Pajiba

screw both mel & michael.

Mel Gibson keeps getting work because he was a star. Michael Richards had one part like 15 years ago. His career hasn't changed much since the incident.

You really think the masses will put their convictions above their entertainment and go against the very fabric of our civilization? Oh, to be an optimist again.

I have no idea why the fuck this is. Apparently, much like little black dresses and sunglasses, anti-semitism never goes out of style. I regularly have to deal with guys at the bar who use the term "Jewed" when they feel they're getting a raw deal, which makes me wonder why exactly the hell we haven't been wiped out by death from above.

"I still wonder, though, why people are so easy to forgive Mel Gibson when Michael Richards will probably never have a regular acting gig again"

Mel Gibson got a lot more cash than Richards. Also a bigger track record. Money is power and if you got power you can do anything you like. See Dick Cheney.

It is interesting to note one of the reasons that might have motivated Gibson's family to move from New York to Australia when he was a kid was that his father is an outspoken Holocaust denier and fanatical Catholic who moonlights as a conspiracy theorist search for all things evil connected with the Jewish faith. He isn't just an ignorant bigot who scoffs at anything non-white. The man has a full mad-on for Jewish people and invests a lot of time to justify it.

For years I held Hutton Gibson's statements and behavior separate from Mel's sighting that the two were separate people and I have indeed known people who were embarrassed of their parents prejudiced views. That changed after that when Gibson showed the apple did in fact not fall too far from the tree- he just conceals it better.

I'm not sure why antisemitism seems to be looked at as a lesser prejudice. What does it really say about some of the people who are willing to work with him? Does it mean that they too are racist and as such share his views? Or does it mean that any money he might potentially earn them could cancel out the pangs of morality one might have otherwise working with him?

I met Gibson and his (now) ex-wife years ago. He seemed a pleasant enough man. But on a personal level, I cannot look at him the same way, I really don't think I could work with someone who believes in such things knowingly. This isn't a lifestyle choice such as vegetarianism or a religious choice, this is a choice in a practice of hatred. He might not be sporting a swastika or screaming out slurs in a temple, but it's hatred just the same. What's worse it seems to have some social acceptance or at least apathetic tolerance. There might not be a law against someone harboring it in their heart, but I wouldn't care to associate myself with someone who does.

To be serious, people think if you slap a religious patina on something, that makes it less objectionable. If you hate someone based on (supposedly) your deeply held religious beliefs, it's not as bad as hating somebody just because. And if millions of other people agree with you, well, there must be something to it, because millions of people can't be wrong. Except for all the times when they are.

It doesn't make any goddam sense, stop trying to figure it out. Some people are just stupid. Or stupid about some things, smart about others.

Anti-semitism is racism, or rather a special form of it. Jews are identified as a race instead of a religion by anti-semitists.

Dunno Tyler, AA and therapy or not, Gibson's obviously has some deep-seated hatred going there..maybe it's from his dad, wherever, I still think he's a bigoted ass, and worse, he's a bigoted ass w/ fame that other dumbass anti-Semites will listen to and support. As a member of The Tribe, I have a hard time supporting anything Mel does, even if Edge of Darkness is just the kinda flick I enjoy.

I agree with most of the comments above - it has to do with status. While he's not really my cup of tea, Gibson's a pretty talented guy (or at least his name can carry a movie). Richards is Kramer, and will always be Kramer. While he is pretty funny, he's almost always the same guy (see: UHF). Unfortunately for him, the guy he plays is associated with the 1990s and is therefore considered dated. When Mel freaked out, the story was "Star hates jews!", but when Richards went nuts, the story was "has-been hates black guys!"

Well, I won't see anything either Mel Gibson will do. But I'm Jewish, so I don't forgive that shit. But I won't see anything Michael Richards does, either.

Transylvania 6-5000 remake. Now.

As a half-black jew-by-ancestry, both of those haters can suck it. Dick Cheney, too.

I think Eep had three racist epitaphs purposely in his post as sarcasm. that was the point.

Eep, ha. I get you, friend.

As to the original question, I have to go with the general consensus here; anti-semitism is more easily forgiven because a surprising number of people secretly suspect that some of that cheap, crooked conspiracy shit might be true.

Yes, that was the point, or at least the vehicle for the point. What I was really going for was a further comment on the point that Richards said racist things about one group and became anathema while Gibson said racist things about another and it was, to some degree, shrugged off. At the very least it didn't kill his career. I thought it was interesting to look at the fact that some racial stereotypes have gone even farther and become part of the vernacular, to the point that "philistine" is a word that only more sophisticated people would use. "Gypped" may have been a bit of a stretch, and that's probably why it was singled out first. I wanted to include "Cretin" as well, but apparently relating it to Crete is only one theory regarding its etymology, and not the most popular one.

It's funny, a coworker and I were having this exact discussion yesterday. He was wondering if I would be willing to give a "pass" to Gibson because he was drunk out of his gourd. He didn't realize that the sugartits incident was not an isolated one. I of course, would not issue a "pass" because Mel Gibson is a horrendous pile of shit. But maybe my black jewish ass is just bitter.

"But maybe my black jewish ass is just bitter."

Wow that's a hell of a combo. Kudos, sir :)

I think anti-semitism is more regularly forgiven just because Jews are not that "visible". There isn't a big Jewish organization that comes out and throws their Jesse Jackson-like figure whenever someone says something retarded. Plus, no one is really that scared of Jews, whereas you say the wrong thing about a black and you, deservedly, will get fucked up. I know those are rather pedestrian arguments, but there's a little truth in there, right?

I'm also sick of people who protest Israel. Yes, the Israeli government does a lot of crappy things, but they are surrounded on every side by people who WILL STRAP BOMBS TO THEMSELVES and would kill every man, woman, and child in that country to the last. To try to grip yourself around the Israeli mentality, picture America in between Afghanistan and Iran, and you'll start to get the picture.

Anti-Semitism is a weird thing, because every couple hundred someone gets a loony idea and decides "hey, we haven't killed any Jews in a while".

Romans-->Crusades-->Inquisition-->Natzees!

On a further side note, I am both Italian AND Jewish, so no matter what way you try to slice, my people definitely killed Jesus. Sorry.

There are a few key differences between what happened with Gibson and Richards.

Michael Richards' career dissolved on camera, and was disseminated to the world via the interwebs. The Mel Gibson video (of his arrest) was never released.

Michael Richards idea of proper contrition was reaching out to Jesse Jackson. Mel Gibson went to Diane Sawyer. Sawyer is less distasteful than Jackson. And his appearance on Letterman was pathetic.

Michael Richards ranted because a couple people in the audience weren't showing the respect he felt he deserved. Mel Gibson is an alcoholic suffering from a bit of a martyr complex, who ranted while drunk.

And calling The Passion of the Christ anti-semitic without calling the Bible the same is a little weird.

D-day, while I would never dream of denying the horrors of the Holocaust and would definitely make every history professor in the world show Schindler's List every year, I must respond. I don't want to rant about global politics and shit but some things must be said. The fact of Holocaust doesn't excuse the wrongdoings of modern Israel. And neither side is blameless in the conflict between Palestine and Israel. Although, if you ask me, things would be solved much easier if ones didn't believe in sky cake and the others in sky cookies...

bleujayone, wrong as usual... The correct answer is pancakes.

Pancakes heal the world.

But...I like PIE!!!!

Pie is responsible for some of the most soul cleansing food fights in history. Look towards the Three Stooges if you doubt that. How could floppy, impotent flapjacks ever hope for the confectionery glory that is contained within pie's crusty embrace?

Sure those crappy crepes can have things like fruit just as pie can- but for sheer versatility I challenge anyone to try to create chicken pot pancakes!!!! Pot, maybe but chicken too? Not a chance!

Pancakes greater that pie?!? For shame sir! That sounds like an anti-konditorei remark!

Wait a second, don't the Jewish folks pretty much own Hollywood? How could a Jew hating Gibson get work when an annoying comedian can't? Shocking. Might as well kick puppies.