Mad Mel Is At It Again!

If Hollywood can find it deep in the bottom of its heart to embrace child-molesters and brutal dictators, is there any room left for a bigot like Mel Gibson?

Warner Brothers says, "Why of course!" thinking like any smart studio about their bottom-line and the chance that stirring up controversy will up ticket-sales. Also they probably had their accountants look up Gibson's directorial track-record and saw the guy makes people a lot of money. And that, at the end of the day, is what it's all about in showbiz, is it not?

As per "TOLDJA," Gibson is collaborating with screenwriter Joe Eszterhas (Where's he been in the last decade?) on a historical epic centering on Judah Maccabee, the Jewish warrior whose heroism, along with his father and brothers, is celebrated every year during Hanukkah for leading the crusade against the Greek-Syrian Empire.

It's the kind of story you can imagine Gibson, the Academy-Award winning filmmaker, getting behind. It also goes without saying why this is going to piss off a lot of people. Rightfully so, let's be honest. This morning, Peter was commenting on how this sounds like his way of winning back the Jewish community. Possible, but in his defense, he's been talking about telling this story for years. I vividly remember reading about this on Dark Horizons, back around 2005. God love him, but Garth doesn't remember.

South Park really hit the nail with the hammer. Mel Gibson, the man, has real problems. But Gibson, the director, knows how to tell a damn good story.