Discuss: Can You Ever Forget Reality on the Big Screen?
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy, Images
The last time we got to see Mel Gibson on the big screen, it was in The Singing Detective. Six years, some violent films, and an infamous arrest later, and we're finally getting another dose as he plays a homicide cop in Martin Campbell's Edge of Darkness. The film centers on a cop (Gibson) who watches his daughter (Bojana Novakovic) die, and then sets out to find the people who killed her.
Darkness is slated to hit screens later this year, and to kick off the buzz, an image has been released to Empire, which you can see in its entirety here. The image shows Gibson kneeling over a body, in front of a cop car and parts of what seems to be another totaled car, looking peeved. Try as I might, but I can't view this picture in the proper context. All I can see is a cautionary tale about what could've happened had Gibson not been pulled over by the cops that night in 2006. Cop cars, debris, and dead bodies doesn't seem like the best way to make us forget the past and focus on the present. It'd be like Lindsay Lohan trying to get back into the swing of things by playing a careless, drunken moviestar. Or Robert Downey Jr. cleaning up, and then doing Less Than Zero.
So that leads me to wonder: Can you forget about a star's real-life troubles when you see them on the big screen? Does reality fall away and leave nothing but the story, or do looks, scenarios, and other subtleties pull you out of the plot and right into memories of misconduct? What do you forgive, and what's hard to forget?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-23-2009 @ 12:29PM
tester said...
testing
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4-23-2009 @ 12:30PM
Mike said...
I think it depends on what the real life troubles were. If I see Robert Downey Jr. taking on a role like Less Than Zero now, I wouldn't be able to help but think about his past. More because I'd be worried about him getting into character or reliving that part of his past than anything. You don't want to mirror reality too closely, especially when it's that serious a subject. I think the rumored Iron Man storyline of Tony Stark's struggle with the bottle is about as far as I'd like to see Downey explore addiction.
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4-23-2009 @ 12:30PM
tester said...
Mel Gibson is cool.
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4-23-2009 @ 12:31PM
Charles Vestal said...
To be fair, RDJ got cleaned up, then played notorious alcoholic superhero Tony Stark... And played it well. I think that sure, there's a bit of reality mirroring going on, but isn't there in every film? Life imitates, Art imitates, we're all wrapped up in this thing.
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4-23-2009 @ 4:04PM
Cyhort said...
I can look past situations like that, especially when they happened so long ago. What bothers me though is movie stars that get political. Once I find out a star's politics I always associate that with every character they play. For instance I can never see Seas Penn as anything other than an America hating communist wanna be.
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4-23-2009 @ 4:53PM
Dave said...
I have no problem forgetting a stars past while watching one of their films.
Mel Gibson could have killed my mother and I'd still watch this movie.
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4-23-2009 @ 5:13PM
Kevin said...
I'm with you man. I'm not going to spend anytime figuring out the back story of the guy that made my pants, car, tv, etc., so why do I care about the life of the guy providing me my entertainment? Its so ridiculous how much time people waste evaluating and discussing the lives of people they'll never meet.
4-23-2009 @ 5:43PM
paul said...
It's like Mike said; it all depends on who and what. He was in a drunken moronic state so I can overlook that to see him here. It looks like he'll be mirroring the character he played in Payback. If someone else couldn't watch him anymore, I'm cool with that too. To each his own.
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4-23-2009 @ 7:53PM
Rob said...
Everyone has a past. Just because they are movie stars, doesn't make a difference. So he made a mistake one stupid night. Yes, he was lucky he didn't kill anyone, but DUI's are a dime a dozen these days. Let him move on.
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4-24-2009 @ 1:34AM
Tony said...
You know this article is written by an imbecile. What the personal life of Mel Gibson has to do with his acting?
He was and is the best actor of his generation.
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4-23-2009 @ 11:36PM
Astin said...
I can hardly wait for the next Michael Richards project!
Or is blaming the Jews for all the world's wars and sexually harassing a female police officer while you're being arrested for driving down curving California roads while completely plastered more forgivable than ranting racist comments and slurs to some black guys in an audience?
Just curious where I can draw the line on forgetting about a star's past real-life wrongdoings and just enjoy their performance. After all, I enjoyed UHF far more than most of GIbson's movies.
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4-24-2009 @ 8:24AM
j said...
We're so quick to jump on Gibson's case that we fail to see the hypocrisy in our condemnation of his actions and lack of support for his career continuance. We forgave Robert Downey, Jr, Kiefer Sutherland, Tracy Morgan, Ray Liota, Paul Reubens, David Bowie, James Brown, Jack White, Scott Weiland at least twice, Josh Brolin, Mickey Rourke, Hugh Grant, ... I could go on. The thing that made Gibson's case stand out: a drunken rant in which Mel spun the magic topic wheel of destiny and it landed on Jews, is in reality an over-blown issue that has been since resolved. I cannot count the number of racist rap artists or bad-boy or girl actors that we accept every day as another celeb acting a fool. Lindsay Lohan, for instance, gets in more trouble lately than Paris ever did. Everyone just shakes their heads. But woe to Mel if he wants to enter the public eye ever again... his career as a fantastic and Uber talented actor is over. Get over it. I want Mad Max 4, and I will fight for it if I have to. Mel, get your sawed-off shotgun ready for some desert-survival fun. That's what I 'members about Mel, and that's what I miss.
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4-24-2009 @ 10:12AM
Astin said...
Get over it. The majority of your list of forgiven people committed crimes that affected only themselves. If you're a drunk, drugged-out loser, or have a fetish for hookers, or just party too much and have sex tapes released of you, then you haven't extended your issues beyond the people involved. THAT is why they've been forgiven, sometimes multiple times.
Gibson insulted an entire race of people, harassed an officer of the law, and if he hadn't been stopped, COULD have killed others with how completely wasted he was behind the wheel. That effects far more people.
Has he done his penance? Maybe. Can he be forgiven? Of course. That doesn't mean that releasing a still of him at the scene of a car accident doesn't remind people of his problems. Every time Downey plays a character with a drug or alcohol problem, it's mentioned all over the place that it "mirrors his real life troubles". Rourke's comeback with The Wrestler was peppered with comments about his character was essentially a washed up loser, so he was playing himself. There's no way that Gibson is somehow above having the same comparisons drawn about him, regardless of how big a star he is/was, or how much you like him.
4-24-2009 @ 12:26PM
j said...
Yes, but so did Keifer. All I'm saying is I'm tired of people talking about Mel's mistake like it's unforgiveable when there's so much that gets passed over where other celebs are concerned. People make mistakes... do we really need to jump down their throats for all eternity? Nope. So to quote, "Get over it".
4-24-2009 @ 4:22PM
Dan said...
I'm with a lot of the others, I really don't give a shit what Mel Gibson did as it relates to my enjoying his movies. I like Mel a lot, always have, always will. Just like I think Tom Cruise is probably a little odd, but fuck if I don't still like him, and I always will. When stars do stupid shit like this, I think the same way I would of anybody else. Now, that's not to say their actions (especially one that's dangerous for others as well-like drunk driving) are inconsequential, but I think it's silly how we glorify their mistakes so much more than the average Joe. Mel Gibson hates Jews and drives drunk? All right, so he's irresponsible and intolerant, and maybe if we were friends I could get over that, or maybe not. But since he's just a dude I go to watch movies in, I really don't give a flying fuck what he's like in real life. I understand and respect that some people feel differently and were too offended or appalled by his actions to forget, and that's cool too. For my two cents though, Mel is, was, and always will be a cool dude to watch onscreen to me.
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7-11-2009 @ 6:57AM
Jawsphobia said...
What this article forgets is that many of us - whether we have seen The Singing Detective or not - over the past decade have likely re-watched Mel Gibson's movies and have had either no problem enjoying them or had our viewing enhanced by his quirks. Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon says, "God hates me." Mel as Riggs says, "Hate him back. Works for me." Or how about his ongoing meltdown in Conspiracy Theory? But even his less complicated characters can distract us from the parasitic media thirst for A-list blood. Mel fell off the wagon, in a time where it seems that just about everyone is taking turns drunk driving (it's just lucky their slurred rantings aren't released to the media and quoted as their new creedos).
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