Do you remember Mel Gibson? He made some movies you may have seen – Lethal Weapon, Braveheart, Mad Max, Maverick and many more.
He has also directed a few movies and also had a few drinks, made some racist slurs, allegedly threatened his girlfriend, destroyed his marriage and put made a mess of his career.
His come back in The Beaver did not work very well and his agency dropped him like a hot potato.
During a recent award ceremony Tony Stark aka Robert Downey Jr collected his American Cinematheque award. He then used his acceptance speech to say Hollywood should forgive Mel Gibson. Let us not forget that Downey Jr also acted like an idiot a few years back and Gibson got him a role in Air America and since then Downey Jr has worked hard and is now a big deal in the world of film.
“I couldn’t get hired and he cast me,” he said. “He said if I accepted responsibility – he called it hugging the cactus – long enough, my life would take meaning. And if he helped me, I would help the next guy. But it was not reasonable to assume the next guy would be him.”
“Unless you are without sin – and if you are, you are in the wrong fucking industry, you should forgive him and let him work.” His comments were met with widespread applause according to The Guardian.
Gibson said of Downey Jr: “He taught me many things and I will use the ‘C’ word, courage. There’s nothing so much wrong with him. Of course you have to worry about the guy making the judgment here. He’s a good dude with a good heart.”
A touchy subject to be sure and I really don’t know what the best course would be. I do like many of Gibson’s films yet he has been a total plonker with some of the things he has done.
Does he deserve another chance? Was Robert Downey Jr right to say this?
Thanks to Andy M for sending me the news.
