A LITTLE KINDNESS

I was watching a new trailer for the upcoming movie MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. In the newest one, they harken back to the original films that were made well over 30 years ago. Let me say up front that this made me feel old since it doesn’t seem at all like it was 30 years since I watched the first MAD MAX movie unfold on the screen before me. And yet it has been that long.

As I watched the trailer which offers bits and pieces of the original three films, I saw a young actor there that none of us had ever heard of prior to these films. His name was Mel Gibson. As I watched it made me think back about the ups and downs of his career and how Hollywood has treated him over the years, especially in recent years.

When Gibson first showed up on the big screen in MAD MAX who knew how big he was going to become. That first film was a small independent one that had a tiny budget when it came to Hollywood films. I doubt it could have been made here but Australian film production was just beginning to be noticed at the time. Suddenly we had this heart throb from down under being not just accepted in the American market but overwhelmingly so. And yet his career didn’t skyrocket with that first film but more so after the second.

In the ten years following MAD MAX: THE ROAD WARRIOR Gibson starred in a number of films that cemented him in mega-star status both in popularity and acting accomplishments. His movies included YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY, THE BOUNTY, THE RIVER, MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME, LETHAL WEAPON 1 & 2, BIRD ON A WIRE and AIR AMERICA. Go past that ten year period and I have little doubt that most of you will find a favorite among films he starred in like CONSPIRACY THEORY, MAVERICK, MAN WITHOUT A FACE, FOREVER YOUNG, RANSOM, BRAVEHEART, PAYBACK, THE PATRIOT, WHAT WOMEN WANT and WE WERE SOLDIERS. As I was trying to point out, he made a ton of movies, a ton of money and became a celebrity we all loved. Even as a director he made a name for himself by directing the films BRAVEHEART and the hugely successful PASSION OF THE CHRIST.

And that last movie was where things changed. Gibson was suddenly outed. He admitted to being a Christian in a business where doing so was tantamount to letting people know you are a conservative. For in this land of make believe where everyone makes commercials promoting diversity, in a business where everyone talks about how we should accept people for who and how they are, in a city where the highest standard you can achieve is simply talking about how we should all accept one another warts and all…you find the most unaccepting, judgmental, hateful and discriminatory group in the world. Because while they talk about accepting everyone, they only do so if you cow tow to their beliefs and ideas. If you steer away from them openly, then you get slammed with every tool they can muster.

Gibson’s problems began when he made a few derogatory comments about gays in a Spanish newspaper. He didn’t apologize for them but later was part of a celebration of GLAAD on the set of CONSPIRACY THEORY and also said that the comments made were under the spell of vodka. He also had alcohol problems that led to anti-Semitic comments he made as well as drunk driving problems. One divorce down and another on the way was fueled by a rant he left on his soon to be ex’s voice mail. Let’s just say that Gibson’s drinking got in the way of his public perception. And no one in Hollywood would come to his defense because, well, he also had admitted that he was a Christian and was considered an ultraconservative. So while numerous celebs can waltz in and out of rehab for the use of hard core drugs like heroin and get support from fellow actors, Gibson was pretty much thrown to the wolves.

It got worse when he made PASSION OF THE CHRIST. Here again, it was one thing to be a Christian but another to make note of it openly. The studios that had reaped huge profits from Gibson’s work in the past passed on his newest endeavor. He ended up funding most of the movie with his own money. They all thought it would be a tremendous flop, laughing while it was being made. And then Gibson had the audacity to have a huge success on his hands with the film. It did tremendous business. It did over $600 million at the box office worldwide. Studios were stunned.

And Mel Gibson was still not getting much support from the industry that he had been a part of for over 40 years.

That’s beginning to turn around a little these days. While he found himself starring as the bad guy in MACHETE KILLS Gibson also made two great films as an actor that didn’t get much promotion called THE BEAVER and GET THE GRINGO. I highly recommend seeking them both out, in particular GRINGO. He also got to star as the bad guy in the latest EXPENDABLES film. It would have been noticeable to leave him out since the franchise brings back the hugest action box office stars of the 70s-90s.

Which brings me to why I started thinking about Gibson and this whole things of movie stars from our recent past. While I watch a parade of forgettable faces come and go every year now, none of them have the aspects of what was once considered a star. They all seem interchangeable to me these days. If you don’t believe me then try to find one that an impersonator could do these days. Most are still doing Schwarzenegger or Stallone. Where are those stand out stars?

While I enjoy going to the movies still I miss those days when you had a favorite actor who stood out above the crowd. Mel Gibson was one of those. To this day I like to pull out his movies and watch them once more, enjoying them as much now as I did then. With the new Mad Max film coming out and watching that new trailer, it made me want to go back and revisit the world of Mad Max from the start as much as it made me want to see this new version. For a movie that is over 35 years old that says something. The same is true for the actor that starred in it. As I saw that first glimpse of Gibson from all those years ago I felt a wave of nostalgia that made me want to go back and watch other films I’d enjoyed from the past he and I shared in those theaters long ago, he on the screen and me sitting there watching.

I thought of other great actors and actresses that I’d enjoyed back then as well. And while there is and always will be a new movie that I want to see at a theater nearby, I will continue watching those movies that I loved way back as well. While Hollywood may have forgotten Mel Gibson and ignores him and the movies he now makes, I’ll always be there watching the new with the old. I’m just hoping I’m not along in that group.

Here is that new trailer. See if it doesn’t make you think back as well.