Thursday, August 11, 2011

Mel Gibson Controversy Reveals Inequalities in Hollywood's Reaction to Racism

The media is swarming with stories on Mel Gibsons arrest for drunk driving and his repulsive reaction to a Jewish officer. In light of The Passion of the Christ and its alleged themes of anti-Semitism, many are happy to use this latest incident as proof of Gibsons prejudice. Power agent Ari Emanuel is requesting the Hollywood community to cease their dealings with the A-lister. Not surprisingly, ABC has halted development of a mini-series with Gibsons Icon Productions that deals with the Holocaust. Disney has decided to move full speed ahead on Mels latest mega production Apocalypto. Barbara Walters even got in on the act announcing on The View that she will no longer watch the stars movies.

As a minority and a Christian, I abhor racial and religious intolerance. Blaming alcohol as an excuse for hate is unconscionable. Drinking three shots too many only brings out the jerk within. It does not manufacture one and it certainly does not make you say things that you do n ot believe. My gripe with Hollywoods reaction to Gibsons embarrassment is that it is not consistent with its outrage.

When Paris Hilton called an aspiring black designer the n-word, we barely heard a peep. There were certainly no cries from Hollywood to derail her acting, modeling or singing career. According to The Smoking Gun, phone transcripts from an angry voicemail from Charlie Sheen to Denise Richards revealed that he called her the n-word. We still see him every week on 2 Men. While the hip-hop community has adulterated the term, it is still hate speech. Where are the Hollywood powerbrokers protesting these atrocities? What does Barbara Walters have to say? Perhaps she is too busy offending black women thanks to her incessant need to touch and grope her African-American guest hosts hair, inquire if it is real, and call their children creatures.

My point is simple. Equal hate deserves equal outrage, unless Hollywood feels that some races are more important than others are.

november dawn has garnered critical acclaim for her ability to integrate issues of politics and popular culture into unique hybrid narrative forms. Her choreoplay, Sunshine for a Midnight Weary, was commended by the Los Angeles Times and LA Weekly. The piece was also nominated for an NAACP Theater Award for Best Choreography and was mounted, in part, in New York. In addition, the Atlanta Film Festival recognized one of her screenplays, Poor Mans Blues, as a semi-finalist in its 2004 Perfect Pitch Competition. She has two books, Cries of a Young Girl and the dawning, on the market. With her company, maisol media, the former video-journalist uses her expertise to orchestrate communications campaigns for the corporate sector. She is a tireless advocate of human decency and respectno matter how she gets it across.


Author:: November Dawn
Keywords:: Mel Gibson, Hollywood, Barbara Walters, Racism, Ari Emanuel, anti-Semitism, Paris Hilton
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