Mel Gibson & the Blame Game

Hello dear readers, by now I am sure many of you have heard of the latest rantings of a very disturbed Mel Gibson (famous Australian actor and director.) It was clear to me after the DUI incident awhile back in Malibu, CA that all was not well in the Kingdom. Of course the incident got huge amounts of news coverage because of his fame and notoriety. His controversial film, "The Passion of the Christ" had made him even more of a multi-millionaire.

This last incident involving his former girlfriend and mother of his child has also made big news. Comedy shows like "The Soup" having a heyday with the hostile ravings that he left on her answering machine. A recent post left by a Facebook friend the other day got me thinking about the amount of schadenfreude (delight in another's pain) that has been kicked up by the incident. He is looking at jail time possibly and recently has been dropped by his long-time management company, the prestigious William Morris agency, which many would agree that he certainly had coming.

I recently read a very scholarly article by Chris Hutchens of Slate where he discusses Mel Gibson as being part of the fallout of a negative and oppressive Catholic upbringing and being subjected to that lunatic father of his. While these certainly are all adequate "reasons," they simply don't count. Here is why; we all know plenty of people with oppressive Catholic upbringings that are not alcoholics or lunatics with huge anger issues. Everyone is just a little too quick to judgment on this and what could be causing his alcohol-fueled racist, homophobic and sexist behavior. Chris Hutchens alluded to the fact that Mel could possibly have a personality disorder (Narcissistic) along with his alcohol addiction which seems more of where the bread crumbs would lead.

People are also quick to point a finger and delight in the demise of this once great talent and invalidate his body of good and important work both as an actor and director. I am certainly not condoning or excusing his behavior whatsoever, but my point is this; there are plenty of drunks in bars all over the world spewing hateful words but no one pays them much notice. It is Mel's FAME that has made all of the difference. When we point a finger of righteous indignation at him, what does that do for us? In that moment, we get to feel just a little bit better and justified. Besides, he's a very rich man and we most likely will never be that. It feels good for some to see him taken down, not just one notch but many. I also said in the thread that "Being Mel Gibson is punishment enough." I cannot imagine the kind of personal hell he could be in to treat others so badly. Indeed there is only one of us and what we do to others, we do to ourselves. He is like an injured junkyard dog, howling and trying to bite all comers. If anyone was crying out for compassion it is him. This view has made me unpopular with some and misunderstood by many more. People feel so justified in their condemnation of him and his deplorable acts.

My other point was this, "Why is everyone SO interested anyway?" I invited people to look at what was behind their condemnation and what was driving it. We (especially those in the US) have been so conditioned to have enemies to fight in the world. When we were young it was the Russians, after the Cold War ended another string of dictators such as Castro and later Saddam Hussein to resist and project our disdain upon. Jung and other depth psychologists would invite us to embrace the thought that there is a drunken madman or woman inside each and every one of us, along with an Angel and a great saint too. By staying in our "light side" we pretend that we are clean which makes our ego feel good and more secure. We surely could NEVER do the horrible things that he is doing, right?

Abraham and other great teachers discuss our "vibrational escrow" and the things that contribute to its growth or demise. It is quite simple really, thoughts of love, balance, peace and connection to others increase it, while thoughts of judgment, anger and blame reduce it. If our true nature is to love as Source loves us, we certainly have all made mistakes in our time and are all deserving of love and forgiveness.

I mentioned in one my status posts last week, "Mel Gibson IS heavy, but he's your brother," which got a very lukewarm response. We are witnessing the slow unraveling of someone's life and it is a train wreck and is painful for all involved. I suggest we take our power back from the Mel Gibson's of the world and anyone else that would spew hatred and separation as their viewpoint. Just as you would not judge someone that had a disease such as cancer, lupus and the like; don't the mentally ill, addicted and misguided deserve the same compassion? I understand that perhaps those with other diseases suffer quietly and don't try to take others down with them, but compassion must be universal or not at all.

Wishing you all peace and starlight in these magical times, namaste.