One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Anti-Defamation League is Not Psyched About Mel Gibson's Film About a Jewish Hero
And, of course, we're not referring to Jesus.
Mel Gibson's latest project is catching some people by surprise on two counts. First, that there is a latest project. Second, that a man whose alcohol-fueled anti-Semitic tirade was heard around the world is choosing to make a biopic about Judah Maccabee, the Jewish freedom fighter and hero of the Hannukah story.
Warner Bros. is backing the project by Gibson and screenwriter Joe Eszterhas.
But the Anti-Defamation League is less than thrilled by the project. The group has issued statements in the past calling out Gibson on his anti-Semitic drunken tirades and the anti-Semitic overtones in his movies. It has even accepted his apology. But it's still not sure that Gibson is the man for this project:
We would have hoped that Warner Bros. could have found someone better than Mel Gibson to direct or perhaps even star in a film on the life of the Jewish historical icon Judah Maccabee. As a hero of the Jewish people and a universal hero in the struggle for religious liberty, Judah Maccabee deserves better. It would be a travesty to have the story of the Maccabees told by one who has no respect and sensitivity for other people's religious views.
Jeffrey Goldberg over at The Atlantic, who is working on a book about the "original Hebrew Hammer," sheds some insight into Mel Gibson's interest in the project:
"I just read it when I was teenager, and it's amazing. It's almost like" — here, he grabbed my digital recorder, held it to his mouth, and spoke in a portentous movie-announcer voice — "They profaned his Temple. They killed his father. They... all kinds of stuff. In the face of great odds for something he believed in" — here he switched out of movie-announcer voice — "Oh, my God, the odds they faced. The armies they faced had elephants! How cinematic is this! Even Judah's dad — what's his name? Mattathias? -- you kind of get this guy who more or less is trying to avoid the whole thing, but he just gets to a place where had enough, and he just snapped!" In other words, Judah Maccabee, his father, and his brothers, are like the heroes of every Mel Gibson movie.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
