(latimesblogs)(Atlantic)It turns out that Mel Gibson is an anti-Semite, according to screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, who was hired by Gibson to write a Judah Maccabee biopic. From The Wrap:
Gibson's anti-Semitic obsession was a leitmotif of working on the film together at Gibson's homes in Malibu and Costa Rica, Eszterhas said.
"You continually called Jews 'Hebes' and 'oven-dodgers' and 'Jewboys.' It seemed that most times when we discussed someone, you asked 'He's a Hebe, isn't he?' You said most 'gatekeepers' of American companies were 'Hebes' who 'controlled their bosses.'"
The slurs continued, through their work:
"You said the Holocaust was 'mostly a lot of horseshit.' You said the Torah made reference to the sacrifice of Christian babies and infants. When I told you that you were confusing the Torah with The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, ... you insisted 'it's in the Torah -- it's in there!' (It isn't)."
And he said Gibson told him that his intention in making "The Maccabees" was "to convert the Jews to Christianity."
Before I met with Gibson about the Judah Maccabee project, I was also convinced that he is an anti-Semite. After I thought about our meeting for some time, I came to the conclusion that he is mainly mentally ill, and anti-Semitism is one manifestation of his psychological condition. I also found him highly amusing, as I detailed in this previous post. Most anti-Semites, in my experience, aren't as amusing as Gibson. I am still glad, obviously, that the Judah Maccabee movie seems to be derailed, at least with Gibson in charge of it.
you had to work with him to figure that one out?
