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Hey, Hollywood, what about liberal anti-Semitism?
Assume, for the sake of argument, that Mel Gibson's drunken anti-Semitic tirade makes him an unrequited, unrepentant Jew-hater.
Barbara Walters, co-host of the "The View," denounced Gibson. The woman who once called brutal dictator Fidel Castro "sexy" announced that she refuses to see another Mel Gibson film. One powerful, well-known Hollywood agent urged Hollywood to "shun" Gibson. A major producer, in an anti-Gibson paid newspaper ad, said, "When I was making movies, there was something called a 'morals' clause in actors [sic] contracts. Doesn't that still exist?" One rabbi told me that Gibson's rant -- that "Jews cause all the wars" -- appears to have been "thought out."
Actor-director Mel Gibson laughs during a news conference in Seattle, Wash., in this Thursday, May 18, 1995 file photo. (AP Photo/Dave Weaver) Thought out?
Do Gibson's critics truly believe that a sober Gibson thinks "Jews cause all wars"? All of them? Remember, Gibson starred and directed "Braveheart," an Oscar-winning film about a war between the Scots and the British. Does a sober Mel Gibson believe that Jews caused that one? What about America's Revolutionary War? Or England's Civil War, or America's War Between the States, or the Peloponnesian War, or . . . ?
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) denounced former Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., who opposed the Iraq war. Hollings blamed the war on Israel, stating, "With Iraq no threat, why invade a sovereign country? The answer: President Bush's policy to secure Israel. . . . [S]preading democracy in the Mideast to secure Israel would take the Jewish vote from the Democrats." The ADL's Abraham Foxman said, "This is reminiscent of age-old, anti-Semitic canards about a Jewish conspiracy to control and manipulate government."
Tell me, Hollywood, why does "documentarian" Michael Moore get a pass? Moore, speaking to an audience in Liverpool, England, denounced the war in Iraq, arguing that America entered into it because of "the oil companies, Israel, Halliburton." Weren't former Sen. Hollings and Moore making the same point -- that Israel exerts undue influence over America's politicians, forcing America into a war for Israel's national security, rather than our own? When Hollings says it, the ADL denounced it as a slur. But when Moore -- represented by a powerful Jewish agent -- says the same thing, nothing.
And what about the entertainment industry's acceptance of Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, despite their anti-Semitic remarks? Jackson, of course, called Jews "Hymie," and New York City "Hymietown" -- while sober -- and initially denied making the slurs. Jackson's friend, the anti-Semitic Minister Louis Farrakhan, threatened the life of the reporter who "outed" Jackson, and publicly warned Jews not to harm Jackson. Despite pleas to do so, Jackson to this day refuses to condemn Farrakhan, a man who once called Judaism a "gutter religion." CNN later awarded Jackson a television show called "Both Sides with Jesse Jackson." Not bad.
Sharpton referred to Jews as "diamond merchants" during an uprising in the Crown Heights area of New York, and said, "If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house." William Morris, one of Hollywood's most powerful agencies, began representing Sharpton in 2004, and almost immediately landed him a hosting gig for a cable network reality show called "I Hate My Job." TV One now airs Sharpton's show "Sharp Talk," and some Hollywood trade papers recently reported on plans for Sharpton to play himself in a CBS sitcom called "Al in the Family."
Gibson's father deserves denunciation as a Holocaust-denier. But what about Holocaust trivializers?
Actor David Clennon, star of CBS's "The Agency," in condemning President Bush and his administration, said, " . . . I'm not comparing Bush to Adolf Hitler -- because George Bush, for one thing, is not as smart as Adolf Hitler. And secondly, George Bush has much more power than Adolf Hitler ever had." So Clennon compares Bush to a man who slaughtered 6 million Jews and 5 million others, and sparked a war that led to worldwide casualties estimated at over 50 million! No outcry.
And what about Hollywood's anti-Christian and anti-Catholic fare? Media Research Center's Brent Bozell quotes "Da Vinci Code" actor Ian McKellen, who accused the Catholic Church of "misleading us all this time." McKellen also said, "the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying this is fiction." Citing many examples, Bozell asks what about Comedy Central's "Merry F*ing Christmas" special, that called the Christmas story "bull[bleep]"? Or the "Rescue Me" character who has visions of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, including one of himself having sex with Mary Magdalene, when Jesus catches him and tries to kill him with a shotgun? Bozell finds the very same people castigating Gibson missing-in-action while Hollywood ridicules Christians. "The examples of anti-Christian, anti-Catholic bigotry in Hollywood are seemingly endless," writes Bozell. "Each and every one is uglier, more mean-spirited than anything Mel Gibson said."
Moral to the story? Hollywood hates anti-Semitism -- that is, if you're white, male, Christian and conservative. But when it comes to anti-Christian put-downs and black anti-Semitism, Hollywood gives two thumbs up.
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Assume, for the sake of argument, that Mel Gibson's drunken anti-Semitic tirade makes him an unrequited, unrepentant Jew-hater.
Barbara Walters, co-host of the "The View," denounced Gibson. The woman who once called brutal dictator Fidel Castro "sexy" announced that she refuses to see another Mel Gibson film. One powerful, well-known Hollywood agent urged Hollywood to "shun" Gibson. A major producer, in an anti-Gibson paid newspaper ad, said, "When I was making movies, there was something called a 'morals' clause in actors [sic] contracts. Doesn't that still exist?" One rabbi told me that Gibson's rant -- that "Jews cause all the wars" -- appears to have been "thought out."
Actor-director Mel Gibson laughs during a news conference in Seattle, Wash., in this Thursday, May 18, 1995 file photo. (AP Photo/Dave Weaver) Thought out?
Do Gibson's critics truly believe that a sober Gibson thinks "Jews cause all wars"? All of them? Remember, Gibson starred and directed "Braveheart," an Oscar-winning film about a war between the Scots and the British. Does a sober Mel Gibson believe that Jews caused that one? What about America's Revolutionary War? Or England's Civil War, or America's War Between the States, or the Peloponnesian War, or . . . ?
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) denounced former Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., who opposed the Iraq war. Hollings blamed the war on Israel, stating, "With Iraq no threat, why invade a sovereign country? The answer: President Bush's policy to secure Israel. . . . [S]preading democracy in the Mideast to secure Israel would take the Jewish vote from the Democrats." The ADL's Abraham Foxman said, "This is reminiscent of age-old, anti-Semitic canards about a Jewish conspiracy to control and manipulate government."
Tell me, Hollywood, why does "documentarian" Michael Moore get a pass? Moore, speaking to an audience in Liverpool, England, denounced the war in Iraq, arguing that America entered into it because of "the oil companies, Israel, Halliburton." Weren't former Sen. Hollings and Moore making the same point -- that Israel exerts undue influence over America's politicians, forcing America into a war for Israel's national security, rather than our own? When Hollings says it, the ADL denounced it as a slur. But when Moore -- represented by a powerful Jewish agent -- says the same thing, nothing.
And what about the entertainment industry's acceptance of Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, despite their anti-Semitic remarks? Jackson, of course, called Jews "Hymie," and New York City "Hymietown" -- while sober -- and initially denied making the slurs. Jackson's friend, the anti-Semitic Minister Louis Farrakhan, threatened the life of the reporter who "outed" Jackson, and publicly warned Jews not to harm Jackson. Despite pleas to do so, Jackson to this day refuses to condemn Farrakhan, a man who once called Judaism a "gutter religion." CNN later awarded Jackson a television show called "Both Sides with Jesse Jackson." Not bad.
Sharpton referred to Jews as "diamond merchants" during an uprising in the Crown Heights area of New York, and said, "If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house." William Morris, one of Hollywood's most powerful agencies, began representing Sharpton in 2004, and almost immediately landed him a hosting gig for a cable network reality show called "I Hate My Job." TV One now airs Sharpton's show "Sharp Talk," and some Hollywood trade papers recently reported on plans for Sharpton to play himself in a CBS sitcom called "Al in the Family."
Gibson's father deserves denunciation as a Holocaust-denier. But what about Holocaust trivializers?
Actor David Clennon, star of CBS's "The Agency," in condemning President Bush and his administration, said, " . . . I'm not comparing Bush to Adolf Hitler -- because George Bush, for one thing, is not as smart as Adolf Hitler. And secondly, George Bush has much more power than Adolf Hitler ever had." So Clennon compares Bush to a man who slaughtered 6 million Jews and 5 million others, and sparked a war that led to worldwide casualties estimated at over 50 million! No outcry.
And what about Hollywood's anti-Christian and anti-Catholic fare? Media Research Center's Brent Bozell quotes "Da Vinci Code" actor Ian McKellen, who accused the Catholic Church of "misleading us all this time." McKellen also said, "the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying this is fiction." Citing many examples, Bozell asks what about Comedy Central's "Merry F*ing Christmas" special, that called the Christmas story "bull[bleep]"? Or the "Rescue Me" character who has visions of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, including one of himself having sex with Mary Magdalene, when Jesus catches him and tries to kill him with a shotgun? Bozell finds the very same people castigating Gibson missing-in-action while Hollywood ridicules Christians. "The examples of anti-Christian, anti-Catholic bigotry in Hollywood are seemingly endless," writes Bozell. "Each and every one is uglier, more mean-spirited than anything Mel Gibson said."
Moral to the story? Hollywood hates anti-Semitism -- that is, if you're white, male, Christian and conservative. But when it comes to anti-Christian put-downs and black anti-Semitism, Hollywood gives two thumbs up.
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