ABC Cancels Gibson Holocaust Miniseries

ABC, in a stunningly obvious move, has pulled the plug on a forthcoming Mel Gibson-directed miniseries on the holocaust. No word on whether they will also be cancelling David Duke's series about slavery or Osama Bin Laden's documentary on the evils of religious extremism.

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Why must everything amusing and awkward be canceled!

As I understand it, Gibson tacitly endorses his father's Holocaust-denying ways by stating that he won't contradict his father's views. I actually would like to see this project come to fruition. It would be a unique perspective amid the sea of Holocaust-related books and films, to say the least.

"The Holocaust: Did It Really Happen? An ABC Miniseries from Mel Gibson."

Now that I think it over, maybe ABC should be glad they scuttled this.

No word on whether they will also be cancelling David Duke's series about slavery or Osama Bin Laden's documentary on the evils of religious extremism.

Damn that's funny. I wish I would have thought of it.

Back when Fox did Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire? the network was planning a bunch of other crazy-intrusive reality shows, but they canned most of them after the couple broke up in ugly fashion. The one that I was most upset about - I swear I am not making this up - was called The World's Biggest Bitches.

By FishyFred (not verified) on 01 Aug 2006 #permalink

It's not just Gibson's refusal to repudiate his father's views that suggests he truly is anti-semitic. It's not as though his father belongs to some bizarre sect that he doesn't. Mel Gibson has spent millions of dollars building a church for his father's group and Gibson himself is a member. If he didn't believe what they did, why would he continue to be their benefactor and a member in good standing?

I found Gibson's quoted remarks to the press amusing, particularly this one

Gibson said he's "in the process of understanding where those vicious words came from during that drunken display" ...

What's the old saying, "Like father, ... "? Or is it something about acorns not falling far from the tree?

Ed, does the church really hold Holocaust poo-pooing as a tenet? Or is that just something Gibson's father expressed in that interview?

It was my understanding that this fringe church is basically "Vatican 2 is full of it, and if you aren't Catholic you really are going to hell" not necessarily the First World Church of Jewhate. They just believe that, contrary the to the more wishy washy stance on salvation that the current hurch holds, the Jews along with everyone else that isn't Catholic are going to be wiped out and tortured for eternity. To, I have a hard time seeing how that's better than Holocaust denial, of course. If anything, it's worse

Damn Vatican 2, we all know God means for us to speak in Latin. He wouldn't have created Latin otherwise. Heathens.

Here's Gibson fils on being asked if he denies the Holocaust. He avoids outright denial, but his response fits perfectly into the minimisation and contextualisation tropes of deniers like Irving:

I have friends and parents of friends who have numbers on their arms. The guy who taught me Spanish was a Holocaust survivor. He worked in a concentration camp in France. Yes, of course. Atrocities happened. War is horrible. The Second World War killed tens of millions of people. Some of them were Jews in concentration camps. Many people lost their lives. In the Ukraine, several million starved to death between 1932 and 1933. During the last century, 20 million people died in the Soviet Union.
By Ginger Yellow (not verified) on 01 Aug 2006 #permalink

does the church really hold Holocaust poo-pooing as a tenet?

I don't know much about Hutton Gibson's group in particular, but from what I've seen, sedevacantist churches tend toward conspiracy theories regarding Masonic control of the Papacy, and sooner or later, Jews tend to get stirred into the mix somewhere. From there, it's not that far a leap...

a forthcoming Mel Gibson-directed miniseries on the holocaust

Now we'll never know - is he for it or against it?

Interesting - I would have thought that doing a miniseries on the Holocaust would be Tinseltown's version of [being sentenced to] community service. You know, let the punishment fit the crime, and all that.

What's the old saying, "Like father, ... "? Or is it something about acorns not falling far from the tree?

You misspelled In vino veritas. A friend put it this way -- "The booze didn't put words in his mouth, it let the words in his brain come out of his mouth."

"A drunk man's words are a sober man's thoughts."

ABC contends that it pulled the miniseries because two years had passed without Gibson's people producing a script. I'd say that's sufficient reason to pull the plug, and Gibson's self-destructive babbling was probably the final straw.

But two years without a script? Something tells me Gibson's plan to do a miniseries on the Holocaust was more like window dressing. I'd bet he never really intended to follow through on it but could point to it as a sign that he really is a good guy. Look what he's trying to do.

Booze may have loosened his tongue, but it didn't put those thoughts in his brain.

I bet the series, instead of being actively anti-semitic, would have instead focused on the gypsies, slavs, and other oppressed groups.

Ohh, and Ed's joke is entirely appropriate here; why in the world was he offered a miniseries on the holocaust in the first place? It's not like there are a scarcity of jewish people in the entertainment industry.

bet the series, instead of being actively anti-semitic, would have instead focused on the gypsies, slavs, and other oppressed groups.

Regardless of Gibson's feelings towards the Jews, it would be a good thing if someone had shown the Western public that not only Jews were killed by Hitler.

Ohh, and Ed's joke is entirely appropriate here; why in the world was he offered a miniseries on the holocaust in the first place? It's not like there are a scarcity of jewish people in the entertainment industry.

Why do you think that Jews are somehow more suitable than non-Jews to make a miniseries on Holocaust?

By Roman Werpachowski (not verified) on 02 Aug 2006 #permalink

Why do you think that Jews are somehow more suitable than non-Jews to make a miniseries on Holocaust?

I don't think its that non-Jews aren't suitable to make a Holocaust miniseries. Its that Mel Gibson is completely unsuitable to make one.

Well, then why did Matthew write "t's not like there are a scarcity of jewish people in the entertainment industry." ?

By Roman Werpachowski (not verified) on 02 Aug 2006 #permalink

In the U.S. there are a lot of Jewish people in the entertainment industry, that's why. If you wanted to do a mini-series on the holocaust, why you would pick one of the many Jewish people, especially those with close family who were in the holocaust, and instead get a guy who's father is a holocaust denier and who himself made a film which picked the most anti-semitic gospel to use for the story of Jesus' death, is beyond me.

Again: why do you hint that a Jew is somehow "more able" to make a miniseries about the Holocaust? I think we should judge people on their abilities, not race.

By Roman Werpachowski (not verified) on 02 Aug 2006 #permalink