Furious on Film 11.12.2009: In Defense of Mel Gibson

Posted by Arnold Furious on 11.12.2009

Defending the man everyone loves to hate...

Hi.

It only seems like yesterday that I had to drop a weekly column because of my commitment to both work and my impending marriage. My excuse was one that I'm sure you've heard many times before. "Oh, I just don't have the time". I was lying in bed last night looking at the ceiling of my bedroom while my wife snoozed by my side and it occurred to me that I spend a huge percentage of my spare time just wasting away. To begin with having the opportunity to ‘veg out' in front of the computer and play Football Manager or mess around on Funtrivia just seemed like a great idea. Hey, no commitments outside of work. No deadlines. That sounds delightful. But what it is, for someone who enjoyed writing, is just an extended holiday. A chance to re-charge the batteries. Because every week I've sat in front of my TV watching some film and there's been a column floating around in my brain. Some were better than others but one thing they share is that time has passed them by. One in particular would have caused a ruckus around here I'm sure. As I was watching Bruce Willis' action classic Die Hard I noticed how incredibly stupid some of the characters are. That column would have been called: "I love Die Hard but it's retarded". Perhaps I just loved the movie too much to write that one. I also wanted to do a "Why can't bad guys shoot straight" column but I think Stormtroopers genetic faults have spent too much time under analysis already. So here's the deal; every week (hopefully) I'll be writing a regular column based on the movies. It won't stick to the rigid format I used to have for the column because I eventually found that to be rather constrictive. So I'll be winging it! Much like I did the speech on my wedding day. I used the word "lovely" five times.

Furious on Film: In Defense of Mel Gibson



For this big return column I thought I'd tackle something that's been bugging me for a while. I know the general public turned on Mel Gibson after he made some rather unfortunate anti-Semitic comments. Yeah, he's a fossil. The time when Mel Gibson should have been a big star was at the peak of Hollywood Golden Age where his drinking, cavorting and lousy attitude towards the Jewish people would have fitted right in. The fact of the matter is that Mel Gibson isn't an actor; he's a movie star. And while stars might fade they don't go supernova that easily. And unlike some actors who just walk into movie stardom Mel Gibson is among those who had to earn it. He didn't just walk into Hollywood and pick up the script for Lethal Weapon and say "Oh, by the way I'd like to direct the story of William Wallace after we've knocked out a few sequels.

Nope, he started out in 1976. The same year I was born. So like many icons of the 1980s I grew up with Mel Gibson. Or perhaps more accurately Martin Riggs. Mel is frequently considered to be Australian although he lived in the US from birth to age 12. This gives him an interesting mesh of history as he has that American Dream running through his blood but spending your teenage years in Australia will change your perceptions of the world. I like Australians. They're crude, drink a lot and have a sense of humour about themselves, which is almost unparalleled. The only people who seem to dislike the Australians are New Zealanders. Which I put down to country envy comparable to Scottish and Welsh people disliking the English. After all their countries are smaller and less important but much better looking and the people are nicer (as long as you're not English (or Australian)). But it's really easy to get into a fight with the English. Just watch internet message boards for brawling between Americans and English. Where are the Australians in all this? Making fun of themselves.



The bonus of moving to Australia when he did was that the Australian film industry really happened to pick up. Foreign crews moved into Australian territory to shoot in the late 60s into the early 70s. In particular Ned Kelly was shot there in 1970. So as Gibson started acting as the Australian film industry was in the process of taking off. Stone, Mad Dog Morgan and the Man From Hong Kong all came about as Mel was learning his trade and the stage was set when, still a student, he starred in Mad Max. While Mad Max was one of those adrenaline fuelled thrill rides along with all the other Oz action movies the difference that Mel Gibson made to the film was palpable. It was clear right from the start that Gibson was a movie star. Hollywood frequently took stars on in the 1980s without much in the way of acting talent (I'm thinking Arnold Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren) in the action genre. Well, Mel had the look. But he was also convincing as an actor, which is something he doesn't always use in his Hollywood pictures. But he's classically trained and extremely capable of turning in a strong performance. Case in point; Gallipoli.



Peter Weir was the other side of the Australian film boom. There were a lot of Ozploitation movies coming out in the 1970s were the basis for the plot was either sex, horror or a car chase. Peter Weir was the artistic side. His films, like Picnic at Hanging Rock were in marked contrast to the mainstream Australian flicks of the time. While Mel Gibson came to the attention of the underground and Ocker film industry with Mad Max he hit it big internationally with Gallipolli because it showed he could act. And after a sequel to Mad Max (Mad Max 2 in the UK & Australia) called the Road Warrior broke him out fully as an action hero in the USA Mel Gibson was here to stay.

Since he moved to the United States Gibson has made a living off playing an everyman hero. Gibson isn't the same muscle-bound action hero as Arnie, Stallone or even Bruce Willis. I've always found him more down to Earth. And this is probably most clearly defined by his role as Martin Riggs in Lethal Weapon. As the series has progressed we've seen Riggs get over the death of his wife, his suicidal tendencies and other difficulties life has thrown at him and we've grown up seeing Riggs develop into a well-rounded human being again. The end of Lethal Weapon 4 where everybody gets that happy ending actually brought a surprise lump to my throat.



The other side of Mel Gibson is the unsophisticated, homophobic, Jew-bashing drunkard that appears in the press sometimes. Some people in Hollywood get so detached from reality that comments that they make must seem perfectly normal to them. After all the majority of Hollywood's top players are surrounded by ‘yes men' who tell them everything they do is great. But Mel must surely be aware of this because he made a Simpsons episode called "Beyond Blunderdome" where he was re-making Mr Smith Goes to Washington and was sick of everyone sucking up to him so he hires Homer as an advisor. Obviously Homer wrecks the film because he's an idiot. Maybe I don't object to Gibson's attitude as much as others because I like people who speak their mind and don't sit on the fence. Wishy-washy celebrities are such a waste of time. So I'd take Mel Gibson's brash and antagonist attitude over a boring non-entity or faceless 15-minuter reality TV celeb. Perhaps Mel should be reviled for his comments but I really can't think of a Hollywood celebrity whose movies I boycott based on comments they've made. I try to avoid Michael Bay's movies because they're all the same and Ben Stiller's because his awkward comedy isn't funny. But personal opinions? They don't enter into it. Not for me anyway. For example I don't hate Kanye West for barging onstage at the MTV Awards…I hate him because he sucks.



Which is where we come to Mel Gibson's directorial career. I'm sad that people haven't seen the Cecil B. DeMille-esque throwback epic that is Apocalypto. People have avoided the movie because of Gibson's comments (either to the press or to a female police officer he addressed as "sugartits"). This is unfair. If you think Mel Gibson is a douchebag then that's fine but don't take it out on the movie. I love Apocalypto and think you should see it. It's a film full of natural beauty, stunning cinematography and extreme violence. I was watching the Imaginationland episode of South Park on DVD the other day and there's a commentary track from Trey Parker and Matt Stone. And on it they talk about how much they love Mel Gibson because they made him out to be this crazy guy and then he went crazy in public and proved them right. So now they'll go and see Mel Gibson movies at the cinema on day of release and both of them praised Apocalypto. High praise indeed!



So is Mel all that bad or has he just had his meltdown in public? After all Arnold Schwarzenegger is a pot smoking sex pest. Gary Busey has brain damage and is literally insane. Nick Nolte got busted drunk driving and taking GHB. Stallone has been at HGH for years. Robert Downey Jr spent nearly a year in jail/rehab and the best part of 5 years up to his ears in drugs. Tom Cruise is far more of a whackjob. His Scientology based opinions like calling psychiatry a "Nazi Science" tend to pop up quite often and if anyone disagrees with him he threatens a lawsuit. And let's not forget the Oprah Winfrey couch jumping incident, which cost him big time with Paramount.



Celebrities fuck up, just like everyday folks. Except when they do it a camera is pointed at them. Hell, I've said some things I've regretted when I've had a few beers but luckily there was a camera there to capture them.

Conclusion: while Mel Gibson has said some things he most definitely should not have done (and I don't condone them) it's not fair to judge his films on his behaviour. They should be judged on their own merits. Otherwise we're just losing movies for stupid reasons instead of artistic intentions. As I've said before Apocalypto is a great movie and I still haven't found anyone else who really loves it like I do. Passion of the Christ is a hell of a movie too.

Sidenote – I notice 411's Roundtable guys got some stick for defending Roman Polanski. And this is another example where I'm not even defending Polanski so much as I am his movies. I don't want Roman in jail because that means he won't be able to make any films during that time. I'm defending Chinatown and The Pianist. When it comes to movies I'm all about wanting to see more great films. Besides, celebrities don't go to jail. Vince Neill killed somebody and he only did 30 days.

Is the Public Already Sick of Seth Rogen?

So, I was watching Observe and Report yesterday and my thought processes as it was playing were a) comparing it to Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which I saw last week and b) wondering if Seth Rogen is ever going to play a different part. And further to that second point; whether playing essentially the same role is going to hurt his career sooner rather than later. I know a lot of actors play the same sort of character throughout their career (Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Adam Sandler) but in the past that didn't effect the movies success. Because people went to see a certain actor with that image of them in mind. People didn't go to see John Wayne movies to see different characters although he did have degrees of character and was a surprisingly decent actor as he got older. So let's look at Seth Rogen film by film as he's had quite a meteoric rise to stardom since appearing as a supporting actor in the 40 Year Old Virgin.

40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN (2005). Seth plays Cal; a foul-mouthed slacker man-child with an interest in donkeys. Grossed $109M.

KNOCKED UP (2007). Seth plays Ben Stone; a foul-mouthed slacker man-child who smokes pot and has limited ambition in life. Grossed $148M.

SUPERBAD (2007). Seth plays Officer Michaels; a foul-mouthed slacker cop who'd rather drink with his partner and show McLovin that not all cops suck rather than do his job. Grossed $121M.

PINEAPPLE EXPRESS (2008). Seth plays foul-mouthed slacker man-child and stoner Dale Denton who gets mixed up in a murder accidentally. Grossed $87M.

ZACK & MIRI MAKE A PORNO (2008). Seth plays Zack; a foul-mouthed slacker man-child who works at a coffee shop and has no ambition. Grossed $31M

OBSERVE AND REPORT (2009). Seth plays foul mouthed slacker and mall cop Ronnie whose ambitions are crushed by his own idiocy. Grossed $23M.

FUNNY PEOPLE (2009). Co-starring with box office gold heavyweight Adam Sandler. Grossed $51M.

I don't know about you guys but I see a pattern emerging. I thought Funny People would be the movie that stopped the rot for Seth. I thought it'd be a huge hit and everything would be right again in Rogenville. Not so. Adam Sandler's movies routinely pull down big dollars. His last movie before this was the mediocre Bedtime Stories, which pulled down over $100M and even the awful You Don't Mess with the Zohan made $100M. It's clear that people found Seth's appearance comical to begin with and were drawn in by the idea of him fucking a hot chick (copyright Will Helm) in Knocked Up. And since they've been aware of who Seth Rogen is his movies have drawn less and less people. Seth Rogen's next movie will be a huge test of his drawing ability.

Green Hornet.

Snowflake City

This week I have seen the following movies;

Observe and Report ***
Not Quite Hollywood ***
What Just Happened *
Paul Blart: Mall Cop **1/2

Not Quite Hollywood, the documentary about Australian filmmaking in the 70s, triggered this weeks column and provided me with a long list of Australian movies that I really want to see. Don't you just hate it when you think you've seen a lot of movies and then suddenly there's this whole subgenre that you've seen like two films in (Mad Max basically) and there's Quentin fuckin' Tarantino and he's seen every film from the genre and can talk about the plot in depth. He's seen way too many movies.

The biggest disappointment this week wasn't the downturn in Seth Rogen's career but rather the disaster of What Just Happened. It's like Entourage only not entertaining. It's like someone was failing miserably at pitching another movie and the studio guy just shot him down and said "what else have you got" and the dude had been watching Entourage the night before and this is the result. Save yourself some time and avoid that one.

Until next time, I'm Arnold Furious…and you're not.