Last weeks little bombshell about Mel Gibson losing his cameo in The Hangover 2 focused on how a (former) megastar could lose an acting gig through the power of the "little people" - and at least one vocal lead actor - even after the studio chief and the director signed off on it.
While I'm sure there were plenty of above and below-the-liners relishing their vicarious triumph, their victory dance left an interesting hypocrisy in its wake. If those same crew and cast members were offered to work on a prestigious movie to be directed by Roman Polanski how many of them would have protested about not wanting to work with a child rapist? I'm betting Polanski would still have the job.
Actors seem to have no problem working with a man who admitted to raping a child and jumping bail, but the soapbox isn't big enough when there's an alcoholic racist in the cast. Why is that?
Don't get me wrong. The Mel Gibson rants we've all heard or read about are vile, disgusting and have no place in our society. The result is that you can't be a pop icon if you reveal yourself to be a bigot.
But put him next to Polanski and what we take away is that you can rape a child, jump bail and win the hearts of millions because you're an "artist." And that's unfortunate.
Follow Zorianna Kit on Twitter: www.twitter.com/zoriannakit
You might have expanded a bit and included in your comparison Mike Tyson, the convicted rapist and wife beater, someone that BIT an opponents ear off! that they worked with just fine in Hangover 1, not a qualm to be found or seen. They have lost many fans showing thier two facedness.
Nasty gutless hypocrites.
Sean Connery admitted to battering / hitting women.
Mike Tyson was CONVICTED of rape.
There's plenty of politicians that have successful careers with stains as well.
Don't even get me started on religious figures...
Lots of other "stars" get convicted for drugs, alcohol, whatever. It's what makes these people human. The thing with Mel is that it's just poor timing. It's far too soon to try and retake public acceptance.
I doubt this is about the "little people", either. I think it's more about the "big people" and someone feeling uncomfortable with Mel's current dislike and possible backlash. If he were cast in the movie, and the movie did well, nobody would say anything. But if it did poorly (sequels, lol), Mel would just be blamed.
I'm not condoning any bad behavior by stars. But I also don't set them up on a pedestal and pretend that they are infallable.
But there was no objection to Tyson in the first one.
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2007/05_06/2007_05_31_Dell_LastMolestation.htm
Shit, Polanski raped one kid once, this guy raped 15-25 kids over a decade and got congratulations from the police.