Rob Reiner says Mel Gibson’s apology for his anti-Semitic outburst isn’t good enough.
(AP) Mel Gibson’s apology for making drunken anti-Semitic remarks isn’t enough to redeem him, actor-producer Rob Reiner said.
The actor also must acknowledge that “his work reflects anti-Semitism,” particularly the 2004 hit movie “The Passion of the Christ,” Reiner told Associated Press Radio.
“When he comes to the understanding that he has done that, and can come out and say, you know, `My views have been reflected in my work and I feel bad that I’ve done that,’ then that will be the beginning of some reconciliation for him,” Reiner said.
You know, I always liked the guy when he was on All in the Family.
Reiner, however, said Gibson also must do some “major soul-searching.”
“It’s not a matter of just apologizing for some words you’ve said,” said Reiner, who is Jewish. “It’s to really understand why it is you’re anti-Semitic and where those feelings came from.”
“I believe that people can be redeemed and people can change, but that’s going to be a very long process,” he added.
I don’t think it’s ever going to happen, judging from his father’s example. You can change a person who spouts anti-Semitic slurs out of ignorance, because everyone she grew up with did. I know this from my own experience with a friend, who spouted anti-Semitic slurs when she was drunk one night, even though I stood in front of her and told her to shut up. She called me the next day, apologetic, and we talked a few days later. She explained to me how she realized (now that she was sober) how hurtful she’d been, and that she wasn’t excusing her behavior, but she grew up in an area where anti-Semitism was not called out in casual conversation.
I never heard another hurtful word out of her, drunk or sober. We’re still friends.
There’s a difference between someone like my friend, and someone like Gibson, who was brought up by in an atmosphere of anti-Semitism. My friend was genuinely sorry for hurting my feelings. Mel Gibson is genuinely sorry for hurting his career.
I don’t think he’s changed his mind at all about Jews.
I think Rob Reiner is wasting his breath.
He might be wasting his breath in terms of waiting for an apology,but I think he’s making a valid point.SOmetimes that’s enough.
Indeed. People in general are redeemable, and we all need to remember that — especially in light of examples of irredeemable hypocrisy.
Rob BLEEPING Reiner! Take your head outa your butt.
Reiner is no Jew. He’s a liberal. Of the worst ilk. His policies have done more to destroy Israel than Mel Gibson could dream about. He’s a Jimmuh Kahtah lover and no real Jew. Moses was a Jew. Haman was not. David was a Jew. Ahab was not. Israel and Judaism today are in dire straights because they have failed to make these distinctions.
You know, I have called Jews ex-Jews for several reasons, but never because they are liberal.
I would advise you not to do that here, either.
Strongly.
Remember, Gibson is on record as stating that his Christian wife is going to hell because she is of the wrong denomination.
I consider it a compliment to be hated by such a “person”.
I guess it all hinges on the definition of ‘liberal’. I use it in its active present day meaning. Maybe you are talking Jack Kennedy/Hubert Humphrey liberal. All three dead.
Rob Reiner’s policies promote anti-semitism. How much more ‘ex’ do you want to get? Israel is now a devided nation about to lose the next big war … because of ‘liberalism’. Is that ‘ex’ enough for ya?
This entire drama ought to be allowed to drop. The only friends, true friends, who actually wish Jews and Israelis well, are Conservative Christians. Sure there are some others, but in numbers, the only group apt to support Israel, when push comes to shove, are Conservative Christians.
The gist of Reiner’s request is that Gibson admit that his film was anti-semitic, when his film is based on the traditional understanding of the condemnation and execution of Jesus of Nazareth. What Reiner really wants is an admission that traditional Christianity is INHERENTLY anti-semitic.
I can think of no other issue so designed to cause dissension and rupture between American Jews, Israelis and the only friend they have left on this planet, Conservative Christians.
Gibson’s comments should get about as much attention, as Hillary’s many comments to Dick Morris, which indicated her contempt for Jews. Meaning, none.
Just let the entire drama drop.
Gibson isn’t the problem, Leftist anti-semitism, in the Universities, in the news media, in the Democrat party, throughout Europe, THAT’S THE PROBLEM.
Gibson is nothing.
Good grief.
Jews have this issue with anti-semitism from the right, as if nativist, blood and soil parties are apt to emerge once more, and begin pogroms tomorrow. And all the while, the powerful and growing anti-semitism on the Left, that is making SERIOUS inroads in MAJOR American universities, such as Columbia, and now Harvard, all the while, such SIGNIFICANT anti-semitism is ignored.
You go after Mel Gibson, and I guarantee you, there are Conservative Christians in the Bible Belt who will interpret that as an attack upon them, their beliefs, their religion, their faith.
Isn’t it time for a cost benefit analysis.
Now, if you go after the powerful anti-semitism, in the universities, in the media, you are going against people and organizations PROFOUNDLY HOSTILE to the beliefs of YOUR ALLIES in the Bible Belt.
And another thing, many a Jew seems deeply troubled that the only allies they have left hail from the ranks of Pat Robertson’s group, Jerry Falwell, James Dobson and his focus on the family. Get over it. Beggars can’t be choosers. Jews aren’t going to find any love on the Left. What more evidence do you need? The universities, especially to the extent that they continue to receive tens of millions in endowments and grants flowing Arab petro dollars, are GOING TO BECOME MORE hostile to Israel, NOT LESS.
What is occurring is NOTHING compared to what will come. And to focus on Gibson, instead of these larger and more problematic threats, is an indulgence. And you don’t have time for indulgences right now.
This is a time for savvy. So forget about picking over the bones of Gibson, forget about him. And stop trying to exhume from the grave the controversy over his movie.
Get on to what is happening in the Universities, in the faculty lounges, in the publication houses. AND ESPECIALLY what has been happening in the State Department. Rest assured, the anti-semitism of the people around Colin Powell, like Wilkerson and Armitage DID far more damage than Gibson ever could. It was Powell who called the staff of the Vice President “the Gestapo office.” It was him, his staff, his Department, joining in the lurid Jew descriptives of the neo-conservative policy proposals.
But people don’t want to go after Powell.
There was a problem with his apology?
Here’s the Gibson apology.
Seems quite on target and to the point.
Perhaps Reiner never read it.
I am closing comments on this post because I don’t trust myself not to tell Dan and Scott to STFU in a civil way.