocaust ramblings by saying that he believes there were concentration camps and that it was a "monumental atrocity."

[Sinister]

Originally posted by LesterX
I completely see your point. I just think he's dealing with a wack job and maybe feels that he'll only inspire further commentary from Daddy Dearest if he makes any statement. If the man cared about his son, he would have the good sense to have kept his mouth shut about now, but he obviously can't resist an opportunity to spew his bile.

Without saying it directly, it seems that Mel Gibson did essentially divorce himself from his father's Holocaust ramblings by saying that he believes there were concentration camps and that it was a "monumental atrocity."

Point taken. I didn't get a chance to see the Diane Sawyer interview. God if that was my father, I'd blindfold him, throw him in the trunk and drive him to the Holocaust Museum.

[katiekat]

Originally posted by LesterX
Crazy Cat Lady -- 4+ cats


LOL... I have 9 cats as of right now. Couple years ago, I had 15 cats. I guess that would make me a crazy cat lady!

Back to the topic, my main thought was 'timing is everything'. If I was Mel, that would cut me deep that my father would go public with opinions like that that would contradict something I believe in so much.

Personally, I feel very offended that he would say things like 'Holocaust was mostly fiction.' My grandfather fought in WWII and brought back PHOTOS of the devastation, camps, and bodies that were there. His photos and his story has even published in a book. Before he died, he even travelled and showed/talked about his experience. It took him years to even tell his children, let alone his grandchildren.