something about this stinks

[sisyphusshrugged]

from the Salt Lake Tribune:

An independent group of scholars who warned that an upcoming Mel Gibson film contains anti-Semitic overtones has withdrawn its criticisms and agreed not to judge the film until its release next year.

Gibson, whose controversial film on the death of Jesus is in the editing stage, threatened to sue after a draft script for "The Passion" was leaked to the group of five Catholic and four Jewish scholars.

Gibson's $25 million film has already raised eyebrows for its violent depiction of the Crucifixion and because most of the dialogue is in Aramaic, without subtitles. The film is based on the New Testament Gospels and the writings of two mystic nuns.

The scholars warned that parts of the film would leave the "impression that the bloodthirsty, vengeful and money-hungry Jews simply had an implacable hatred of Jesus," according to a copy of the group's report that was obtained by The Jewish Week newspaper.

Jewish and Catholic leaders were concerned the film would revive old theologies that blamed Jews for the death of Jesus. The Catholic Church has spent the past 35 years trying to distance itself from teachings that fueled centuries of anti-Semitism.

Gibson, a devout Catholic, denounced the group's report. "To be certain, neither I nor my film are anti-Semitic," he said in a statement Friday. "Nor do I hate anybody -- certainly not the Jews."

As part of the settlement, the nine scholars agreed to return their copies of the script. Gibson's Icon production company also received an apology from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which distanced itself from the scholars.

um. OK. but what about this, from the undoubtedly conflicted NYPost?

Gibson, who does not act in the film, responded to the criticism with the threat of a lawsuit.

Gibson claimed in a letter last month to the Conference of Bishops - the Vatican's arm in this country - that the script was stolen.

Yesterday, after weeks of negotiation, a conference spokesman told me, his group had settled with Gibson.

Monsignor Francis Maniscalco released a statement in which the Catholic body distanced itself from its scholars - saying they had acted without the authorization of the Catholic Conference.

Gibson's spokesman, Alan Nierob, told me only, "There is no lawsuit," and did not comment further.

Well, gosh.

And while we're on the subject of non-denial denials (no, jackass, we know there's no lawsuit, they settled it. That was by way of being the subject of the question), there's this from the Hindustan Times:

"If the intense scrutiny during my 25 years in public life revealed I had ever persecuted or discriminated against anyone based on race or creed, I would be all too willing to make amends. But there is no such record," the actor's statement read. "Nor do I hate anybody - certainly not the Jews.

"They are my friends and associates, both in my work and social life," Gibson continued.

q. Are you a racist?

a. If you can't get anyone to go on the record, I must not be, keeping in mind that I have a ton of money and I like to sue people for saying true things that make me look bad.

also from the Hindustan Times piece:

Although Gibson and his production company hope to release the film next spring it has not yet found a distributor. Controversy over "The Passion" erupted in March after a profile of Gibson's father, Hutton Gibson, appeared in The New York Times Magazine. The profile said the actor's father had controversial traditionalist beliefs not condoned by the Roman Catholic Church and quoted the elder Gibson as denying the Holocaust took place. Some feared Gibson's film would reflect such beliefs.

Of his father:

Gibson's passionate defence of his film comes in the wake of a firestorm caused by his father, Hutton Gibson. In an interview with The New York Times, the 84-year-old said he did not believe the Holocaust ever took place.

Gibson senior - a former quiz show winner, Sydney radio broadcaster and resident of a small Victorian dairy town who now lives in Texas - believes the Holocaust was a fabrication because there were more Jews in Germany "after the war than before".

"Go ask an undertaker or the guy who operates the crematorium what it takes to get rid of a dead body," he said. "It takes one litre of petrol and 20 minutes. Now, six million?"

Joye Gibson, an American whom Hutton recently married, said: "There weren't even that many Jews in all of Europe."

In the interview, which was published in March, Hutton Gibson also rejected the notion that Osama bin Laden's terrorists perpetrated the September 11 attacks.

And he contended that Jews had conspired with Masons to reform the Catholic Church in the famous Vatican II of the 1960s, which ended Latin Masses and the notion of Jewish guilt in the crucifixion.

It is possible that they were caused to believe that Gibson's beliefs were similar to his father's since he's paid tens of millions of dollars to build a private church for the same deranged sect of pre-vatican two lunatics he and his father belong to in Malibu.

Membership is by invitation only.

At the Holy Family Church on a property north-west of Los Angeles, Gibson, his wife of 23 years, Robyn, and their children lead the congregation in a Latin Mass, which includes a sermon preaching the "evil" of "the modern church".

Gibson, who practises the traditional Catholic mores of no artificial contraception and no meat on Fridays, has described Pope John Paul II as "a wolf in sheep's clothing".

Fortunately, Gibson has the nuclear weapon of rhetorical denial on hand (no, not an expensive lawyer, sillyface) again from the Hindustan Times:

"[Jews] are my friends and associates, both in my work and social life," Gibson continued.

"Thankfully, treasured friendships forged over decades are not easily shaken by nasty innuendo.

Hey, give him credit for continence. He didn't say they were some of his best friends.

Comments

[fantome14.livejournal.com]

All I know is that someone who is so Catholic they won't use birth control (which is commonly known about he and his wife) is pretty damn Catholic.

Not all uber-Catholics are anti-Semites, I am sure, but his fathers remarks are pretty damning, whether or not they can also be attributed to Mel. At the very least, they were ill-advised, considering the industry his son works in. In fact, at all publicly denying the deaths of millions of people is just plain ill-advised, no matter who you are. I see why he moved to TX, though, where his ill-advised comments are run-of-the-mill when compared to the words and deeds of Bush and Company. :-P