Mel Gibson Forgiveness: Why Hollywood Should Let Mel’s Past Go

Mel Gibson, as noted in a previous Inquisitr article, may finally be getting forgiveness from a Hollywood that has looked upon him as an outcast since he allowed his personal life and controversial views to boil over into the public eye.

Gibson was recently invited to present an award at this weekend’s Golden Globe ceremonies, which is kind of a big deal when you consider that he is: a) conservative; and b) inflammatory.

Case in point, his 2006 arrest, which followed on the heels of what some called an antisemitic film in Passion of the Christ, made national headlines after he went off on the Jewish people. This occurred prior to his asking one of the involved officers if he was Jewish.

Winona Ryder, a Jewish actress, also said that Mel Gibson had used the derogatory term “oven-dodger” in front of her, light-heartedly referencing the horrific ways in which Nazis killed her people during World War II.

Aside from the DUI arrest, Mel also caught heat for racist comments and abusive threats made towards his ex-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, in 2010. He was exposed when the infamous phone call leaked. The calls indicated that he may have been physically abusing her as well.

Since that time, Mel Gibson has done a few lower profile films and stayed largely out of the spotlight. When he did go through with the occasional interview, he still seemed half-cocked.

“That was almost four years ago, dude. I’ve moved on, I guess you haven’t,” Gibson snarked to WGN TV reporter Dean Richards during one interview. “I’ve done all the necessary mea culpas. Let’s move on.”

If you want a sense of how terrifying Mel Gibson can be, check out this NSFW phone call, but seriously: it’s horrifying.

But that wasn’t all.

While it is hard to listen to these leaked phone calls, Mel Gibson is not without his supporters, even after all that. If you just peruse the comments on the YouTube videos, you won’t have to look long to find remarks like this one.

“This woman is a piece of s**t. How could she record something that was a private conversation in the heat of an argument then broadcast it to the world. Mel is going through a bad time and she made it worse.”

Indeed there is some speculation that what is going on with Mel Gibson — or what was going on when these conversations were leaked to the press — could have something to do with bipolar disorder.

Everyday Health said there was “no clear diagnosis” that Gibson has it, but he’s certainly not above exhibiting some of the signs.

Dr. Douglas Bey, Jr., a psychiatrist in Normal, Illinois, and author of the book Loving a Depressed Man pointed out that irritability like what was shown in the above audios “is a primary symptom in bipolar disorder.”

“If Mel Gibson was off his [bipolar] medicine or wasn’t being controlled by his medicine — his mood stabilizer — then he’s likely to be quite irritable,” Bey added.

A golden example of what Mel Gibson could have been going through at this point in his career can be seen in the hit film Silver Linings Playbook. In the film, Bradley Cooper plays a man suffering from bipolar disorder.

Cooper won acclaim for accurately portraying the struggle that people with this condition have maintaining their behavior in polite society, particularly when there are imbalances with their medication.

Considering that Mel Gibson has kept his nose clean for several years now, it may be time for Hollywood to do what it seems to be doing — letting bygones be bygones and giving one of the great actors and filmmakers of his generation a second chance.

If they can do it for Victor Salva, then Mel definitely deserves the same respect.

[Image via s_bukley/Shutterstock.com]